Hungry M’s fans can enjoy tasty crickets, other treats

Baseball, beer and hot dogs are pretty much an all-star menu for summer fun.

It doesn’t matter what kind or where it takes place, or even if your team wins or loses, you’ll have the perfect combo.

Unless you’re a creature of habit and must stick with your staples, it also can be fun to experiment a little with your food and beverage choices next time you’re at Safeco Field. Plus, Centerplate, the food vendor, is always updating the menus to reflect user suggestions, so you never know what will be served.

Here’s what’s coming in 2017.

1. Grasshoppers. Not the minty mixed drink but the real-deal crunchy bug (but it’s polite to call them chapaulines, an alleged culinary delicacy imported from the Oaxaca region of Mexico). They’re flavored with chili-lime salt seasoning for a little extra spice and are worth trying or buying for a friend.

2. Seattle ‘Wings.’ That’s the nickname for tasty fried oysters from Taylor’s Shellfish Farms, which are given extra zing with Frank’s Red Hot sauce. Or if you must have chicken, get a batch of fried bird that’s been marinated in buttermilk.

3. More sweets than your dentist wants to have. Get a sugar rush from Italian ice, frozen rope (ice cream sandwiches rolled in different toppings) or frozen custard cookie sandwiches.

4. Think global. Diners can also enjoy multicultural options at different snack bars, including Chinese, Mexican, and Italian.

5. Big burgers. Fans of Great State Burger can eat their weight in organic beef – or a veggie variety. You also can get seasonal veggies deep-fried as topping, and enjoy crinkle-cut fries or the famous garlic fries as a side.

6. Go dog go. Longtime Seattle stadium food enthusiasts are excited about the return of Fletcher’s as the official hot dog of the Mariners. The all-beef dog was a staple at the Kingdome and has been on many people’s wish lists for a return.