Behind the scenes look at the team fueling fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium

4 hours ago 3

At Mercedes-Benz Stadium, home to the Atlanta Falcons, beyond the game on the field is a high-powered team feeding thousands of fans.

Deep inside the stadium, the pregame cooking starts before dawn – hours before kickoff.

"Everything we do is in bulk, high volume," said executive chef Matt Cooper. "So if we're doing brisket, it's 1,000 pounds of brisket, 1,000 pounds of pork butts, a couple thousand pounds of mac and cheese."

The culinary team consists of about a dozen chefs and 300 cooks, all led by Cooper, who said it takes about one week to produce the food for one game.

The meals for the approximately 71,000 fans range from $2 hot dogs to a high-end tomahawk steak and thousands of pounds of wings.

Each game comes with a one-time only signature dish.

"Once they're gone, they're gone and then next game, we come up with another wow item," Cooper said.

The unique dishes have included ones like the "Rack O Ribs Volcano." It's a full rack of St. Louis style ribs, stuffed with a pound of fan favorite macaroni and cheese on a bed of potato chips in a box that looks like the stadium.

Only 100 of the signature dishes were available at a recent game for $35.

The stadium uses Levy Restaurant Group, which feeds fans at 10 NFL stadiums – each one boasting at least one signature food experience.

In Baltimore, Ravens fans get crab-shaped pretzels with stadium made crab dip. At Ford Field in Detroit, there's the spin, dash smash burger combo, served with tater tots and Lions blue Sour Patch Kids. At a Carolina Panthers game, there's the masked bandit sandwich.

Top ranked stadium for food

Mercedes-Benz stadium was voted as #1 for best NFL stadium food by USA Today readers and is consistently ranked by fans as being among the best food options in the NFL.

"We want to make sure that everybody has a great time, specifically when it comes to food," said Dietmar Exler, the stadium's chief operating officer.

"We want to offer the right food for everybody, at the right price. … If you're a guest … in our house, it wouldn't be fair. Just because you're in a stadium, you shouldn't be paying more."