25 restaurateurs collaborate to create foodservice program for St. Louis' new soccer stadium

Fans who come to watch St. Louis CITY SC, the city’s new Major League Soccer team, are getting a unique dining experience along with a state-of-the art new stadium.

CITY Flavor at CITYPARK was developed in partnership with local James Beard award winning chef Gerard Craft of Niche Food Group. As “Chief Flavor Officer,” he collaborated with 25 area restaurateurs to coordinate a foodservice program that showcases the diverse dining scene of St. Louis.

CITYPARK stadium’s food and beverage offerings include 52 venues for fans, featuring local favorites such as Balkan Treat Box, BEAST Craft BBQ Co., Dewey’s Pizza, Mayo Ketchup, The Fattened Caf, Bold Spoon Creamery and Niche Food Group. The choices range from St. Louis specialties such as toasted ravioli and barbecue to global eats like empanadas, Asian bao, Filipino sausages and tacos al pastor.

Toasted Ravioli, a St. Louis specialty, is among the local dishes available at CITY Flavor. / Photo courtesy of CITYPARK

“We traveled around the region to taste the food and meet the people behind these restaurants, and we want to encourage fans to do the same,” said Craft in a statement. “From family-owned restaurants to food trucks, the CITY Flavor program showcases how restaurants of all kinds can thrive in St. Louis. Fans will get a real sense of the high caliber of food from our diverse St. Louis restaurant community during the match-day experience.” 

Technology is also integrated into the dining experience at the state-of-the-art “connected stadium.” There’s dedicated mobile-order ahead via the CITY mobile app, frictionless walkout markets, self-service kiosks and mobile wallet/pay technologies to decrease transaction times and increase convenience.

"We solicited feedback from our fans over the past two years and they emphasized their desire for speed, personalization and variety," said Matt Sebek, CITYPARK’s chief experience officer. "This stadium is a digital and physical showcase of next-gen technology that has been selected with purpose.”

The soccer team gave fans a sneak peek of the new stadium and CITY Flavor through a “friendly” match in November, but the official launch comes in the spring with the start of Major League Soccer season.