8 Regional Tailgating Traditions for Food and Football Lovers

Lay your tailgate flat, pitch your tent, and fire up the grill — or smoker, or deep fryer, or stockpot — it’s football season. The rules of the game may be the same from Boston to Houston, but the rules of the tailgate are decidedly not. Clam chowder at a Texans game? Beef brisket in honor of the Patriots? You’d be run outta town either way. 

Football fans are, well, fanatical when it comes to their regional tailgating food traditions; appreciation of the sport often goes hand in hand, but isn’t mandatory, and even attendance inside the stadium is optional.

“Die-hard fans and regulars take [the food] so seriously that sometimes they forget to pack up their stuff and get to the game itself,” says Columbus, Ohio-based Avishar Barua, Top Chef contestant and owner of Agni and Joya’s.

“It’s not just about eating,” adds Lambert Givens, former college football player and executive chef at Hunter’s Kitchen & Bar in Boston. “It’s about showing pride, and proving your setup can go toe to toe with the folks parked next to you.”

We talked to chefs for insight into some of the most unique regional tailgating food traditions from coast to coast.

Texas: smoked brisket 

You can expect barbecue on the tailgating menu anyplace there’s a confluence of meat smokers and sports teams. But “brisket and football just go hand in hand in Texas,” says 2024 F&W Best New Chef Jalen Heard, co-owner of Fort Worth’s Goldee’s BBQ. “Tailgating is a big deal whether it’s for high school, college, or pro football,” he adds. “It’s all about hanging out with friends, showing team pride, and eating good food, with barbecue [as] the star of the show.”

Brisket in Texas first popped up in Jewish delis in the early 1900s, according to Texas Monthly, but didn’t become a staple barbecue item until the 1960s, when it took off due to its availability and inexpensive cost. At a tailgate for teams like the Dallas Cowboys or Texas Longhorns, expect to see it served as is or on a sandwich alongside requisite pickles and jalapeños, plus classic sides like potato salad, coleslaw, beans, and mac and cheese.

On game day, “People start early,” says Heard. They often bring smokers with them to the stadium in addition to grills and coolers. “Smoking a brisket low and slow takes time and care, which fits the pace of tailgating and gives folks a reason to gather early,” he continues. “It’s rich, flavorful, and perfect for feeding a crowd, and the smell alone draws people in.”

Mississippi: sausage balls

One of the most iconic American tailgating events is technically not even a tailgate: “The Grove” is a 10-acre park in the center of the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) campus where student and alumni Rebels fans set up the night before in a phenomenon known as the “running of the tents.” No cars are allowed, but this doesn’t preclude Ole Miss from consistently being ranked one of the best schools for tailgating.

“It’s as American and as pure as apple pie,” says chef John Currence, founder of Oxford, Mississippi’s City Grocery Restaurant Group and a former Top Chef Masters contestant whose businesses are often called upon for catering at The Grove during football Saturdays. Currence also authored the cookbook Tailgreat: How to Crush it at Tailgating.

The Grove doesn’t permit cooking over an open flame on-site, which gave rise to one of its favorite local foodstuffs: sausage balls, a simple mixture of breakfast sausage, Bisquick mix, and cheese. Their precise origin is unknown, though their popularity grew throughout the 1960s and ’70s in the South, and a recipe was included in Bisquick’s 60th anniversary recipe booklet in 1990.

“They’re a food item that I grew up with,” says Currence. “They were something that I always loved, but I don’t love them nearly as much as Blair Hobbs does,” he says, referring to the wife of John T. Edge, former director of the Southern Foodways Alliance. “Every year on John T.’s birthday, we’d host a hot dog–themed birthday party, and Blair always showed up with a brown paper sandwich bag full of sausage balls.”

Currence was later inspired to serve them through his businesses. “About 15 years ago, when I was deep into catering on football Saturdays for The Grove, it just dawned on me that those would be an easy sell,” he says. “They’re easy to produce, and they work well because they’re great hot out of the oven, but they’re also magnificent at room temperature. Dipped in some yellow mustard, in my mind, they’re one of the most transcendent bites of food out there.”

