A Reminder: You Can Bring Almost Any Food You Want to a Blue Jays Game
I feel like this is one of those “common knowledge” things about the Rogers Centre, but in case you weren’t aware, this is probably one of the best features about coming to a Blue Jays game (aside from the action on the field, of course).
You can bring in pretty much any outside food you want to a Blue Jays game.
The inspiration behind this reminder came from Jake Goldsbie of Sportsfeld fame, who recently posted his latest conquest in bringing in outside food to the Rogers Centre; a charcuterie board.
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My cousin has spent the past two months bringing increasingly elaborate meals to Blue Jays games: pic.twitter.com/rC2vvyOEB2
— Jonathan Goldsbie (@goldsbie) August 13, 2016
According to the Rogers Centre policy, fans are in fact allowed to bring in basically whatever they’d like in the way of outside food. These are the only restrictions below:
Rogers Centre does allow guests to bring food in as long as the items are wrapped, bagged or left inside a container to avoid spillage. Cans, glass bottles, aluminum/steel water bottles or drinks larger than 600 ml are not permitted.
So if you want to bring an extra-large pizza into the Jays game? Go nuts. A quarter chicken dinner? Feel free. A full Thanksgiving meal with turkey, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, dinner rolls, squash and pumpkin pie? It’s a huge undertaking, but if you’re up for the task, you can bring it all into the Rogers Centre.
This rule not only includes food, but drinks as well (the non-alcoholic variety, of course). There is a 600 mL bottle restriction, but for the most part, security is pretty lenient. If you were to bring in a 710 mL bottle of Gatorade, you should be okay. However, a 1L bottle of water may be pushing it.
The bottle size isn’t a hard-and-fast rule at every Blue Jays game, it depends on how thorough security is that particular day. At the very least, if you wanted to bring an entire backpack full of bottles of water, you certainly can. These bottles can be refilled at the stadium’s water fountains near the following sections: 107, 115, 125, 137, 207, 219, 229, 241, 507, 517, 529 and and 541.
A pro tip is to grab a hot dog (or in the case of Colby Rasmus – a chicken dog) at one of the stands outside the dome, load it up with all the fixings, and enjoy it inside the Rogers Centre for a fraction of the price.
Yes, all these snacks are acceptable at the Rogers Centre. Just bring enough for everybody.
I can speak from experience that when you’re traveling with kids, bringing in your own food and snacks is essential. Having your own bag packed with Goldfish crackers, juice boxes and granola bars for is a life-saver.
For most fans, bringing in outside food is an absolute must to keep costs down, but also because the food offerings at Blue Jays games is “uninspired”, to put it lightly.
Why spend an exorbitant amount of money on subpar ballpark food when you can bring in exactly what you want for free? Rather than spend $5.00 on a boiled hot dog and $5.50 for a bottle of water, why not do as Jake did and put that money towards some salami, a nice loaf of bread and some brie?
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Your wallet and your stomach will thank you for it.
17 Comments
FrankDrakman
August 13, 2016 - 1:16 pmOn these hot summer days, I suggest a watermelon salad, with a dressing of lime juice and olive oil, sprinkled with mint and feta cheese. Very refreshing!
Kyle
August 13, 2016 - 11:19 pmI bring a ton of water in my bag to load up when it’s hot. Security is always fine with it.
Rob
August 13, 2016 - 11:27 pmWow! Been there a ton of times and had no idea. Thank you!
Morning Coffee - Sun, Aug 14 - Blue Jays Republic
August 14, 2016 - 7:26 am[…] A Reminder: You Can Bring Outside Food Into a Blue Jays Game | Blue Jay Hunter […]
Antony
August 15, 2016 - 1:00 pmThank you for posting this as I’m not sure that this “perk” is that well known.
We’ve been bringing our own lunches and drinks in for a few years now and almost every game people ask us either where we got that or how’d you get that in?
There are also water fountains sprinkled around the stadium to re-fill your bottles as needed.
charlene
August 15, 2016 - 7:33 pmThat’s a good thing, because the food venue there sucks!
Ryan
August 16, 2016 - 1:04 pmI was unaware that their policy says you can bring water into the stadium with you. But if this is their policy, they certainly didn’t follow it on Aug. 10th, when my wife and I were there.
Not sure why it was different on this day, but as we were lined up at the gates, I witnessed several fans being told to dump or throw their liquids out before going through the metal detectors? I didn’t think much of it, other than it being for security reasons.
However, once I got inside I realized we were being charged $5.50 for a bottle of water, this infuriated me.
There was a heat alert for Toronto on this day and it was close to 43 degrees with the humidity. They should have been encouraging people to drink fluids by actually giving water away, but instead they chose the “Rogers PR” way and gouged us!
Katherine
August 31, 2016 - 5:23 pmWere they really big bottles or in metal waterbottles? Those they said you cant have… if it wasnt either of these, id be pissed to!
Beth
February 26, 2018 - 2:22 pmIt’s common to be asked to dump your water but be allowed to bring in the bottle to try and avoid people sneaking in alcohol. If no one is allowed liquid then you can be sure no one is going to get dangerously inebriated because it’ll be controlled by smart-serve trained bar staff. It’s common at basically all large gatherings in Canada.
Toronto - Baseball Prospectus
August 17, 2016 - 7:29 am[…] he made in Cleveland, there appears to be mounting evidence that Blue Jays’ fans would rather bring their own food than eat what’s available inside the stadium. Fans just aren’t satisfied with the ballpark […]
RJ
August 18, 2016 - 1:42 pmEveryone is going to abuse this now and the team will realize they aren’t making any money off concessions. They will change the policy soon enough.
aaaaaaa
March 30, 2019 - 1:55 pmThis is an MLB policy not a Blue Jays policy
Al Smith
August 20, 2016 - 3:02 pmThanks for this!
If I had known this earlier maybe I could have attended a few more games. I certainly will be testing it out & will enjoy some more games next season. With tickets & parking a jays game can be too tight a squeeze after a snack or god forbid some water… so this is GREAT news!
Julie
February 6, 2018 - 7:19 pmThe reason for Rogers letting people bring their own food is because a lot of people have dietary restrictions and allergies and cannot always eat what is sold at the concession stands.
GLouie
March 19, 2018 - 10:45 amNot True for Hockey Games – I had to hide what we brought behind some Newspaper Stands – & retrieve it when we left (waste not, want not . . .)
GLouie
March 19, 2018 - 10:48 amIf it’s true for Ball Games – That’s GR8!…
Ephill
June 6, 2018 - 3:11 pmDifferent arenas entirely… no one is playing hockey at the Rogers Centre.