Mississauga restaurateur blew the lid off a Toronto Raptors game
Published April 4, 2024 at 1:51 pm
A Mississauga restaurateur got the opportunity to serve his eats at a Toronto Raptors game this week, and he absolutely blew people away with his flavours.
Rick’s Good Eats made an appearance at a Raptors game this week for South Asian Heritage Night. What better way to represent than to serve up butter chicken loaded fries and chaat fries?
While still arena-friendly, the dishes were definitely a departure from the usual game fare of popcorn and hot dogs (but the fries still go great with beer). There were also musical and dance performances highlighting South Asian culture to celebrate the special evening.
“We sold out of our butter chicken loaded fries and chaat fries by the beginning of the fourth quarter. I went to go check up on the team, and not going to lie, wanted some butter chicken loaded fries. They were serving up their last portions and I was just overwhelmed with joy,” says Rick’s Good Eats owner Rick Matharu.
“To have manifested this a few years back to this really coming true was a dream come true. Chef Chris who is the culinary director at MLSE called us a few weeks back to ask if we would join to serve our Punjabi Canadian classics at the game and it was a no brainer.”
Rick’s Good Eats was stationed at the Poutinerie at Section 120 and 321, and a huge jumbotron display alerted hungry fans to their presence.
“How crazy is it, I’m walking through the Scotiabank Centre with my butter chicken loaded fries,” Matharu said in a post to his Instagram story. “You know, when I first started the restaurant, I was like, you know what would be cool? If the butter chicken loaded fries or my food was at an arena like this. Eight years later, boom.”
If you missed South Asian Heritage Night but still want to get a taste of Rick’s Good Eats, you can always check out the Punjabi-Canadian comfort food at their two restaurant locations in Mississauga and Brampton.
And while it was the first time Rick’s Good Eats popped up at a game, Matharu is confident it won’t be the last. He even hopes to one day have a full-time concession stand with MLSE. There will also be lots of other ways to experience Rick’s outside of the restaurants coming up soon.
“This year we will be working with Live Nation and serving up good eats there throughout the year at Budweiser Stage and at events like CNE, TIFF, Collision Tech and other big events in the city with our food truck,” says Matharu.