I'd make a poll but would be too many options

[Liberty Belle]

Hot Dogs (easy, cheap, warm)
Popcorn (fairly light, cheap, filling)
candy bars (for when you need something sweet)
Fruit - bananas, strawberries, orange slices - whatever is in season
chips and salsa (I know everyone likes nachos and cheese, but I much prefer salsa)

 

[PebblesMK]

the chick-fil-a sandwiches are a HUGE hit, and always the first thing to sell out. i think brats are a great idea! not your usual concession stand fare, and i bet they'll be a happy surprise to many-i was shocked to realize how many people show up at sporting events without eating lunch or dinner!

This is Wisconsin! We have brats at every sporting event and at most concession stands. However, brats usually do go over well, they're so much better off the grill though. Not off the grill, into the beer and then onto the bun.

 

[katesorad]

What about Jamba Juice smoothies? We got them delivered daily to my school when I was in high school and they were a huge hit during lunch!

Also, what about gourmet cupcakes? Or ice cream sandwiches? Ooh.. or you can do virgin Mimosas with Sprite and orange juice!

 

[momof1princess]

This is Wisconsin! We have brats at every sporting event and at most concession stands. However, brats usually do go over well, they're so much better off the grill though. Not off the grill, into the beer and then onto the bun.

hahaha, sorry about that! i didn't see your location! it sounds like you've got a good plan going!

 

[PebblesMK]

What about Jamba Juice smoothies? We got them delivered daily to my school when I was in high school and they were a huge hit during lunch!

Also, what about gourmet cupcakes? Or ice cream sandwiches? Ooh.. or you can do virgin Mimosas with Sprite and orange juice!

Closest Jamba Juice is about an hour away. We also don't have a place to get gourmet cupcakes, BUT I loooooove to bake and could probably whip up some unbelievably adorable gymnastic themed cupcakes. We'll see if time will permit it, but the idea is great.

 

[kristina87]

Sweet tea, hot dogs, hot pretzels (if possible), nachos with chili, brownies, sub tray is a great idea! chips - ruffles and doritos always go over well! good luck!

 

[golfgal]

I like the way you think!! Pizza was nixed because we didn't have a good enough way to keep it warm.

Check with the Pizza place. When we have done pizza at consession stands they bring the pizza's over in their insulated bags, let us keep the bags (you can get 4 or 5 boxes in one bag) and then just kept restocking us through the day. We wrote on the end of the box what kind of pizza it was-usually only got cheese and peperoni. It is really easy to do and is a popular food.

Pulled pork/sloppy joes are a MESS to clean up if you are responsible for cleaning the venue after you are done.

 

[Lucky4me]

After manning an indoor concession stand several years, my best advice is- keep it simple!
What goes best is:

Pizza
bottled water
Gatorade-blue sells the most-light and regular
Ring pops
Skittles (sour kind and regular)
Chips
Popcorn-freshly popped in a machine
assorted candy bars-Hershey bars not so much, Snickers and m&m's sell like crazy.
I think fruit would sit there and rot before we sold any. lol
I was surprised, but the last few years soda sales have gone way down. people are trying to cut back on that. Water is what sells fast. We still stock some and regular and diet Pepsi is what sells the most. Then Mountain Dew.

We've ordered pizza from the same place for ten years and have an account. They can have it there in 20 minutes. We have insulated bags to keep it relatively warm and no one minds eating it room temp anyway. I order six or eight pies- mostly pepperoni, but a couple of just cheese too. If it looks like we'll sell out of those, I order a few more before the games are half over.

We've tried Nachos, Chili, hot dogs, burgers and none are worth the trouble and mess, not to mention you need special food safety certification to sell that stuff.
I go to a six hour food safety class every two years just so we can sell the stuff we do. If we started to cook burgers, hot dogs and other cooked, hot foods, it would be more classes. Our county is very strict on school concession stands. We get inspected every year and fined if everything isn't perfect!
Find out your local rules on food safety and concession stands before you start out, so you don't buy a bunch of stuff you won't even be able to sell.
Good luck!

 

[SaraJayne]

Could you talk some sort of sub shop into donating some subs

That would give another easy lunch option.

That's what I was going to suggest.

