Here are the tailgating rules outside Ohio Stadium and your food options inside

If football is the main draw during Ohio State Buckeyes game days in Columbus and the Best Damn Band in the Land is second, let's put food at No. 2a.

Here's what to know about dining inside and outside of Ohio Stadium.

Take the party into the night: Here are restaurants and bars close to Ohio Stadium for your post-game dinner or drinks

Tailgating

You need to be there early. Not get-in-your-seats-so-you-can-see-Script-Ohio early. We're talking two-hours-before-sunrise early.

Parking lots open around Ohio Stadium at 5 a.m. for Saturday's 3:30 p.m. kickoff. Spaces for season permit holders are held until 90 minutes before game time, but day-of-game spots are first-come, first-served.

Some of the rules set by OSU:

• Your vehicle and your "tailgaiting activities," as they're called in the university's rulebook, must fit within your parking space. Tents require prior approval, but you're not going to fit a tent in your parking space, anyway.
• RV parking is only available in designated lots near the Schottenstein Center, and not many are available for single games. They must fit within a 40-by-60-foot space.
• Charcoal grilling is only allowed in designated areas. Liquid-propane grills must be at least 10 feet away from any structure. Fire pits, fire rings, stoves and chimneys are forbidden.
• State and local laws banning open containers of beer and liquor apply on OSU property, and the university warns that "law enforcement officers enforce all applicable laws."

If you're not into cooking, packing, loading, unloading, unpacking, serving, cleaning, repacking and reloading, OSU has an official full-service tailgate-package supplier. It's called RevelXP , and its packages start at $800.

In the Shoe

Here are some of the new concessions available this season inside Ohio Stadium:

Inside the Shoe: Ohio Stadium adds Marlow's Cheesesteaks as a vendor for OSU football season

• Open-air grilled burgers and rib-eye steak sandwiches are near Sections 25A and 26A.
• Hot honey footlong hot dogs come with toppings such as pimento cheese, crumbled bacon, caramelized onion and charred peppers.
• Vegan Impossible Dogs will be served, along with gluten-free buns.
• Buckeye Vodka, Evan Williams bourbon, High Noon hard seltzer, Jameson Irish Whiskey and Patron tequila all will be sold for the first time in the Shoe, at sections 25A, 16A, 26A, 18C and 17C, as well as in the NetJets Landing and Huntington Club areas.
• There will be a Mexican food cart and refreshments at Gate 17A, in an area being dubbed "Corona Buckeye Beach."
• Local craft beers will be sold in sections 7A, 18A, 14B, 9Cl and 20C.

rvitale@dispatch.com

Instagram: @dispatchdining

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Here are the tailgating rules outside Ohio Stadium and your food options inside