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Ordered at the court!
Every year the US Open draws tennis fans from all over the world to Flushing Meadows in Queens — they pour in to gawk at ace players like Aryna Sabalenka, Carlos Alcaraz and Coco Gauff, all competing for prestigious titles.
But those in attendance (Aug. 23-Sep. 13, this year) are also very much here to feast — on chicken nuggets topped with caviar, if they’ve got the cash, and to sip on a honey deuce, the viral vodka lemonade served with melon balls that’s become just as important to the annual event as who’s who in the stands and who’s beating who on the court.
The Open’s modern status as an anticipated culinary event is no accident, according to Danny Zausner, COO of USTA National Tennis Center — the mastermind of the Open’s celebrated culinary offering, served up by an array of celebrity chefs and top NYC eateries.
“What we have is not just unrivaled in sports, but entertainment in general,” Zausner told The Post. “We welcome 75,000-plus people fifteen straight days — which is like hosting a Super Bowl every day for two weeks.”
A twenty-year vet of the organization, Zausner is the founder of the Open’s tantalizing feast, alongside his colleague Chris Dudely. It’s been a long road — Zausner remembers it wasn’t long ago that they were reaching out to skeptical chefs, who took an awful lot of convincing, early in the transformation.
No more.
“We’re getting more calls than we ever did,” Zausner said, noting his goal is a popular spectrum of eats — from chefs who can deliver to the masses.
“The fan who comes out on the first day of the Opens is entitled to the same experience that a fan who comes out for the finals. We won’t settle for less than that,” he said.
“We always say: we can’t control the weather and we can’t control the matches, but we can control the food and drink, and we try to give people a proper New York City experience.”
Vendors’ fans should expect everything from NYC foodie favorites like Carnegie Deli and Van Leeuwen Ice Cream to succulent fish from Red Hook Lobster Pound and juicy meat courtesy of Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors, to name a few.
Here are 2026’s most mouth-watering highlights, with insight from the all-star personalities behind them.
Hungry yet?
Point, set, drink
Naturally, no visit to the Open would be complete without a sip of Honey Deuce: the viral cocktail in a keepsake cup made with Grey Goose vodka, lemonade, and raspberry liquor- topped with a Honeydew melon ball reminiscent of the tennis balls on the court.
The refreshing creation put the Open’s food and beverage offering on the map over the years, and was Zausner’s initial idea.
“The impetus came out of my trip to the Kentucky Derby almost 20 years ago,” Zausner said of the drink, which was later invented by restaurateur Nick Mautone.
“But instead of bourbon, we knew vodka was perfect for New York in the summer.”
In 2007, the first year they were introduced, Zausner says they sold a mere 5,000.
“The next year, we sold 25,000 and were off to the races.”
These days, Zausner plans to sell a cool 800,000.
According to Zausner, it’s become the first thing guests look for.
“People come through our gates and ask, ‘Where’s the nearest Honey Deuce?’”
Here’s the beef
Making his gooey debut at this year’s Open is a viral chef Zausner took months to track down: Henry Laporte, better known to New Yorkers and social media-dom as Salt Hank.
“We don’t have a number at the restaurant, so it’s sometimes hard to get in touch,” Laporte told The Post with a laugh.
Zausner confessed to being one of the 2.5 million hungry fans on TikTok and 1.6 million followers on Instagram who became obsessed with Laporte’s decadent comfort-food creations, including his viral French Dip, a scrumptious Open standout for ‘26.
“You taste the sandwich, and then you understand why he’s got all of these fans,” Zausner explained.
“It’s unlike any other prime rib sandwich I’ve ever tasted in my life, and I’ve gone through my fair share of them.”
Laporte, whose internet stardom has led to the New York Times bestselling “Salt Hank: A Five Napkin Situation (A Cookbook)” and a brick-and-mortar spot in the West Village which regularly boasts lines dripping out the door, said the Open offer from Zausner wasn’t exactly an instant yes.
“We were still pretty new when the call happened, so I wasn’t even sure we were capable of doing it because it’s such a large platform,” he recalled. “It’s the most epic thing we’ve ever been offered.”
Laporte and his team are planning to churn out a whopping 1,500 sandwiches a day — a far cry from the approximately 350 they usually assemble daily at his West Village outpost.
When it comes to the origins of his runaway Dip, Laporte recalled having an epiphany after preparing his very first French Dips the classic way. “I thought, ‘Why aren’t we doing this better?’ There was room to grow.”
As a result, Laporte says he engineered “a French Dip on steroids.”
“It’s the same anatomy of the sandwich, but has every ounce of flavor you can possibly cram in.”
