Football fare: Think outside the stadium

Food quest beyond Qwest

Ed Murrieta; for the Northwest Guardian

There’s a new 12th Man in Qwest Field’s kitchen. In the offseason, the Seahawks replaced Pennsylvania-based food services vendor Aramark with Chicago-based Levy Restaurants, promising “a signature food experience” that “matches the glory of the team.”

If you’re a Club Level or Suite Level ticket holder, you can make reservations at Qwest’s new Fox Sport Network Lounge for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner, featuring themes from the Pacific Northwest, Asia and the Caribbean.

If your seat is closer to the end zone, you may have to settle for the glory of garlic fries and salmon burgers.

Or, if you’re like a Seahawks fan who goes by the online handle bnemhaus, you’re eating elsewhere.

“I’ve been a season ticket holder for 10 years, and every year since they moved into the new stadium, they’ve had to alter the menu,” bnemhaus posted on The News Tribune’s Seahawks Insider blog. “I never understood how they could screw something up so much when they have a perfect example to follow in Safeco. Forget all the food services, and go with local restaurants.”

Right on, bnemhaus. Here’s an arbitrary tour of pre- and post-game eating options around Qwest Field, where the Seahawks host the Arizona Cardinals at 1 p.m. Sunday.

PUB IT UP

Although the kettles won’t be brewing for another two months, there’s a new brewery-restaurant in the ’hood. Elysian Brewing Co.’s Elysian Fields opened in Aug. 22. At 10,000 square feet, Elysian Fields accommodates more than 466 diners and drinkers inside, plus an additional 40 on its sidewalk patio. Big roll-up doors on Elysian Fields’ Occidental Avenue entrance put diners virtually on the 1-yard-line of Qwest Field’s northwest gate.

While Elysian’s interior wall paint matches Seahawks blue, there’s no sports bar vibe (and only four TV sets amid the stainless steel bar and leather banquettes).

If you’re familiar with Elysian’s other Seattle pubs (in Capitol Hill and TangleTown, both of which could fit inside the new place), pilsner, porter, stout and pale ale will please you.

Elysian Fields will be open from 10 a.m. to midnight on Seahawks Sundays. Its “game day” menu adds beer-simmered Sheboygan bratwurst ($7) and a Chicago-style kosher hot dog with tomatoes, pickles and peppers ($6) to a lineup of upscale pub grub.

I enjoyed the steak sandwich ($15). Caramelized onions, horseradish aioli and blue cheese painted tender slices of sirloin with sweet-sharp-funky bliss. Creamy mushroom ragout might have made flat iron steak ($17) seem heavy, but the steak (ordered medium-rare and delivered in pleasing pink slices) was light and tender. Caprese panini ($9) had the fresh tang of heirloom tomatoes, pesto and mozzarella cheese. The grilled breast of a chicken club ($9) was as tender as the bacon was crisp.

The half-pound Kobe burger ($10) looked and tasted pre-fab. Chili-butter sauce soaked soggy Dungeness crab cakes ($8 appetizer, $14 entrée).

At Pyramid Ale House, the brewery is being renovated but all the favorite taps are flowing. Garlic fries ($6.95), fish and chips ($11.95) and the Bavarian sausage sampler ($13.95) are pub-grub favorites. Pyramid opens an hour earlier (10 a.m.) on Seahawks Sundays.

At F.X. McRory’s, cocktails and more than 30 tap handles will start flowing at 8:30 a.m. Breakfast will be served beginning at 9 a.m. After that, the steak, chop and oyster house serves its “Seahawks menu” of burgers, salads, steaks and seafood ($10.95-$32.95).

THREE-HOUR WARNING

Tailgaters know Cusina de Santis as the place to get Italian sausages. When I scouted the restaurant before the 2005 baseball season, marinara-slathered sausage calzone ($6.50), slow-roasted pork on rosemary ciabatta ($7.50) and lasagna with bechamel ($8.50) made me happy. Chef-owner Michael de Santis says he’ll open three hours before game time. “As soon the game starts, I’m outta here.”

Tat’s Delicatessen also will open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Seahawks Sundays. The East Coast-style deli menu runs from Philly cheese steaks to hot and cold Italian subs to salads to buffalo wings. The 8-inch Philly cheese steak ($6.75) benefits from the briny bite of hot and sweet peppers.

BREAKFAST, BARBECUE

Mac’s Smokehouse serves thick, meaty smoked sandwiches plus rib-joint classics like ribs, brisket and chicken ($7.95-$14). Game-day, there’ll be a breakfast buffet ($9.95). Doors open at 9 a.m.

Fenix Underground nightclub trumpets “the hottest Seahawks Sunday in the city” with a “$10 breakfast buffet, bloody Marys, football and girls” for this week’s Seahawks-Cardinals game and next week’s Giants game. The bar menu includes nachos, burgers and fish and chips ($7.50-$9).

Longhorn Barbecue Outpost smokes fine Texas-style beef, pork, chicken and sausages, in sandwiches and meals ($5.95-$23.95). For tailgaters, take-out meats are sold by the pound. For dine-in diners, the newly expanded dining room accommodates 70.

WATCH IT

Sluggers’ menu boasts “37 TVs and a big screen.” If you’re facing the bar, you’re facing a collection of 25-inch TV sets, which run the length of the back bar. The pregame menu is burgers, sandwiches and salads ($7-$9.50). The after-game menu is deep-fried: corn dogs, fish and chips and the like ($4.25-$8.75.)

SUSHI AND MORE

Located closer to Safeco than Qwest, Bites had better serve Ichi rolls. But it also serves Seahawk rolls (albacore, cucumber and avocado, topped with spicy tuna, $10). Other variations on the California roll include the Mexiroll, wrapped in a tortilla. Small plates include broiled black cod; ahi, salmon and albacore carpaccio; kimchee pancakes, and gyoza brightened with Fuji apples ($5-13). Full bar.

If you can’t find something interesting or exotic at Uwajimaya Village Food Court, you’re not looking. There’s Filipino, Thai, Vietnamese, Hawaiian and more in the International District.

RED-HOT AND MUSTARD

Seahawks’fans won’t want for weenies outside Qwest Field. Take a look down Occidental Avenue, on the stadium’s west side, where Joe’s Grilled Gourmet Dogs, Al’s Gourmet Sausage and Seattle Sausage Co. butted franks last week as the Mariners played a six-game homestand at nearby Safeco. Marv’s Famous Hot Dogs was closed, presumably awaiting the Seahawks’ home opener.