Subs at basketball tourneys are always the first thing gone.

 

[PebblesMK]

Sweet tea, hot dogs, hot pretzels (if possible), nachos with chili, brownies, sub tray is a great idea! chips - ruffles and doritos always go over well! good luck!

As somebody said to me earlier "You're a yankee, that's why you don't drink sweet tea!!". But it's the truth, I know nobody who will drink sweet tea, but tons who drink unsweet tea.

Check with the Pizza place. When we have done pizza at consession stands they bring the pizza's over in their insulated bags, let us keep the bags (you can get 4 or 5 boxes in one bag) and then just kept restocking us through the day. We wrote on the end of the box what kind of pizza it was-usually only got cheese and peperoni. It is really easy to do and is a popular food.

Pulled pork/sloppy joes are a MESS to clean up if you are responsible for cleaning the venue after you are done.

I would do the pizza, but it hasn't sold well in the past years. They only sold one pizza last year. (I wouldn't mind taking home some leftovers as long as it's not thick crust!!). I suppose we'll stick to the basics and people can suck it up and eat it or walk down the parking lot to Taco Bell or Arbys!

 

[lovetoscrap]

Here is our list so far, and almost everything will be donated.

Hot dogs- Walmart donation
Chili- Culvers
Walking Tacos- Meat from Wendy's, Fritos from Frito Lay
Possibly Nachos

Snacks:
Bagels and donuts from Atlanta Bread Company
Coffee and hot chocolate- Starbucks
Cookies, brownies, rice crispie treats, granola bars, puppy chow, giant pickles- donated by parents
Popcorn
Chips-Donated from Frito Lay
Pepsi products- Donated from Pepsi
Fresh fruit

The snacks seem pretty decent, but the "main course" seems to be lacking. How would sloppy joes or pulled pork go over? We wanted to do baked potatoes but people said those wouldn't go over well.

I will have access to pretty much all of the equipment from the actual snack shop. The hot dog roller thingy, popcorn machine...

I think your main course options seem pretty good but I would add some premade salads. If you can get families to donate that would work out well--they are pretty quick, easy and inexpensive to make. We have each family bringing something. You can do some green lettuce salads, pasta salad and fruit salad. Green and pasta salads make people feel like they are making a healthy choice. You could also have some precooked chicken breasts cut up to add to them if someone wants to make a meal out of it. Fruit already cut up and in a bowl that you just serve into smaller bowls sells so much better than whole apples/oranges etc. If we get whole fruit we cut it up and mix it together in order to sell it.

And some chocolate bars like someone mentioned-- snickers, kit kats etc and CANDY! Kids go overboard for the junky candy. Nerd Ropes, Laffy Taffy, Skittles, those Sucker rings, whatever looks good at Sams or Costco. We sell that stuff out faster than the homemade cookies and things.

We also sell a lot of the PowerAid type drinks. It is good to have a non soda alternative like a juice or something.

This is Wisconsin! We have brats at every sporting event and at most concession stands. However, brats usually do go over well, they're so much better off the grill though. Not off the grill, into the beer and then onto the bun.

We have brats at our sporting events too but their parents tend to get upset if you put them on the grill. . .

 

[jen0610]

We get a deal from our Arby's here. We can buy a regular size roast beef sandwich or a beef 'n cheeder for a $1.00 per sandwich. We in turn sell the roast beef sandwichs for $2.00 and the bnc's for $2.50.

We also get a deal from Subway. It's not as good a deal as Arby's, but we can sell the veggie, ham, turkey, or subway club 6 inch for $4.00 and still make money.

And OP I have to comment on your one follow up post, I was truely amazed at how many jumbo dill pickels we can go thru during a basketball game. Adults and kids alike ordering them.

 

[jen0610]

We also sell a lot of the PowerAid type drinks. It is good to have a non soda alternative like a juice or something.

We sell A LOT of Mountian Dew. We would sell quite a bit of diet Mt. Dew, if the school would order it for us. The school will only order us diet Pepsi, but I am finding that people want a diet drink that isn't the dark cola.

Also, we get some of those flavored packets that can be added to water - we get the Wal Mart brand - and sell them for 25 cents. We sell a lot of those.