Penguins honor Mike Lange with slogan-inspired menu at PPG Paints Arena

Pittsburgh Penguins fans can now savor a taste of team history as iconic slogans from retired announcer Mike Lange are incorporated into the menu at PPG Paints Arena.

Terry Davidson, Aramark Sports + Entertainment executive chef for the Penguins, revealed new menu items during a media tour, including the Lord Stanley steak hoagie and Sausalito Seal buffalo chicken sandwich. These Lange-inspired dishes will be available at select clubs, and new offerings will rotate every few months, each tied to one of Lange’s 80 memorable phrases.

“I wanted to raise the bar on food offerings,” Davidson said. “Someone in one of our offices has a picture of Mike Lange and a microphone. And I was like, ‘That’s it.’ I got permission from Mike and the Penguins to do it and everyone loves it.”

Davidson said he wants people to be able to say the slogans when they order to keep the nostalgia alive.

“I didn’t realize he had 80 some slogans,” he said. “This might take us a few years.”

The Mike Lange concept is one of eight new concepts the team is rolling out this season and 30 different items will be available when the Penguins host the New York Rangers at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the home season opener.

Steel City Smash in section 108 has two fresh burger patties, American cheese, crumbled bacon, caramelized onions, roasted mushrooms, house sauce and fries on a Martin’s potato bun.

Located in section 122, Tacos on 5th is a street taco concept with what is being called the hat trick. It has three tacos of seasoned chicken, seasoned ground beef and crumbled chorizo sausage with cilantro lime crema, cheddar jack cheese, pico de gallo and fresh lime on warm flour tortillas.

North Shore Nacho in section 105 has smoked pulled pork and barbecue pork. There is also a gouda hot honey chicken sandwich at this location.

Polish Hill Grill is a pierogi and sausage concept in section 105. The Pittsburgh Pierogi has sauteed potato cheddar pierogi topped with Smith’s kielbasa, bacon, caramelized onions and sour cream.

The Loaded Italian sausage has grilled Smith’s Italian sausage, tomato sauce, sauteed peppers and onions and mozzarella cheese on a gourmet roll.

The Penguins announced a partnership with Coca-Cola for culinary combinations such as the Smokehouse in section 224, which is a Coca-Cola barbecue pork sandwich with cherry coke glaze, onion straws and served with house-made chips and coleslaw.

A charcuterie board of assorted cheeses, pepperoni, polish sausage, smoked chorizo sausage, and seasonal savory breads will be available in the suites, as well as street corn quinoa salad, slow-cooked barbecue spareribs served with crispy potatoes and Parmesan asparagus and a Reuben sandwich.

For dessert, there are cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing.

“We are very excited about the Polish Hill Grill,” Davidson said. “We think people in Pittsburgh will love this.”

Beyond food, fans can explore the revamped PensGear team store, nearly doubled in size and outfitted with 13 televisions, offering exclusive merchandise like NHL-approved jerseys and adaptive apparel.

Chuck Hogan, senior retail director for Aramark, said the store will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

“There are some items here you can’t get anywhere else,” Hogan said.

The Penguins are relaunching a tour program in conjunction with Oakview Group, the building’s management.

Penguins president of business of operations Kevin Acklin said tours will take place once a week starting on Oct. 22 and be limited to 30 people.

“I see people wandering around and looking around trying to find out how to get in,” Acklin said. “I would go out and give tours myself. That is something we will be doing here on a consistent basis, which will include a step inside the hallowed grounds of our locker room. We take it very seriously our role here as a steward of this arena and this team.”

He added they are really excited about the two-year extension of captain and star player Sidney Crosby.

“One of the cool parts of the tour is this is the way the players come into the building,” said John Sodini, vice president of arena operations. “They will come past all of these images of the iconic moments in Penguins history.”

And Lange is indeed a part of that history.

Davidson hinted that if the Mike Lange concept proves popular, it could expand to a dedicated stand, with one fan-favorite sandwich nodding to Lange’s famous phrase: “Elvis has just left the building.”