How does one of Delaware’s best sandwich shops find its way into Citizens Bank Park?

To hear Michael Ioannoni tell it, it isn’t easy. It takes a year, and maybe a little luck.

Last year, it turns out, a couple of people from Coca-Cola found their way into his little sandwich shop, Ioannoni’s Speciality Sandwiches, tucked into one side of a Basin Road parking lot at the edge of New Castle. At Ioannoni's, all is as it should be: The meat comes fresh-sliced, the roast beef house-roasted, the cutlets breaded in-house.

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The bread might come from one of three bakeries, depending on the sandwich. A custom Cacia’s for the cutlets and roast pork. Seeded Liscio’s on the cheesesteaks. Serpe & Sons for the hoagies.

And so Coca-Cola tried those cutlets at Ioannoni’s. They tried that succulent roast pork with broccoli rabe and sharp prov.

Coca-Cola ate. And they liked what they ate.

More: 4 Delaware sandwiches you gotta try, including Ioannoni's roast pork

And so they invited Ioannoni up to the ballpark last year. They kept talking. And finally, this season, one of the greatest sandwiches in Delaware will be served at the ballpark, at Coca Cola Corner in left field.

Ioannoni’s will be the only Delaware spot repping food at the ballpark, despite the legions of Phillies fans from northern Delaware — so many that the pre-game crowd for every Phils game turns Ioannoni’s into the sandwich equivalent of I-95.

Which Ioannoni's sandwich? When? That’s still up for grabs, and under discussion. But for a home game series this season, the sandwich pride of New Castle will be in Citizens Bank Park.

Ioannoni says he hasn't been told which sandwich the ballpark team has chosen as their favorite. Maybe you’ll get that cutlet. And maybe you’ll get that roast pork. We’ll keep you posted.

In the meantime, we stopped by the media preview at Citizens Bank Park on March 25 to see what other new treats will be in store at the greatest home to ballpark food in America. (Citizens Bank ranked a mere fourth-best stadium food in America, in USA TODAY's 10Best this year, based on reader votes. But we believe what we believe.)

So what’s new this year? And what food should you order? We came. We tasted. Here’s the scoop.

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What's new at Citizens Bank Park in 2024

At media preview day, March 25, Phillies leadership rolled out everything new for the year. New merch, including a maybe too-festive Phillie Phanatic hat with green hair waving in the breeze like Bermuda grass. There's also some new, definitely not-creepy facial recognition technology that'll let your face serve as your ticket to the ballpark.

And especially, there's a new contest-winning mural above Ashburn Alley, from Colombia-born South Jersey artist Jose "Busta" Bustamante. The mural, by the Mantua Township artist, depicts youth in Phils Jerseys both new and old, honoring both history and the Phils fans of the future.

And then there was the food. The stadium will continue serving favorites like the Chickie's and Pete's crabfries and the cheesesteaks of Tony Luke's or Uncle Charlie's. Pizza from Jersey Shore favorite Manco & Manco will now be served at more locations inside Philly's Citizens Bank Park (seven) than in the entire state of New Jersey.

But for the first time in years, there will also be hoagies, as South Philly legend Primo Hoagies returns to the ballpark. There'll be a local-ish whiskey, Four Walls, co-owned by native son and “It’s Always Sunny” star Rob McElhenney.

There will be a bacon-and-egg hamburger designed by Kyle Schwarber, some sorta space-age mozzarella sticks, and something called a “flaming pickleback wing.” P-shaped pretzels will be served with a mustard from Mets country. Other novelties include funnel cake sundaes, vegan buffalo chicken hoagies, and Citizens Bank Park's own answer to the McRib.

All food, including partnerships with familiar Philadelphia or Jersey or Delaware names, will be served by workers from stadium vendor Aramark.

Here’s the dish on the new Phillies ballpark meals and snacks for 2024 — where to find them, and how they tasted at the media preview.

Italian and turkey hoagies from Primo

PrimoHoagies, behind section 139

Why did Citizens Bank Park not have a hoagie until this season? The official answer, according to Aramark, was that you didn’t order it enough last time Primo was at the park. Likely this is because locals have long enjoyed the privilege of bringing outside hoagies to any Phillies game, including Primo but maybe also Pastificio or Vincenzo's or Antonio's or Ricci's.

But here's the thing. A Phils stadium needs to represent its city, and the hoagie is Philly's truest blue-collar food. For decades, Primo has been the South Philly hoagie’s ambassador to the outside world, and this is its role at Citizen's Bank. Hoagies should be here for visiting Mets fans, to taunt them for the crime of living in the wrong part of New Jersey.

Besides, getting a hoagie at Citizens Bank should not require you to stop at a hoagie shop on the way. The hoagies should already be here for you. And now, they are. This, too, is a privilege. Welcome back, Primo.

Rating: 10 out of 10 on a ballpark-food scale. This rating, a perfect 10/10, represents our 100% firmly held belief that this hoagie should be here, at Citizens Bank Park, for the citizens of Phillies Nation.

