PORTLAND, Oregon — There are a lot of changes to the Rip City roster this year, and many fans are looking forward to seeing how that works out. But there are also changes to the food lineup, so KGW sent a news crew to investigate the menu at the "Taste of Moda Center" preview event.
It was a good time in the Rose Room for a select group of season ticket holders and other VIPs, with some fantastic food on display from the Moda Center kitchens and restaurant partners who feed the crowds at Portland Trail Blazers games and select concerts.
One of the attendees, Tom, told KGW that he'd never been to the event before, but he liked the sound of it.
"They said there'd be more food than we could possible eat," he said.
That prediction proved to be true; the event featured a broad range of offerings to taste test, including vegan and vegetarian offerings from Crisp Salads.
KGW reporter Tim Gordon sampled two salad offerings and found them to be delicious and nutritious. Then it was on to the meats, and a conversation with a vendor offering two kinds of chicken.
"This is Bae's Chicken, so we are fried chicken through-and-through, all the way. We've got a new flavor this year, it's honey butter chicken,” said the young man behind the table.
It sounded great — so Gordon tried it, and got honey butter sauce all over his face. But sauce mishaps aside, the reviews from other attendees were also positive.
“Bae's chicken and the salmon, really good,” said one woman standing at a table.
And for dessert? The cinnamon roll was scary good and hard to resist.
“Everything's been amazing, but the cinnamon roll, I'm a little afraid, so we got some big decisions,” joked a man at the same table.
And the list goes on: Portland favorite Lardo will be at Moda for the first time this year and then there's the salmon from Moda's crew.
Also on display: the Moda Center’s “Rip City Reuse” cups, which come in various sizes and were introduced in 2022 for club-level alcoholic beverages. The cups are being expanded to the entire arena this season for all adult beverages. Visitors can reuse the cups throughout each visit, then drop them in a "reuse" bin at the arena so they can be sanitized and used again. The program has the potential to keep 500,000 cups out of landfills this season, according to Moda Center officials, and is a first in U.S professional sports.
The Portland Trail Blazers kick off preseason games Oct. 10 and the regular season Oct. 25 with a game in Los Angeles against the Clippers, with their first regular season home game Oct. 27 against the Orlando Magic.