The latest food and beverage experience at American Family Field this season goes beyond the traditional ballpark fare of hot dogs, brats and peanuts to showcase a variety of ethnic foods made by local, independent operators.
Thanks to a partnership between the Milwaukee Brewers and 3rd Street Market Hall, fans can now experience the 19-vendor food hall on a smaller scale at the new 3rd Street Market Hall Annex, located on the stadium’s right field loge level.
The mini food hall is modeled after 3rd Street Market Hall’s flagship location at The Avenue in downtown Milwaukee — with much of the same signage, branding and design elements — and, at least for now, features four local vendors: Kompali Taqueria, Smokin’ Jack’s BBQ, Kawa Ramen & Sushi and Anytime Arepa. There’s also ample seating and an activity area with a video game wall and turf games. Local media got a first look at the space Thursday, just days ahead of the Brewers home opener on April 2.
Drawing on the “track record of success” 3rd Street Market Hall has had since opening in January 2022, the Brewers are stepping up to the plate to meet the ever-evolving tastes and expectations of consumers.
“Our fans love variety and our fans are foodies,” said Rick Schlesinger, Brewers president of business operations. “People love the staples, but they also want variety, and especially millennials and certainly young people who maybe want to try different things, this is an opportunity for us to draw on that and appeal to as many different kinds of fans as possible.”
If the concept proves financially and operationally successful, the goal is eventually double the number of vendors, said Schlesinger.
Perhaps an even greater opportunity is the exposure the annex will generate for its local vendors — and 3rd Street Market Hall as its own entity — introducing their brands and unique cuisines to whole new set of customers, including out-of-town fans who wouldn’t otherwise visit the downtown food hall.
“The Brewers are successful with their attendance, they draw millions of people, and so they’re going to see the signage,” said Omar Shaikh, developer of 3rd Street Market Hall. The Brewers in 2023 ranked 15th out of 30 MLB teams for home game attendance, drawing an average crowd of 31,500 per game, despite being the smallest-market team in the league.
“Not only does it draw (fans) here, but also, for brand exposure, we understand this is a great opportunity — all provided by Rick and team — and we’re not going to let them down.”
Shaikh is well connected in the local food and entertainment scene and worked with Schlesinger to spearhead the idea for the annex, which was then designed and built by Chris Socha of Cedarburg-based Kubala Washatko Architects and Hunzinger Construction.
The annex will be a third revenue source for Anytime Arepa, which operates a food truck in addition to its vendor stand at 3rd Street Market Hall. Husband-and-wife duo Leo Farfan and Maria Salas launched the concept in 2018 after immigrating here from Venezuela. They’ve built a loyal following using family recipes for authentic — and gluten free — arepas and empanadas. Steady business at its downtown location is what allowed the business to take this next step, albeit with a limited menu.
“It’s been quite an exciting journey. … We appreciate the opportunity to be impacting other customers who are not necessarily coming downtown,” said Farfanso, adding the annex is “a great location for us to reach other customers even from outside the state. … We’re going to have people coming from Chicago, coming from Minnesota, so it’s a great opportunity for us.”
The Brewers spent “several hundreds of thousands of dollars” on the months-long build-out of the 3rd Street Market Hall Annex space, which previously wasn’t used for anything but a walkway. However, it’s an area known to draw heavy foot traffic given its close proximity to the popular craft beer stand as well as direct escalator and stairwell access from the main level. Schlesinger also pointed to the unobstructed view of the playing surface and brand new 12,077-square-foot, 8mm LED digital scoreboard as other reasons why the space makes for a “perfect destination” for fans to gather.
The project is just one example of how the Brewers have sought to activate — and monetize — underutilized portions of the stadium to enhance the fan experience. In 2022, the team added a year-round X-Golf America facility on the left field club level of, taking over the former Stadium Club restaurant.
“This ballpark is great,” said Schlesinger. “It’s very accommodating to us to do a lot of different kinds of things and there’s no shortage of other things we’re going to look at to do around the ballpark, whether that’s refreshing existing spaces or, like this area, creating something new out of just a sort of a vacant space. We’re looking at everything.”
