Tour Wife Tales with Kelsey Anderson: Player Dining Hall of Fame

This blog topic was a suggestion from one of my readers who asked me to rank ATP Tour events based on the quality of the food offerings. Although this may sound like a silly topic, if I’ve learned anything in my time on tour, it is that player satisfaction with a tournament seems directly correlated to their satisfaction with the player’s café.

I have said countless times that a tournament trying to please the players should hire the best caterer in town because food is what competitors seem to sit around all day and talk about. Our team has spent more time than I would like to admit discussing and debating which tournaments offer the best food and why.

Naturally, providing healthy, fresh and tasty options for a player to eat on-site is important, but there are also other less obvious factors at play to determine overall food satisfaction. Players appreciate variety, affordability, and a comfortable atmosphere.

Variety in food choices is critical because with such a diverse and multinational group of individuals, there are many different palates and diets that tournaments must accommodate. Additionally, throughout a week Kevin probably consumes give or take 50% of his meals onsite, so eating the same few things gets old very quickly.

Affordability at player dining is also important, because although players are given a food stipend at the tournament restaurant, their team (or at least part of their team) often has to pay for food. Some cafes are notoriously expensive. On principle alone I’ve chosen to eat elsewhere rather than shelling out 45 euros for my own lunch. (45 euros! I mean really!).

Finally, players do remark often on the size and congestion of the cafe. If players have to wait too long to order food, or are unable to find a place to sit afterwards it is definitely less than ideal.

So with these 4 criteria in mind (quality, variety, affordability and comfort) I offer you my analysis of the best player restaurants on tour. I also must include the disclaimer that ALL of these tournaments are in the “player dining hall of fame”; they have hit it out of the park and it feels nearly impossible to rank one above the other. That being said, here is my “Elite 8”:

1. Shanghai Rolex Masters:

This café is most renowned for the fact that they fly in Michelin rated chefs from around the world to cook for the players. You can choose to eat from a “restaurant style” menu or the full buffet. My personal favorite stop is the impressive dessert spread. This restaurant is also equipped with an espresso bar, and friendly well-trained servers. If none of that suits your fancy, they are happy to create a custom dish for you. Don’t want to eat in? They happily will box up a meal for you to takeaway. To top it off, the vibe is spectacular; they have created a chic lounge with tons of seating. All the offerings are free for players and their guests. You are in for a real treat if you ever have a chance to visit this lovely player café.

Quality: ★★★★

Variety: ★★★★

Affordability: ★★★★

Comfort: ★★★★

2. Aegon Championships at The Queens Club:

Tea Time in the Players Lounge #AegonChampionships #Queens 🇬🇧 ☕️ 😍

A photo posted by Kelsey O'Neal Anderson (@kelseyoanderson) on

The tournament at Queens goes above and beyond to spoil players in almost every capacity, so it is no surprise that their food is some of the best on tour. With the help of a friendly and accommodating staff, you can enjoy top quality dishes. This year they introduced a smoothie bar as well as self-serve espresso machines, which I really enjoyed. Miss lunch because you were on court? Never worry! In England, and at Queens, “tea-time” is an almost sacred daily event where you can enjoy gourmet finger sandwiches, cakes and other treats. Every year, much to the dismay of my diet, I have an all out feeding frenzy at this tournament. Luckily, or maybe not so luckily for my waistband, the event is incredibly generous with allowing family and guests of players to enjoy the lovely dining available. The space is also calm and comfortable, which is actually brilliant considering the rest of the year it operates as an indoor tennis court!

Quality: ★★★★

Variety: ★★★

Affordability: ★★★★

Comfort: ★★★★

3. Australian Open:

They call the Australian Open the “Happy Slam” because players are often jovial and friendly after spending some time apart during the off-season. I have a different theory: players are happy because their bellies are too! The food in Melbourne offers healthy and delicious options. A unique touch is the yogurt bar where you can build a custom parfait. I also like the healthy juice and smoothie bar. Beyond that they cover all the bases with a pasta station, salad bar, sushi bar, gourmet sandwich station, and coffee bar. If you’ve had a rough day you can order a glass (or a bottle!) of Jacob’s Creek wine. They are also generous with food allowances, which is very much appreciated by the players.

Quality: ★★★★

Variety: ★★★★

Affordability: ★★

Comfort: ★★★★

4. Wimbledon:

As a tournament that prides itself on being a cut above the rest, Wimbledon certainly does not disappoint with respect to player dining. With restaurants located both near the practice courts and the main locker rooms, players and their teams are never far from a satisfying meal. I personally love the humongous salad bars, and the cute little sandwich shop. They also offer Wimbledon staples such as strawberries and cream as well as sconces with jam and clotted cream. (Yum! Is anyone else hungry?!). You are also in luck if you fancy a smoothie or coffee. Players are given generous daily stipends on their badge, but once that runs out meals and snacks can be pricey especially with the strength of the GBP these days. Parts of the seating area overlook tennis courts and the grounds, so you can enjoy some of the action while you nosh. One downside is that at busy times finding a seat can be difficult. However, this year when Kevin’s Mum couldn’t find a seat she shared a table with the famous singer Drake. Not such a bad tradeoff to a slightly cramped space!