That includes top-tier Pat LaFrieda beef considered the best on the market by the USDA, caramelized onions, a painstakingly prepared au jus, horseradish aioli, homemade mayonnaise, and top-quality provolone.
Golden opportunity
Returning to the Open for his third year in a row is Simon Kim, the restaurateur behind the Flatiron hotspot Cocodaq.
“The US Open is an international festival, but … it feels very local and very New York,” Kim told The Post about his continuing affiliation. “That duality is what makes it so exciting.”
Kim’s gluten-free chicken nuggets paired with high-quality caviar are one of the main reasons why the food is now a major part of the draw to Arthur Ashe Stadium each August.
“They went viral almost immediately after we launched them,” said Kim. “Every day, we were seeing celebrities, athletes and fans eating them, and it seemed like every tennis match had someone in the stands with an orange box of nuggets.”
The unique treat made Kim such an Open sensation he was even asked to flip the coin for a marquee match between the star players Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti.
“That’s when I thought, ‘Okay, this has really become something.’”
Kim expects to sell upwards of “a quarter million chicken nuggets this year, which is kind of wild to think about. That’s a lot of chicken nuggets.”
For 2026, Kim is upping the culinary ante by introducing KIMBOP, a new concept that serves as a yummy love letter to his Korean mom.
“It’s a family staple that reminds me of her and growing up in Korea,” Kim says of the nostalgic rolls, which boast either bulgogi sauce-slathered sauteed beef or burdock root, coupled with caramelized omelette, carrots, kale and danmuji, the latter a crisp Korean pickled radish.
“She would make gimbap for us to enjoy during my grade school field days. The U.S. Open is America’s ultimate field day, so it felt like the perfect place to offer it.”
Fantastic ‘Fare’
Food Network and Iron Chef star Alex Guarnaschelli has also become a major Open player throughout her six year-association, with Guarnaschelli whipping up a variety of brand new Italian dishes through her concept Fare for 2026.
“Of course I’ll watch the matches, but I’ll spend a lot of time just wandering around, looking at what people are doing, and their reactions to the food,” Guarnaschelli told The Post.
“I walk away every year thinking, ‘Wow, this just feels more and more electric.’ It reminds me of The Odyssey, where it’s more an experience than anything.”
Guarnaschelli, who also served as a judge on the cooking competition series “Ciao House,” engineered her pop-up Fare as a Mediterranean bistro boasting creamy pastas and fresh salads.
A new dish that has people salivating is a paccheri pasta — which she describes as if “rigatoni and manicotti had a baby.”
Her carb-heavy creation is tossed with an orange-hued vodka sauce and fresh tomatoes. “It’s just so satisfying to cook and eat; from the creaminess of the vodka sauce and a little bit of acidity and the taste of the tomatoes.”
When Guarnaschelli was testing what to serve this year, she said her team was unanimous. “All three of us picked this dish independently.”
Offering a fresh counterpoint is Fare’s Watermelon and Feta salad, which has “big juicy cubes of watermelon and a creamy feta, tossed in vinegar and lemon. Have this first, and then the pasta, and you’ll say, ‘I’ve done really well today.”
Foodie fusion
“You could say it’s turned into a food festival first and tennis match second,” chef Robbie Felice, purveyor of pastaRAMEN, told The Post.
Hailing from Montclair, New Jersey, the James Beard-nominated chef is also taking his acclaimed fusion concept to this year’s festivities.
“It’s unbelievable. It’s magical. And it’s one of the craziest things I’ve ever done,” Felice said to The Post of his three-year association with the tennis championship.
Felice, who is also behind the Jersey-based eateries Viaggio, Osteria Crescendo and Bar Mutz. His pastaRAMEN concept uniquely combines Japanese and Italian flavors into one delicious dish.
He’s known for a Shrimp Scampi Ramen, which Felice said was sold by the thousands when it previously premiered.
“Everyone called me crazy for actually taking a restaurant dish and serving it at the Open, but I really didn’t wanna be one of those guys that just did, like, dumbed-down stadium food.”
This year, he’ll introduce another Frankenstein-style creation: a chicken and lemon teriyaki ramen. “It’s like Chicken Piccata, but mixed with teriyaki,” the chef teases.
pastaRamen will also feature another fantastic fusion: “Crispy rice with Italian-style spicy tuna on top, which I think is super fun.”
“It’s kinda like finger food, considering crispy rice is one of those things when you walk into a restaurant; it’s always everyone’s go-to.”
Felice said he relishes the responses from hungry patrons.
“What’s really special is seeing familiar faces and our fans, as well as a lot of people who are like, ‘This is the craziest thing ever.’”
