Phoenix, AZ - April 3, 1998-- Bank One Ballpark (BOB), the new home of the Arizona Diamondbacks, officially opened on Tuesday, March 31, when the game commenced at the $354 million stadium. And like ballparks of yesteryear, food will be a big part of the "baseball experience."

Restaura, Inc., of Phoenix, is Bank One Ballpark's main concessionaire, occupying a total of 130,000 square feet of foodservice space...the equivalent of three large supermarkets.

The 1,260,000-square-foot stadium, with its retractable roof and natural grass, is situated on 23 acres of downtown Phoenix and has been under construction since 1995. BOB will seat 48,500 baseball fans.

"This has been a major project for us," said Joseph K. Fassler, Restaura's president and chief executive officer. "Our operation is the most advanced installation found in any stadium or arena in the country. We planned it to incorporate four key facets: menu variety, fast speed of service, quality products and an exciting atmosphere. It's all there."

Refreshments Will Be Abundant

The food and beverage offerings at BOB include food stands, kiosks, bar lounges, picnic areas, beer gardens, hawkers, beverage stands and clubhouse dining spots. "Everywhere you look, there will be fun and food," Fassler says. On the five floor levels, there are 38 permanent food stands featuring 210 point-of-sale locations. One hundred sixty-two of those are Restaura's, and 48 are branded concepts, like McDonald's, Blimpie, Garcia's, Little Caesars Pizza, and more.

To please the youngsters, there is the Peanut Gallery, (a kids stand) serving: candy, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, and chicken tenders.

Sixty-one portable kiosks provide dining variety throughout the spacious concourses, including grilled hot dogs and sausages, pizza, sandwiches, beer, sno-cones, yogurt, cotton candy, ice cream and a farmer's market selling fresh fruits and vegetables.

"Since there are no breaks in baseball, it is essential that we make it easy for patrons to buy their food and get back to their seats without a long wait," Fassler said.

Fine Dining At Bank One Ballpark

In addition to the concession operations, Restaura will provide fine restaurant dining in several areas. Two mini-bar lounges and a clubhouse lounge with a full-service buffet and hand-carved sandwiches are featured on the field level behind home plate. The three lounges will service the 1,450 dugout club seats on the field level. Also, there is in-seat waiter/waitress service of food and beverages to the dugout club seats, with Restaura waiters taking orders on hand-held electronic remotes that instantly relay orders to the kitchen.

"We have approximately 2,000 Restaura employees and there'll be a total of more than 3,000 foodservice workers with all the sub-concessionaires," said Dan Mijajlovic, vice president and general manager of Restaura's leisure and entertainment group. "Bank One Ballpark guests will be dazzled by our operations. They'll find an unmatched blend of leading edge technology, first-rate service and the broadest range of menu options in a traditional baseball setting."

On the club/suite level, there are two lounges located at either end of the concourse. Each lounge features a cocktail bar and specialty grill stand, as well as pasta buffet and hand-built sandwiches. Additional services include in-seat food and beverage service to 4,400 club seats, as well as catered service to 69 private suites.

On the upper level, Restaura will be catering to fans in a banquet room and six spacious party suites with sweeping walls of glass overlooking the game. These suites will be rented for specific games.

Perched on a tiered level outside, picnic tables will seat 400 fans looking for a relaxed family experience while the game is played below. Restaura will offer a group picnic menu ranging from traditional barbecued chicken and hamburgers to grilled Ahi tuna and beef tenderloin.

Arizona Baseball Club -- The Crown Jewel

The crown jewel of Restaura's foodservice is the Arizona Baseball Club, a 315-seat restaurant and bar featuring chefs cooking in an open exhibition kitchen, as well as a premier buffet and deli bar for quick service. With a glass-walled panoramic view of the field, the club is decorated in rich mahogany with copper accents. Guests can watch the game on television monitors while they dine inside the restaurant, or they can also enjoy live game viewing from open-air tiered seating.

The design of the foodservice kitchens and concessions are being directed by Restaura's in-house engineering department headed by John Ognjanov, vice president of engineering. "This is the biggest and most exciting project we have ever undertaken," Ognjanov said. "More than 375 individual plan sheet drawings and designs had to be completed for the project. We believe it's a state-of-the-art foodservice operation and a master design concept for stadiums of the future."

Restaura, Inc., is one of the nation's leading dining services contractors, providing restaurant-scale cuisine to more than 300 entities, including America West Arena, Mercedes-Benz, Reader's Digest, Delta Air Lines corporate office, and Bausch  Lomb, to name a few.

Restaura is a subsidiary of Phoenix-based Viad Corp, (NYSE:VVI), a $2.5 billion Standard  Poor's MidCap 400 services company that includes airline catering, convention services, payment services and travel and leisure companies.