The Dallas Mavericks will be back at American Airlines Center for Games 3 and 4 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday and Friday, with the stadium debuting new menu items for fans.
Multiple restaurants within American Airlines Center (AAC) have opted to create an updated menu for the NBA Finals. AAC Marketing Director Chelsey Oliver said that the entire arena has been “focused on uplifting the Mavs for a strong finish in the 2024 NBA Finals.”
“It has been 13 years since the Dallas Mavericks have been in the Finals, so the city of Dallas has truly rallied to support our team,” she said, per the Dallas Business Journal.
Levy Restaurants detailed some of the new menu items on Instagram, which include candied pork belly, lobster corn dog, surf and turf grilled cheese, beef rib burrito, and dessert nachos.
Andres Dominguez, executive chef for Levy at AAC, said the stadium’s culinary team ” take[s] inspiration from many places” when deciding what to add to the menu.
“Our culinary team puts each item through multiple rounds of taste-testing to make sure each dish tastes great and, just as important, can be made consistently great at the scale of an arena,” he added, as reported by DBJ.
These changes to the menu come shortly after Levy announced additional items to begin the playoffs, with the restaurant adding four new items leading into the postseason for the Mavericks and Stars.
Previously added items included Smoked Bacon-Wrapped Juicy Lucy, Smoked Meat Rings, Steak Elote Empanadas, and Stuffed Concha Bread, according to WFAA.
Similarly, Zavala’s Barbecue, located in Section 121 in AAC, has also chosen to introduce various new items during the upcoming games.
New items at the barbecue spot will include an updated version of the Sloppy Juan taco, which will now include chopped, sauced, and smoked prime rib, according to Texas Monthly.
One of the biggest changes will be the addition of a brand new fajita and caviar taco, which will consist of a fajita with pico de gallo, green sauce, and caviar wrapped inside a tortilla.
Joe Zavala, who co-owns the location alongside his wife, Christan, said that he “wanted to have fun” when creating the updated menu and that the best way to celebrate the NBA Finals appearance would be with good food, per Texas Monthly.
Many of these items will be sold exclusively during the Mavericks’ home games in the NBA Finals. The team’s next appearance is in Game 4 against the Boston Celtics on Friday night at 7:30 p.m., where the team will look to secure a series comeback before potentially returning to Dallas for Game 6.