Much of the Opening Day chatter at Turner Field on Monday concerned some unfamiliar new names in the lineup.
Adonis Garcia, Dan Winkler and Gordon Beckham?
Uh-uh.
More like The Punisher. And The Burgerizza.
And — burp! — The Tater Tot Chop.
“It’s unbelievable,” Sarah Brown, 12, said of the partially eaten “Chop” sitting on a table between her and her father, Jay, in the Fan Plaza. “It’s like a whole combination of tastes you can’t possibly describe.”
Well, let’s try, if only for the benefit of all the cardiologists out there who might be called into emergency action. The Chop is one of a trio of especially out-sized and out-there new concessions being offered at Turner Field this season. It consists of two waffles that are each approximately the size of home plate and which are made out of — yes, really — tater tots. With gushers of melted cheese, bacon and jalapeños in between.
Its mere presence had some fans backing away from it Monday like summer league softball players suddenly confronted by ringer firing a 100-mph fastball.
Not Sarah Brown, though. And definitely not Travis Coxworth.
“It’s a cheap meal,” the Flowery Branch man said in an awfully sensible tone for someone talking about a concession he needed both hands to carry. “It has all the decadent things you need in one convenient place.”
The $16 Chop hadn’t even been his first choice for snacking on Monday. He’d really wanted to try the Burgerizza, which is a 20-ounce hamburger, cheese and lots of bacon sandwiched between — talk about convenient! — two eight-inch pepperoni pizzas.
His friend, Sarah Bruno, had forbidden him from getting it.
Not because it costs $26.
“Because I was afraid he’d have a heart attack,” she said.
Back to Sarah Brown. The Woodstock girl had downed more than a quarter of the Tater Tot Chop on her own when she became full and took herself out of the game.
“I love it,” she sighed, sounding like a long-suffering fan of a not-very-good baseball team (no names!). “But I give up.”
First pitch was still about an hour off, though, so Jay Brown figured they’d probably take the remains of the Tater Tot Chop to their seats with them. Just in case.
But would they ever order it again?
"She loves it, so we probably will," he said, smiling at his daughter. "But next time, we'll bring a lot more people with us."
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