New England: seafood or clam chowder

You don’t need to attend a New England Patriots game to know fans take their seafood seriously. “We don’t mess around,” Givens says. “You’ll see whole lobster pots in the parking lot, or even ice sculptures early in the season for a raw bar.”

Speaking of ice — on those freezing days when the open-air stadium is just as cold as the parking lot? “A thermos of New England clam chowder is the best thing to keep you full and warm,” Givens says. The milk- or cream-based stew with clams, potatoes, onions, and salt pork or bacon is especially fitting for a team called the Patriots. The recipe was first published in the Boston Evening Post in 1751, before we were even a country, and well before American football.

“The chowder, the lobster rolls: Those aren’t just foods, they’re part of the identity here,” says Givens. “I remember as a kid going to Gillette Stadium in the fall, seeing fans roll in with all their gear, and even lobster bisque to share,” he says. “When fans bring these foods to the tailgate today, it’s a way of saying, ‘This is who we are.’”

Rain, shine, sleet, or snow, expect a seafood spread. “If you don’t have seafood somewhere in the mix,” says Givens, “you might as well be a New York Jets fan.”

Buffalo: wings and Buffalo chicken dip

Wings are synonymous with Buffalo, but nowhere are they on such vivid display as at Orchard Park, home of the Buffalo Bills and the “Bills Mafia.”

“You’ll see propane fryers right there in the parking lot with folks dropping frozen wings like Thanksgiving turkey,” says Darian Bryan, chef-owner of Buffalo’s Bratts Hill and former private chef to several NFL players. “A deep fryer in a parking lot might sound like chaos waiting to happen, but in Buffalo that’s just called Sunday.”

Wings history in Buffalo begins in the 1960s but is disputed, with many crediting Anchor Bar owner Teressa Bellissimo as the inventor of the icon. Others point to Jason Young, who owned a place called John Young’s Wings ’n Things and says he created the sauce for a dish the African American community was already eating. Either way, “They’re part of the city’s DNA,” says Bryan.

“Buffalo-style” or “wing-style” has also evolved to apply to many Buffalo tailgate foods beyond wings. “Buffalo chicken dip is probably the unofficial second mascot of the Bills,” says Bryan. “You’ll see crockpots plugged into generators all over the lots. Plus, there are chicken finger subs doused in hot sauce and blue cheese, Buffalo chicken pizzas, and they even put chicken wing dip in egg rolls, which is absolutely delicious.”

The wings may vary — “Some folks smoke them low and slow or grill them over charcoal, some do dry-rub wings, some go heavy on the smoke, others like them extra saucy,” says Bryan — but some things always stay the same. “At the end of the day, it’s just not Buffalo football without wings and blue cheese,” he says. “Ranch? Not in this town.”

Seattle: Seattle dogs

At first glance, Seattle might not seem to have the tailgating culture of other major cities. “Part of the problem is that we don’t have really good weather,” says Cindy Lohman, co-owner, private chef, and chief steward of Chillin’ Yacht. 

But the city boasts its own unique tailgating traditions, including “sailgating” on Lake Washington, which is adjacent to University of Washington’s Husky Stadium. “You sailgate, then you tailgate, then you go to the game,” says Lohman. 

In addition to common tailgating foods like barbecue and seafood chowder, expect to see potstickers, teriyaki, and banh mi sandwiches. “We are Pacific Northwest,” Lohman says, “so we do a lot of Asian/Pacific Northwest fusion.”

Seattle even has its own hot dog, known as the Seattle Dog. “It’s cream cheese, grilled onions, and jalapeños inside a hot dog, typically served in a special bun,” says Lohman. “People either love it or hate it,” she admits. The lovers queue up at the stadium to get the real deal, a foodstuff said to have been invented in 1989 by a Pioneer Square bagel vendor, Hadley Long, looking for a way to satisfy customers’ requests for hot dogs.

New Orleans: seafood boil

The hometown team here is the New Orleans Saints, and for the city’s football fans, tailgating is indeed a religious experience. “We tailgate like the world might end tomorrow,” says Sophina Uong, chef-owner of Mister Mao. “We party with every ounce of energy and animalistic spirit we have.” 

People often set up under the freeway or in Champions Square to watch the games on the big screen — even if they’re not going to the game itself.