Bull's BBQ Rib Sandwich

Bull's BBQ, Left field plaza

The boneless rib sandwich is a conundrum. Ribs are not boneless. The McRib, famously, is terrifying. And if rib meat actually does fall off the bone, it's probably overcooked.

Imagine our surprise. This sandwich, at former Phillies slugger Greg Luzinski's eponymous Bull's BBQ, is a lovely little piece of engineering. The ribs within the Liscio's roll were recognizably rib meat, with that same shattery texture. There were no tragic ribbons of un-rendered fat, no overlathered sweet sauce, no overprocessed meat. The bread and meat got a little dry under the heat lamps at the press preview, sure. But the sandwich we tasted was a generous slab of rib, on a roll, with a welcome bit of tang and spice. Nice work, Luzinski.

Rating: 8/10 on a ballpark-food scale. In a region not known for barbecue, this rib sandwich is actually better than quite a few rando BBQ spots we decline to name.

'Angry Caesar Salad'

Pass and Stow, Third Base Plaza

Are we… giving positive notice to a ballpark Caesar salad? Well…. yes. Yes, we are. The addition of hot chili peppers to a lightly dressed, low-effort Caesar is an oddly inspired form of fair food. The greens were crisp. The heat was bracing. The croutons were croutons.

The dressing... well... is it Caesar? We weren't sure. It was hardly overflowing with anchovy, nor thickly creamy. But it was light, and bright, with a salutary dose of chili fire. And it's probably the healthiest food we could expect to order and enjoy at a ballpark.

Rating: 7.5/10 on a ballpark scale.

Ballpark brat

Pass and Stow, Third Base Plaza

The brat lacks much snap, we’ll say. But it is a big and fatty gush of meat with a little bit of char. The onions are braised. The mustard is spicy. The roll is Liscio's, as is nearly everything baked at the ballpark. With dollar dogs gone, we might as well upgrade to whatever these will cost.

Rating: 7/10 on a ballpark-food scale

Loaded funnel cake fry sundae

Coca Cola Corner, left field

Did you ever need convincing that all ballpark food is fundamentally fair food? Look no further than this glob of strawberry-syruped vanilla-esque soft serve ice cream atop funnel cake "fries." If the "fries" were a bit crisper on their outside — and if they had the interior airiness of state fair funnel cake — it would be a perfect ballpark novelty. As it stands, they were a little rubbery. But still: Fried dough and soft serve is delicious. We aren't dead inside!

Rating: 7/10

'Big Mozz' Mozzarella Sticks

Pass and Stow, Coca Cola Corner, and 1883 Burger (behind sections 108 and 207)

We were promised the "best-tasting mozzarella sticks ever" in stadium marketing materials. What we received are mozzarella sticks of a much more earthly nature. Resoundingly cheesy, if perhaps a bit oily. But here's the thing: All mozzarella sticks taste good. These also did.

Rating: 6.5/10

Ballpark Bomb Fries

PJ Whelihans, Ashburn Alley

Hello, PJ Whelihan's. You found the middle of the plate: Buffalo-spiced chicken, crumbled bleu cheese, and bits of celery, all spread out over salty french fries. These are known flavors. These are good flavors. We have no idea how to judge the fries themselves, which mushed up under their long stay under hot lamps. But still, it was not enough to trouble us: This is, at heart, spicy poutine. As a ballpark proposition, we accept.

Rating: 6/10

Schwarburger 2.0

Coca Cola Corner, left field

Thank you, Kyle Schwarber, for the home runs. But for every home run, there are many misses. And this is one. This burger at Coca-Cola Corner, ostensibly designed by the slugger himself, involves a middle-hard egg, some thin bacon, and some special sauce that tastes pretty mayo-heavy. It also involves a burger with a too-tight grind and a somewhat rubbery texture. The bun is undistinguished, but quite large. For a better stadium burger, hit up Aramark's 1883 burger stand.

Rating: 5/10

Vegan Buffalo Chik'n Hoagie

Greens & Grains, Section 125

We have enjoyed much at Jersey's vegan Greens & Grains, especially a spot-on "chik'n" parm. But this Buffalo chik'n po'boy (we're not calling it a hoagie) just didn't have the texture nailed. The chik'n bits lacked crispness at the preview, and the mayo-like vegan sauce is oddly sour. We're getting the Greens & Grains parm instead, with thanks.

Rating: 4/10

Pickleback Wings

PJ Whelihan's, Ashburn Alley

Wings will rotate each month at PJ Whelihan's. But the initial "wings" on offer at the press tasting were not wings. They were, instead, slightly soggy Buffalo fingers attacked by a hail of dill pickle bits.

We understand if no one wants to introduce chicken bones to a baseball stadium. But be honest with us. Trust us with the knowledge these are "fingers." Which, we admit, also are not technically fingers.

Rating: 4/10

Matthew Korfhage is business and development reporter in the Delaware region covering all the things that touch land and money. A longtime food writer, he also tends to turn up with stories about tacos, oysters, beer, and wings. Send tips and insults to mkorfhage@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Here's the best new food at Citizens Bank Park in 2024. We tasted it