High School Baseball/Softball Concession Stands

[1SEIACLONE]

I’m gonna hand the dog to the customer and be onto the next one. You described 5 steps for one item and you’re missing some steps in your SOP I imagine. You’re also not gonna be reheating the taco meat more than once and not if the games are more than 3 days apart.

You don’t even wanna be scooping popcorn when there’s a rush. Keep the steps needed for an item to 2 max or you’re gonna go crazy.

Sure you want to limit the steps, but if you cannot make a walking taco in less than a minute you are doing it wrong. What do you do with those extra dogs you did not sell. It's also going to take a lot of time preparing them before a game and wrapping them. This is a high school concession stand, not Hilton where you are going to be crushed with people. It's easy to pre bag your popcorn and have it ready to grab and go.

If you reheating your taco meat more than once, you are making to much to begin with. They will learn after a few games how much you need to prepare before the game, its better to run out then have to freeze 5 pounds after the game. Most concession stands will have a freezer there on site to store things like popsicle and other things.

 

[ISUCyclones2015]

Sure you want to limit the steps, but if you cannot make a walking taco in less than a minute you are doing it wrong. What do you do with those extra dogs you did not sell. It's also going to take a lot of time preparing them before a game and wrapping them. This is a high school concession stand, not Hilton where you are going to be crushed with people. It's easy to pre bag your popcorn and have it ready to grab and go.

If you reheating your taco meat more than once, you are making to much to begin with. They will learn after a few games how much you need to prepare before the game, its better to run out then have to freeze 5 pounds after the game. Most concession stands will have a freezer there on site to store things like popsicle and other things.

If you can figure out how much taco meat to make you can figure out how many dogs and burgers to make. You can keep them warm a million different ways.

You must really ******* love walking tacos to defend them this much. It’s crazy to wanna do it for a baseball game IMO. You’re gonna make more money per item and sell way more burgers and dogs than any walking tacos with 5 ingredients and 5-10 steps.

 

[rhino3382]

At a volleyball tournament had fresh whole strawberries served in a nacho container with sugar in the cheese holder. $4-$5 each and a saw tons of people had purchased them. Such a great alternative to the normal items

 

[JP4CY]

At a volleyball tournament had fresh whole strawberries served in a nacho container with sugar in the cheese holder. $4-$5 each and a saw tons of people had purchased them. Such a great alternative to the normal items

I would never do this for high school athletics but eons ago on RAGBRAI there was a golf course in Northern IA. They had tables set up with a kiddie pool full of ice. On top of the ice were clear nacho containers that had shrimp and where the cheese would go cocktail sauce.
I took a food poisoning gamble and got one and it REALLY hit the spot on a hot day.

 

[BCClone]

Not as fast as premaking burgers and dogs that sit wrapped up with a much better margin and can’t screw up the portioning like you can scooping taco meat.

I used to run a concession stand for a professional softball team. You want to keep the line moving and have as much premade as you can. Fixing up a walking taco will slow you down considerably. People are gonna buy whatever you got, this ain’t a restaurant where you’re serving 5 star food.

I already think he’s doing too much. I’d get rid of the nachos too personally. Not worth that effort either. Add peanuts. I’d also test a high margin protein bar/cliff bar/granola bar for people trying to be healthy.

Don’t prewrap. Moat are being grilled at games so you would have to have them over cook or have crappy buns.

Dump the hamburgers and go with pork burgers. Better profit margin and most concession stands they sell just as well.

It’s easy to control portions when you have specific scoops for everything. Local HS is one of the cheapest around and it make a boatload of money. The junior class is supposed to run it and they generally have everything they need 1/3 of the way through basketball season so other service clubs come in to fund their needs.

 

[LancelotClone]

If we bother opening up the concession stand for baseball or softball it's because there is also a soccer or lacrosse game going on at the same time, and it's packaged food only.

Football season some high profit and low effort items are Cup Noodles and pre-packaged blizzards, but those are mostly purchased by students.

 

[heitclone]

Walking taco vs hot dog is a more interesting debate than I would have thought.

 

[AuH2O]

My daughter is a rising junior, and her class has now taken over the baseball and softball concession stands as a fundraiser for prom and after-prom. My wife and I, along with another couple, are the lead concession managers.

We willl already have most of the standard items:
Water, Gatorade, soda, Bubblr, popcorn, candy, nachos, sunflower seeds, brats, hot dogs, burgers, walking tacos- I’m sure I’m forgetting a few things, but that’s the bulk of the menu.

What I’d love to hear from all of you is:
What are some unique or popular items you’ve seen at outdoor concession stands that people really liked?

We’d prefer items that are relatively low-maintenance and easy to prep/serve. Bonus points if they’re things we could pick up at Sam’s Club or Costco.

Thanks in advance for the ideas and advice!

Those flavor ice popsicles go like crazy.

Walking tacos sell a lot but what a massive pain in the ass. And lots of gross ingredients that don’t do awesome in the heat.

 

[BryceC]

Don’t prewrap. Moat are being grilled at games so you would have to have them over cook or have crappy buns.

Dump the hamburgers and go with pork burgers. Better profit margin and most concession stands they sell just as well.

