Raptors bring in new food choices for fans at the RORC

Chicken, pork, and beef with rice is now a dinner option at Ridgefield Raptors home games, as well as kettle corn, and for select dates, Eight Cow Creamery will have its ice cream truck at the Ridgefield Outdoor Recreation Complex

Paul Valencia
Clark County Today

The Ridgefield Raptors have made some major changes their lineup … their food lineup.

Oh, the traditional heavy hitters are still there — hot dogs, nachos, soda, beer — but there is a new all-star in the lineup and a couple of new, key utility players.

The Ridgefield Outdoor Recreation Complex is not just a place to watch baseball in the summer, it is a place to enjoy food and drink and enjoy one’s company.

Dinner fare such as chicken and rice, pork and rice, or beef and rice, with sides such as potato salad and mac salad, are now available at Rally’s Bento Truck. Some might recall that last year, the truck was for tater tots. 

Call this an upgrade.

Also new this year is PNW Kettle Corn, made to perfection right there at the park just behind the first-base grandstands.

And on select days, the Eight Cow Creamery truck will be stationed beyond the left-field pole, selling ice cream delights.

“We need to keep a variety,” said Gus Farah, general manager of the Raptors. “We have a big season-ticket base. They come every night. It’s important to give some more options.”

Rally’s truck served tater tots last year. 

This year, it is a dinner meal. And it is renamed Rally’s Bento Truck.

“I can’t think of something I like more, chicken and rice, pork and rice, beef and rice,” Farah said. “We just thought, ‘Let’s mix it up.’”

Rally’s Bento Truck is located beyond the left-field wall at the RORC.

Closer to home plate is PNW Kettle Corn, owned by Karl Ashmore.

“I think it smells good,” Farah said, but he is afraid it might distract the Raptors on the field. “I just ask him to blow it away from my players.”

In fact, this time of year, the wind picks up around the RORC as the sun is setting.

“It’s amazing. The wind is my friend. The wind blows the smell, everyone smells it, and everyone buys it,” Ashmore said. “I think I’m in Hurricane Alley right now.”

PNW Kettle Corn is often seen at various fairs and will also be at the Vancouver Arts and Musical Festival in July. 

On game nights, PNW Kettle Corn will be set up at the RORC.

“You gotta be happy,” Ashmore said. “And you’ll be happy with a bag of kettle corn in your hands.”

Back beyond the left-field foul pole is the Eight Cow Creamery Truck. For now, it will be set up for home games on Tuesday nights. There might be other select nights throughout the season.

“We make our ice cream with love. Everything’s homemade,” said one of the owners, David Neil, adding that the ice cream is made with locally grown berries. “We feel it tastes better that way.”

Eight Cow Creamery, named for the eight children in the Neil family, has run its operation via truck for a couple of years. The business also just opened a store in Ridgefield.

“These people are doing it right,” Farah said, adding that the ice cream is “quality stuff.”  

Neil said he appreciates being associated with the Raptors.

“The Raptors are about as local as it gets. It’s a great connection for both of us. We want to be very community based, to bring people together. I think the Raptors do, too,” Neil said.

The Raptors are home again Wednesday and Thursday of this week, hit the road this weekend, and then return to the RORC next Tuesday, June 10, to start a nine-game homestand.

A reminder that Tuesdays are $3 Tuesdays, with $3 general admission tickets, $3 hot dogs, $3 nachos, and a few more select items.