Concession Stand Review - Madison County Football

This past Friday night, I went out to Madison County High School for the football game against Boaz and here is the moment you have all tuned in to read about - concession stand review.

I like covering games at Madison County High School and was looking forward to heading out there this past Friday night. They have a really spacious press box which means I have a lot of room and don’t have to rub elbows with some two bit assistant coach who spends the whole game yelling in my ear, a welcome relief if I do say so myself.

I was also looking forward to reviewing their concession stand because I know they have a wide variety of food from which to choose.

I snapped a picture of the menu with the cell phone but it is probably too small for you to tell what selections and prices are offered. One thing I really like about this concession stand is that they have hamburgers and cheeseburgers, which not all schools offer. Being a lover of burgers, this is a bonus I think.

When I first arrived at the game, it was about 40 minutes until the game was to start (it obviously didn’t take me as long as I had anticipated to get there) so I went down to the concession stand to see what I could get. I had $7.00 and some change on hand. I looked over the menu and decided on a cheeseburger ($3) and a Diet Coke ($1) which left me with $3 for halftime.

The cheeseburger wasn’t too bad. I ate it plain because at Madison County they have all the condiments on a table in large containers (rather than individual packets) and most of the containers were empty, or close to empty, and there was a swarm of people around the table about to fight over the last of the mustard.

The Diet Coke came with that really soft ice similar to the pebble ice, but softer – ya’ll know what I’m talking about – and it melted rather quickly.

In addition to hamburgers ($2.50) and cheeseburgers, Madison County also offers hot dogs ($1.50), french fries ($2), a chicken basket which has chicken fingers and french dries ($4), nachos ($2) and funnel cakes ($4). Just like New Hope, Madison County offers Coca-Cola products and Powerade. The highest price items are the chicken basket and funnel cakes at $4 each. They also had a sno-cone stand, but I didn’t see what those prices were.

The thing I dislike most about the concession stand at Madison County is the way they have it set up. They have two windows, one in front and one to the side for a total of two lines. Even though they have the capability of having two or three workers at each window, they rarely do and in fact the window on the side on had one worker. Not only that, but rather than pay when you get your food at the window, you instead walk over to another table and stand in line again to pay.

It didn’t take long to purchase the food before the game, but I was a bit worried at half time. I decided I’d better take a bathroom break first rather than run the risk of getting food and then having to go to the ladies room later on during the game. After I visited the restroom, I got in line for a hot dog and Diet Coke and it took seven minutes and 20 seconds to get my food and pay, which is a bit much in my opinion, especially at halftime which is when the most people are going to be in line. I think they should have additional workers help out at halftime to help with the influx of people wanting food.

The other thing I dislike about this stand is that there is at times an overwhelming smell of grease. I realize that they are frying up chicken fingers and french fries and funnel cakes, but it was a little more than I could take and at times I could even smell it in the press box.

Final grade: B+