Joliet Slammers make connections with local food entrepreneurs

Baseball has been good for Tom Wyler’s barbecue business.

He had just started Wyler’s BBQ, operating out of another restaurant’s kitchen to prepare food for events, when he landed a contract in 2023 for a food stand at Joliet Slammers’ games.

“This was my first brick and mortar,” Wyler said of the space at Duly Health and Care Field that he reoccupied this past weekend when the Slammers opened their season.

His Porknado sandwich, barbecued pork in a bread cone created by Milano Bakery in Joliet, was a big hit last year and is on the menu again.

Wyler started his business in January 2023, was serving food at the ballpark when the season opened in May, and opened his own restaurant in Channahon when the Slammers’ season ended in September.

“The season here ended Sept. 1, and I opened my restaurant on Sept. 12,” he said.

His story is one example of the relationships the Slammers have forged with local restaurants and food businesses that have teamed up to enhance the fan experience at Duly Health and Care Field.

“We try everything when we come here,” season ticket holder Elenor Sullivan of Joliet said at a preseason food sampling hosted by the Slammers on May 3.

Everything, Sullivan said, includes Wyler’s BBQ, tacos from the Sunshine Cafe stand and ice cream from the Creamery, the other outside food vendors that are back at Slammers games this year. New to the stadium is Crumbl Cookie, a national cookie franchise with local owners.

Slammers Food and Beverage Director Joel Sigel, a chef who has created many of the specialties Slammers’ fans find on concession stand menus, cultivates connections with the food entrepreneurs he brings to the ballpark.

Wyler called Sigel “an incredible resource and great mentor,” who provided guidance as he prepared to open the Wyler’s BBQ restaurant in Channahon.

Sigel has previous food service experience at Disney World and at a Colorado resort. He was the chef at the Peoria Civic Center before coming to the Slammers for the 2023 season.

Preparing food for Slammers games is, so to speak, a whole new ballgame.

“It’s definitely different just because you have so many people at once,” Sigel said. “You almost have to guess at how many people you’re going to have for hot dogs and hamburgers so you don’t run out. We never ran out.”

The only complaint in 2023, he said, was lines at the concession stands. Sigel hopes to address that this year with a new system that allows fans to order food on their phones from their seats and get text messages when it’s ready.

Selling food at the ballpark may have its challenges. It also creates opportunity.

For Creamery, back at Duly Health and Care Field for a second year, being at the stadium has provided an introduction to the Joliet market although it has had an ice cream shop in neighboring New Lenox since 1981.

The Creamery stand at Slammers’ games opened one more market for a business that has been growing and soon will open its seventh location in Elgin.

“Because we don’t have a brick and mortar in Joliet, people were asking, ‘Who are you and where are your locations?’” said Leah Sisk, who heads sales and marketing for the family-owned business.

The ballpark location also provides an opportunity for Creamery to market its catering business to new customers for parties and events, Sisk said.

Besides that, she said, “The fans were a lot of fun.”