Amphitheater Plans to Offer Fare of Note

What do you feed a heavy metal fan?

When they start pouring into Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre next month, the most likely answer will be Rubio’s fish tacos and Ben and Jerry’s ice cream cones.

An amphitheater manager said Tuesday that if negotiations are successful, fans could be munching Pizza Hut pizza, Rally’s hamburgers and Subway sandwiches as well.

In keeping with a trend sweeping other stadiums and arenas around the Southland, the operators of the 15,000-seat Irvine outdoor concert venue said Tuesday that the amphitheater will offer name-brand food items when the new season opens March 14 with the heavy metal band Skid Row.

Even the hot dogs will carry a designer label: Farmer John.

“If you present customers with a quality product, you are going to sell more,” said Daniel Segal, a vice president of Eric/Chandler Ltd., an Encino company that handles marketing for the amphitheater. “This is really a win-win-win situation.”

The amphitheater’s concessionaire, Service America Corp. of Stamford, Conn., has always sold unbranded hot dogs, hamburgers, burritos and other food items, said amphitheater manager Matt Curto. “We’ve had pizza before,” just not a national brand, he said.

“It seems to be a trend that vendors such as Service America are going after name brands,” he said. “It’s a way of upgrading.”

Ralph Rubio, founder of the San Diego-based chain of fish taco restaurants that bear his name, said selling at Irvine Meadows “will let people become more aware of our product and to sample it.”

Although terms of the deals with the restaurant vendors were not disclosed, Rubio said that he paid a flat fee to Service America and that he will receive royalties on all the products sold. Under the arrangement, Service America workers will don Rubio’s uniforms and Rubio’s will supply ingredients and recipes. Rubio’s, which has two of its 12 restaurants in Orange County, will maintain quality control.

To make things easy, he said, the crew will serve a simplified menu of only about six items, contrasted with more than 20 in the regular restaurant. The recipes are fairly simple, and many ingredients are interchangeable between dishes. Still, he said the challenge of feeding thousands of people in an hour before an event could prove daunting.

Rubio said his company has been serving its signature fish tacos at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego for several years, also working there with Service America. “The comments have been positive,” he said.

Other stadiums have tried the name-brand method as well. Dodger Stadium has also invited in such fast-food companies as Carl’s Jr. So far, Anaheim Stadium is sticking with tradition.

Familiar Food

Although Anaheim Stadium is a holdout for jumping on the brand- name fast-food band wagon, the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre is joining the ranks of those venues to welcome fast-food franchises. Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre--Rubio’s fish tacos, Ben and Jerry’s premium ice cream; negotiating with Pizza Hut, Subway submarine sandwiches and Rally’s Hamburgers

Anaheim Stadium--None

Dodger Stadium--Carl’s Jr., Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, TCBY Frozen Yogurt

San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium--Pizza Hut, Rubio’s fish tacos, Rally’s Hamburgers, Subway submarine sandwiches

Oakland Coliseum--Subway submarine sandwiches, Round Table Pizza

Toronto Skydome--McDonald’s, Hard Rock Cafe

Detroit Stadium--Domino’s Pizza

Researched by DALLAS M. JACKSON / Los Angeles Times