RBC Center - Carolina Hurricanes

I began following the Carolina Hurricanes towards the end of 2008, my first full year living in Raleigh after graduating from Campbell. My roommate at the time always commented on how we needed to start attending games and once we finally did I was hooked on the fast pace of the game, the roar of the loudest arena in the NHL, and of course the awesome stadium food. That year happened to be the year we unexpectedly made it to the conference finals.

While the Canes aren't having the same results this year, the game is still fast, the roar from the crowd is still loud, and the stadium food is still excellent.

BBQ Pork Sandwiches

Walking into the RBC Center (uh, I mean PNC Arena), the delightful scents of the surrounding food vendors greeted us immediately. Automatically the smell of barbecue pork drew me to the North Carolina BBQ Company cart. The pork is so tender that it falls apart in the hands of the servers. After taking a hand full of the pulled pork and placing it on top of a bun, in traditional Carolina fashion, I top it with a helping of coleslaw. The crunchy cabbage brings texture contrast to the tender pork. The sandwich's procession of flavor is complete with the tang of the vinegar-based eastern Carolina BBQ sauce and the heat from a couple of dashes of Texas Pete. They also offer the a sweet western Carolina BBQ sauce, but that'd just be insulting the eastern host.

Stuffed pretzels

With the BBQ pork sandwich devoured and myself depressed due to the Canes' first period performance, mine and Sara's sweet tooth starts to demand satisfaction during the first intermission. Queue the cream cheese filled pretzels, soft pretzels filled with a slightly sweet and very smooth cream cheese.

Cheesesteak Station

After the second period and the Canes' deficit growing even larger, I went to search for more culinary comforts. The scent of searing beef and sauteed onions drew me to the cheesesteak station. Despite a couple of dry cheesesauce-less bites, the sandwich was flavorful.

The Canes at the end of the game made a valiant attempt to comeback but weren't successful. But even with the absent of a winning season there are still tons of reasons to come and support the Canes, one being that eight of the team's owners are based in North Carolina. Overall it's a fun time with a fun crowd while eating great food.

RBC Center - Carolina Hurricanes
1400 Edward Mills Rd. Raleigh, North Carolina

(919) 861-2323

http://hurricanes.nhl.com/