Quality: ★★★★

Variety: ★★★★

Affordability: ★

Comfort: ★★★

5. US Open

Although Kevin and I love this player restaurant, for some reason US Open’s player dining doesn’t seem to be that well-liked by other players. We think it has a great variety of options including sushi, salads, sandwiches, carving station, pasta stations, flatbread pizzas, smoothies, cereals, and snacks. I personally enjoy the brown rice and quinoa sushi just like they make it at Whole Foods. Everything I’ve had there is tasty, and it all is pretty reasonably priced. I’m not sure why it doesn’t have a better reputation among players; the only thing I can figure out is that the seating area is very limited and it is often difficult to find a place to eat. One year I had to sit on the floor with my girlfriend to eat lunch, which I didn’t mind, but surely this would not go over well with a competitor. I know US Open has taken steps to remedy the space issue and it seems to have improved year over year.

Quality: ★★★★

Variety: ★★★★

Affordability: ★★

Comfort: ★★

6. Mutua Madrid Open

The food in Madrid is sometimes forgotten, but I think on the whole quite special. The offerings are gourmet in nature, and very delicious. It might be the only tour event where you can have a fillet steak for dinner! They always have a nice selection of salads, pasta station, stir-fry, and very delicious desserts. A few years ago Kevin’s coach and friend GD must have subsisted for the week solely on the bite-sized chocolate mousse from the café. I can also share this little known fact about the food at Madrid: the caterer for this event also prepared food for the wedding of tennis stars Jurgen Melzer and Iveta Benesova in 2012. It is definitely one of the best player restaurants on tour.

Quality: ★★★★

Variety: ★★★

Affordability: ★

Comfort: ★★★

7. BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells

Indian Wells overhauled their dining options in 2015, and though the player offerings were not bad before, now it is really excellent. They have the standard salad bar, pasta station, sushi chef, sandwiches and carving station. They fire up an outdoor grill everyday for all-American fare such as chicken, burgers and hot-dogs. A great addition to the restaurant this year was the juice and smoothie bar. Players and their teams really enjoyed snacking on the healthful dragon-fruit and acai berry bowls. Another unique thing about Indian Wells, is that they tournament has 3 top class restaurants on site: Nobu, Chop House, and Piero’s Pizzavino. Players receive a certificate to these on-site restaurants as a player-gift, which is a generous and special touch. Indian Wells is another tournament that goes above and beyond to be the best tournament for players and fans alike, and it shows.

Quality: ★★★

Variety: ★★★★

Affordability: ★★★

Comfort: ★★★★

8. Citi Open Washington DC

Citi Open receives my vote for the “most improved” player café on tour, bar none. When I first started attending this event the restaurant was in the basement of center court and offered only 2 catering trays of premade pasta and salad. This year Citi Open was as good as any of my favorite player restaurants on tour and they generously allowed our entire team to eat for free. They have a delicious salad bar, make your own pasta station, sandwiches and amazing smoothies. The tournament is also sponsored by KIND Brand so there is never a shortage of healthy snacks and granola bars scattered around the restaurant and player lounge. Located in a spacious and comfortable tent, Citi Open has a player restaurant they can be proud of.

Quality: ★★★

Variety: ★★★

Affordability: ★★★★

Comfort: ★★★

Other Honorable Mentions:

  • Stockholm: They serve special treats such as warm soft pretzels and cinnamon rolls throughout the day, and it is hard not to enjoy Swedish meatballs – YUM!
  • Beijing: I haven’t personally been there but I have heard good things.
  • Rome: Also vastly improved in 2015, and they offer super generous daily meal allocations on player’s badges. It is hard not to enjoy Italian-style food!

I’m sure my personal rankings will spark some humorous banter amongst the tour players over the next few days as everyone has their own personal favorites and opinions. One thing is for sure though, writing this post made me hungry! Better go grab some grub before I hit the court this evening. Bon appétit!

3 Responses

  1. RZ
    RZ August 24, 2015 at 12:27 pm |

    Thanks Kelsey. I’m hungry now! 🙂
    How about a post on which tournaments you and Kevin enjoy attending based on location (i.e., things to do/see when not playing, ease of getting around including to and from the tournament site and practice courts, food options outside the site, etc.)?

  2. James
    James August 29, 2015 at 11:44 am |

    Yummy! I’ve been to some of the players’ restaurants at the smaller tourneys and they seem to be almost always buffet style… but good!

  3. Andy
    Andy August 30, 2015 at 2:00 am |

    Just want to say thank you for doing this write ups…really gives us great perspective!

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