By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
My, how life has changed in 2022.
The popular $16 nachos in the Las Vegas Aviators batting helmet used to be piled up so high back in the good ol’ days that the mountain of chips, guacamole, salsa and other nachos foodstuffs extended beyond the brim of the upside-down plastic helmet.
But this season at Las Vegas Ballpark in suburban Summerlin, Aviators fans who bought the helmet nachos noticed something different — the pile of nachos was smaller than in previous Aviators seasons, not even peaking above the helmet brim.
And they still cost the same $16.
When the chips were down, LVSportsBiz.com stepped up. We took the mysterious helmet nachos caper to the top of the food chain at Levy Restaurants, the Las Vegas Ballpark food concessionaire, and got to the bottom of this nachos conundrum.
The explanation: Levy workers were still piling in about a pound’s worth of chips, cheese and nachos elements. But there was one change this season: a new, thinner nachos chip.
This new chip was less robust than the previous nachos chip. So when the nachos items were piled in the helmet, the thinner chips made the pile look smaller. The new chip thickness was about one-sixteenth of an inch less than that of the previous chips, so when layered in the helmet the mountain of nachos went from Everest to Kilimanjaro.
It’s not like fans of the Triple A team stopped eating the nachos.
LVSportsBiz.com spotted fans around the ballpark Saturday night still munching the chips, including a pleasant security worker who offered a reporter his Aviators nachos helmet.
At a previous game, here’s a fan munching the helmet nachos while wearing an Aviators helmet that used to hold the nachos from a previous feast.
The obvious question: will Levy Restaurants return to the bigger nachos chip?
Stay tuned for future developments in this nachos drama.
The Aviators play Sunday at 6PM with fireworks after the game.