“There’s always sausage, smoked boudin, wet ribs, mac and cheese, and maybe jambalaya or dirty rice,” says Uong. “I’ve been lucky enough to have oxtails at a tailgate, braised but then grilled, and then you gnaw on one greedily like a chicken wing,” she says. When the weather is hot, “You get gallons of Daiquiris from the nearest drive-thru and pick up some Devil Moon Barbecue,” she says, and don’t fuss with setting up a charcoal grill in the extreme heat.

Weather permitting, Saints fans are also known to go all out with the full seafood boil for tailgates, a staple of the Gulf South since the Acadian (“Cajun”) people arrived in the 1700s. While crawfish season doesn’t coincide with football season — unless the Saints are in the playoffs, season willing — “people will boil up some shrimp or blue crabs with peanuts, corn, potatoes, hot sausage, and that ubiquitous boil mix of garlic heads, paprika, cayenne, clove, oregano, and lots of black pepper,” says Uong, drained and spread out over a table lined with butcher paper.

“I think the seafood boil really means we want to celebrate life,” she says. “The game gives us an excuse just to eat together. It’s like telling your people you love them when you invite them to the table for the boil and to roll up their sleeves.”

Chicago: Polish sausage

Hot dogs and sausages can be found at tailgates around the country, but they’re especially popular around the Midwest — think beer brats in Wisconsin and kielbasa in Pittsburgh. “The grill is king at a Chicago tailgate,” says Zubair Mohajir, chef and co-owner of Chicago’s Lilac Tiger, Coach House, Mirra, and Sarima Cafe and a former Top Chef contestant. “You’ll see everything from small flattop griddles to full-blown setups with smokers and portable gas grills. It’s fire, coal, meat, and a cooler packed with the beverage of your choosing,” he says. “That’s the foundation.”

What’s on the grill may not be what you immediately assume. Chicago-style hot dogs are iconic, as are Italian Beef sandwiches, but at a tailgate, Polish sausage is king. “It’s the most emblematic food of a Chicago tailgate because it’s both simple and powerful: smoky, juicy, piled into a bun, often with grilled onions or a smear of mustard,” says Mohajir. “It’s the kind of food that’s designed to be eaten standing up with a beer in hand, which is exactly what a tailgate calls for.”

German and Polish immigrants brought sausagemaking to Chicago in the mid-1800s, and Maxwell Street Polish, now Jim’s Original, is credited with popularizing the Chicago Polish sausage sandwich in 1939, which evolved around the same time as the Depression-era “dragged through the garden” Chicago dog. Piquant sport peppers are common on both.

Chicago fans prove that you don’t need to be on a winning streak to enjoy the tailgate. “Chicagoans might complain about our teams’ win columns,” says Mohajir, “but when it comes to showing up, eating well, and supporting our home team, we’re second to none.”

Ohio: Buckeye candies

Meat and heat may be fundamental to most tailgates, but that doesn’t mean that fans can’t also have a little something sweet, especially when the mascot is a type of tree nut. Tailgates in Columbus for Ohio State University will include many mainstays of game days around the country. “You can always count on favorites such as beer-braised, peppered, and smothered brats with good Ohio mustard,” says Barua, “and anything that comes off the smoker such as ribs or wings is always a hit. But of course we also gotta have the custumal and ever-prevalent buckeyes.”

For those not in the know, buckeye candies — not to be confused with actual buckeyes from trees, which are poisonous — are a peanut butter and chocolate concoction designed to resemble the nut for which the team is named. The game day treats have competing origin stories — a local candy company may have been making them as early as 1919 — but it’s widely accepted that a woman named Gail Tabor popularized them in the 1960s.

“They are generally made with peanut butter that is whipped and slightly thickened with confectioners’ sugar, occasionally with butter and vanilla if you’re feeling fancy,” says Barua. “The mixture is rolled into balls, chilled, skewered with a toothpick and dipped into melted and tempered milk chocolate,” he says. “It’s really important to dip each one no more than 90% and leave some of the peanut butter exposed, because it has to look like a buckeye. If not, then it’s arguably a peanut butter truffle, which just wishes it could be a buckeye.”