Dallas Cowboys and AT&T Stadium revamp their game day offerings with really good from-scratch food, including authentic trompo tacos al pastor, a Texas-shaped chicken waffle sandwich, decadent gelato

The culinary team at AT&T Stadium has revamped its menu, introducing some surprisingly good dishes that convince you to make a meal out of your next visit to the Arlington arena.

The stadium’s executive chef, Tony Sinese, says he and the rest of his culinary team understand that “food is just as important to our guests as the game.” The items are spread out across the stadium, so you may have to hunt them down.

Fans can expect to find some real powerhouses like pork trompo tacos al pastor (upper concourse sections 408 & 438) and a two-fisted chicken-and-waffle sandwich with pecan-maple mayo and bacon (main concourse sections 218 & 243) on the new menu, which launches at the Dallas Cowboy season opener this weekend.

“More than 95 percent of our dishes are made from scratch in our kitchens here,” Sinese told me at a menu preview last week. That includes those waffles (Texas shaped and made from scratch), those tacos (though the tortillas are made locally rather than in-house), giant half-pound chocolate chip cookie, and a handful of excellent gelato (main concourse sections 210 and 235) made without any commercial bases (I know the plural is gelati, but let’s agree to call them gelato anyway). Also new to the menu: chicken and glazed beef skewers stacked atop fried rice (end zones).

Know what I’d skip? Something called a Heaven and Hell Burger, which starts off right (lettuce, tomato, beef burger, garlic aioli) than takes a hard left with a big, bland, Cheetos-crusted, fried puck of mac and cheese.

Sinese says the team focus-grouped the new items. Guess who wasn’t in the focus group that tasted that burger? People who know good food. Those people were in the group that tasted the goods coming out of pastry chef Marcelo Guevara’s pastry kitchen. There, he and his team of nearly two dozen pastry chefs turn out some really, really good stuff: chocolate mint mochi, lemon buttermilk gelato, banana gelato made from roasted bananas, those fantastic half-pound chocolate chip cookies, terrific biscotti, even fine Belgian chocolates. If it’s sweet and on the menu, order it.