Whiting’s Foods

First. My disclosure that i sometimes work with Whitings foods at the Warriors arena. Not as an employee and not in food service.
I have had the pleasure of directly working with many of the principal partners and managers. They operate an extremely ethical business. With high regard for their workers.
I hear the employees talk about coming back to work summer after summer.
The whiting’s speak to their employees with respect. I have never witnessed a manager or a Whiting family member be curt with an employee.
And seriously folks, they work with lots of teenagers!
The Arena was built as a temporary structure. The concession areas do not have full kitchens. They are very limited on what they can serve.
They provide what you would expect at a ball game concession.
They also offer some alternatives. Teriyaki bowls and the like.
There are even some gluten free options.
They brought in local craft beer in on draft.
Improving and adding items is part of an ongoing dialog.
I’m the dad of 3 youngsters. Frankly, my kids have certan expectations, when we go to a ballgame (baseball or basketball).
I know they’re going to want a hot dog, and a treat.
Getting something healthy in them is my job before we get to the arena.
I’m guessing Whitings are one of the largest employers of young people in Santa Cruz. They are the first job for hundreds of our local kids.
Yes. They’re a business. A local business. That hires locally.
I’m sure they have made and do make mistakes.
I would have no hesitation letting my kids work for them some day. .
Oh. . That I should be so cruel to the Whitings. .But, that’s a story for another day.

The fine offerings of all things not fit for human consumption– certainly no local food item/​beverage companies offered by this big name Santa Cruz family business.
A poor excuse for a concession at the Warriors games.
Too bad the option for other food/​beverage choices were never even offered to bid for an opportunity to sell at the new stadium downtown.
Another small town short sighted decision.

OMG Funnel Cakes!!! I haven’t had one in YEARS! Over a decade! OMG We HAVE to get one, right?!
No. No you do not. I promise you, it’s not as good as it was when you were six years old.

Count me in for cotton candy (not for me, but I did have a taste) and Kettle Korn, both products prepared before my eyes, and relished during a two-​day visit.
Whiting’s Foods, thanks to the freedom of food choices we consumers currently enjoy, can mostly be absolved for the sinful snacks it sells from stand-​alone shacks and some storefronts at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. It was all we could do to talk ourselves out of the deep-​fried Twinkie – that’s in the singular, because we would have shared one. Cotton candy was a compromise. Forget about funnel cake.
The company is represented by a crew of pleasant, youthful workers who seem to enjoy their jobs and chatting with curious customers. What red-​blooded American wouldn’t want to work at the boardwalk over the summer?
A Whiting’s weakness can be found at one of its original ice-​cream windows that serves frosted cones, frozen bananas and my boyhood favorite, the Sandae bar on a stick, which I now refuse to buy.
In days of old, the attendant would remove from the freezer a graham-​cracker ice-​cream sandwich, dip it in chocolate and, before the coating could solidify, dredge it through a tray of nuts ground into a powdery texture, resembling sand, and hand it to you protected by a sheet of wax tissue. That was the OG Sandae. These days, the $ 4.50 confection uses chocolate-​chip cookies, and is topped with chopped nuts of the ilk that McDonald’s gives you in a cellophane packet with one of its $ 1 sundaes.
Memories, sometimes, are that much sweeter than some of those boardwalk treats.

whitings is awesome! dippin dots to soft serve to garlic fries… nom nom nom

Whiting’s runs some of the concession stands at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. They sell my favorite corn dog of all time. It is almost 7 bucks. The batter is light, sweet and perfectly seasoned. The dog has good flavor, but like all corndogs has a steamed limp texture. But, with the cornmeal batter, the combo is transcendent.
Also, I really like the chocolate dipped ice cream cones and the caramel apples. But, I think some other company makes the caramel apples.

I’m glad these guys have an entry here. Whiting’s Foods is the food service company that operates within Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. This is typical concession stand quality food – corn dogs, burgers, chicken, funnel cakes, etc. Expensive, but you knew it was going to be.
The only problem that I had was at the fried twinkie stand. The guy ahead of us inexplicably ordered FOURTEEN of them. This combined with a new employee at the stand who:
–Didn’t take a break that day and his supervisor had to call a manager about it while we were there
–burnt a twinkie during the rush
–just up and gave a twinkie to a guy that ordered AFTER me thereby slowing down the line even further
In the end, it took about 20+ minutes to get one damned fried twinkie for my daughter. She liked it.
A few more things:
There’s one stand that makes corn dogs fresh and right in front of you – they ONLY take cash. Be warned – if you want the best corn dogs, you can’t use your ATM or credit card.
Pay attention to that coupon sheet that you get with your tickets and read it thoroughly before buying any food or anything else. You could save a substantial amount of money
They also charge you $ 6 for a drink with the reusable container – then it costs you only a dollar to refill it forever after. It is made of flimsy plastic. If you’re stupid like me, and pour the boiling water from your pasta into the sink where you have that cup sitting, you are going to deform the plastic (d’oh!) A little hot water could fix the cup if you’re creative enough.
On the whole, tasty and pricey. Don’t expect a square meal here, but you and your kids will be able to eat fun foods from Whiting’s, tummyache later notwithstanding.

Their funnel cakes are not as good as the ones you can buy in Great America. They have the usual toppings — whipped cream, strawberry, blueberry or plain with powdered sugar. It’s the jar-​jam type, not fresh fruit. The cake was rather doughy — more of a donut cake consistency, not as crispy as some I’ve had. They run about $ 7 with the fruity topping.