Or whatever it’s called now…
At the beginning of this season, the Diamondbacks unveiled a list of new items available at concession stands around the stadium for the 2025 season. Some were more gimmicky than others, but there was none more gimmicky than the at the time named Grand Slamwich. Since then, according to the gentleman who assisted me at the park, they’ve renamed it, but I don’t remember. Something generic about 50/50 I think, probably because Denny’s has a rather famous sandwich by the same name.
What made it so gimmicky you ask? Well, it’s 20” submarine sandwich, half of which is chicken parmesan, the other half is a marinara meatball sub. It’s big. It has a lot of bold flavors. It literally comes in a carrying case. It harkens back to the days of the D-bat Dog and other such monstrosities that have terrorized hungry fans for well over a decade now, but the question, of course, is it actually any good?
Unlike previous offerings, this is clearly designed to share, and it explicitly says that on the menu board, recommending three people. In the past, I would have taken that as a challenge (see username), but those days are long gone, much like my metabolism, so instead I enlisted my wife’s help in tackling this. That lead to my first observation: it honestly isn’t that big. Split between two people, it isn’t even a full footlong sandwich each. I finished my half, a quarter sub of chicken as well as a quarter sub of meatball, and I actually found myself still hungry enough to try the S’mores Nachos later in the game. More on those in a later installment. If I had split it between the recommended three people, I would have found myself disappointed in the value and wanting more. However, it is priced as though it is for three or more people at $40 dollars a sandwich. Seems a lot for effectively two 10” subs, even more than I would expect at the ballpark.
First up was the meatball side. Pretty standard meatball sub with marinara sauce, provolone (I think) a bit of parmesan cheese on top on a standard sub roll. Honestly, not much to write home about, but it wasn’t terrible. The sauce was very acidic for my taste, but there wasn’t so much of it either that it ruined the sandwich. Cheese was very stringy, which made for a good visual, but kind of messy. All in all, not bad, but not great. Solid 5/10
Next was the chicken parm half of the sandwich. This half of the sandwich was where I was most hesitant. A meatball sub is pretty easy to pull, but I don’t go to a baseball game expecting decent pesto to be found anywhere. But that’s exactly what was on that half of the sandwich. Fried chicken filets, marinara sauce, pesto, more alleged provolone, and dusted with parmesan cheese. About as far from ballpark food as you can get.
It shocked me, but this was actually really good. If the whole sandwich was this, I could probably eat it by myself. There was even less of the marinara, so less acidic, and the pesto did a great job of cutting the acidity even more. The chicken filets were the standard Tyson stuff the ballpark serves, but it was dressed up enough that it didn’t really bother my snobby side all that much. 8/10 easily.
All in all, it was a good sandwich for a lot of money. I enjoyed both halves of the sandwich at least somewhat, and it was a decent amount of food. Plus, the comments and stares it got as I was taking it back to our seats added a bit to the enjoyment of it. It was pricy though. If I didn’t have someone willing to share it with me, it would be too much, and getting it requires everyone to agree on the same thing for lunch, not always possible. Its probably not an every trip meal. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get it again, frankly, but it was fun as a one off, and if you have one or two people willing to help you out, worth it for the novelty. Check it out at the Jefferson Street Deli behind section 121, but make sure to grab some napkins! 7/10