It’s easy to control portions when you have specific scoops for everything. Local HS is one of the cheapest around and it make a boatload of money. The junior class is supposed to run it and they generally have everything they need 1/3 of the way through basketball season so other service clubs come in to fund their needs.

Yeah maybe get some going before halftime or something but prewrapping in most concession stands I have been in would result in a lot of tossed food or disgusting soggy buns because it sat too long.

Yeah it’s not a 5 star hotel but it’s also not a gross gas station taquito either.

 

[qwerty]

Mystery meat sold out of a truck in a parking lot . . . . .

Thread '20 Ribeyes for $40 Scam'

May 8, 2026

I should have posted this before last weekend as I saw some local media promoting this in the Des Moines area. They are still around central Iowa this weekend too I know as I saw an advertisement they are in Grimes. DO NOT fall for this scam folks! If the deal seems too good to be true it probably is. This is a good report on what you are getting and there are several others out there if you search YouTube for this. Think about it folks, I would guess these are 8oz ribeyes (if that even) so do the math on that you are paying $4/lb for it. You can't even get decent 80/20 ground...

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• Replies: 73
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[Paz23]

For the last half of HS football season, if you aren't selling chili, you aren't getting my money.

As for the burger/hot dog/brat vs walking taco debate, we do both and it isn't really a problem.
1. Volunteer labor, so you just have someone running the walking taco show. It's not much of a learning curve and after making a few, you can turn them really quick. Leftover meat is a problem because at some point, you get a break between home games of over 3-4 days, so it won't be good if you save it. Re-freezing also shouldn't be done. prepare conservatively, and when they're gone, they're gone.
2. My problem with hot dogs is the quality is usually crap. Either it's a skinny Nathan's that they're trying to sell for $5 or it is a good size hot dog with a cross section resembling chicken bologna. You can buy Costco or Sam's hot dogs for pretty cheap. I will gladly pay $5 for one of those all beef big dogs.

I agree that pork is a better option on the grill side. Not necessarily pork burgers, but the tenderized pork loin slices at Hy Vee and Fareway are great. They grill super fast and you can usually get them for a buck or so a piece. Sometimes they will go even cheaper in bulk for a HS concession stand, too. Another easy and fantastic option is pork loin. You can buy a whole loin for a little over $2 a pound (under 2 on sale) and it will make at least 35-40 sandwiches, so you it is super high margin. It's not hard to find a dad willing to fire up their smoker, especially if you have a couple of home nights back to back.

 

[CyCrazy]

I've been to some high school football games where they have chick fil a sandwiches.
I don't know the margins on that but they appear to sell like wildfire.

Had them at my daughters 7th grade track meet in Ames last week.

 

[StevieISU23]

Pre-packaged cups of Edible cookie-dough. Kids love that crap.
Bottled Water. $3.00 a bottle. You can buy a case of it at HyVee (on sale for $1.99).
Flavor-Ice (Jumbo size ones).

 

[StClone]

This thread is a blessing! My son does soccer and needs some options, will share this.

 

[c.y.c.l.o.n.e.s]

Have the local butcher or grocery store tenderize (and better yet, marinate) some pork loins for you. At $2.50ish per pound, you can’t go wrong. It sounds like you must have grill space to grill hamburgers. Invest probable $.75 per sandwich for the bun and meat and resell it for $6.00.

Edit: I should have read Paz23’s advice all the way to the end. I obviously agree with their advice.

 

[Gonzo]

Not as fast as premaking burgers and dogs that sit wrapped up with a much better margin and can’t screw up the portioning like you can scooping taco meat.

I used to run a concession stand for a professional softball team. You want to keep the line moving and have as much premade as you can. Fixing up a walking taco will slow you down considerably. People are gonna buy whatever you got, this ain’t a restaurant where you’re serving 5 star food.

I already think he’s doing too much. I’d get rid of the nachos too personally. Not worth that effort either. Add peanuts. I’d also test a high margin protein bar/cliff bar/granola bar for people trying to be healthy.

Maybe but I worked concession stands when our daughters were in HS and the walking tacos were pretty simple. The bags of Doritos were pre-cut, the slow cooker with taco meat was right there, one scoop of taco meat into the bag and that's it. Maybe we were doing it wrong, obviously it's a little more work than grabbing a warm pre-wrapped brat or burger and just handing it off, but still it wasn't involved or complicated at all.

Probably wouldn't make sense for baseball but I remember back in my day there were HS football concession stands that served ham and bean soup in styrofoam cups. That was pretty awesome on cold October/November Friday nights.

 

[Gonzo]

Another idea could be getting a bunch of the pre-cooked McRib style patties Hy-Vee sells at their meat counter, heating them through, putting on a bun with BBQ sauce, wrapping and having them ready to just hand off.

 

[CyState85]

Went to my nephew’s little league game in Norwalk at the new complex and my mind was blown at their concession stand. Completely unmanned and supervised by hundreds of cameras that charge your card (if you grab something off the shelf) after you scan it to get in.

 

[Gonzo]

Went to my nephew’s little league game in Norwalk at the new complex and my mind was blown at their concession stand. Completely unmanned and supervised by hundreds of cameras that charge your card (if you grab something off the shelf) after you scan it to get in.

It's an Amazon walk out store.

 

[RealisticCy]

Hope JP taps into some of the knowledge here, if only to sell crappy over priced concessions more quickly....