New food, new ways to order at Great American

Every year, there is something new to eat and drink at Great American Ball Park. This year, there are also some new ways to order that should make getting your beer, your hot dogs and your Belgian waffles with strawberries go faster. That way, you'll spend less time waiting in line and more time watching the game.

If you just want to grab a quick Budweiser, Bud Light or Goose Island, you can get it at one of 20 new self-serve draft beer stations. Each has four taps, adding a total of 80 new ones in GABP. They'll be at 10 locations — six on the Terrace level (from foul pole to foul pole), three on the View level (at home plate between first and third base) and one in Champions Club.

Drinkers pay by the ounce, using cards that can be bought in the ballpark's retail shops in denominations of $20 and $100. It takes about 19 seconds to fill your beer.

• Opening Day 2015: Everything you need to know for Cincinnati's day

It's the largest number of these stations in professional sports, according to a representative for DraftServ Technologies, which makes the units. They're rolling the stations out with those beers because they're the stadium's most popular, but they could add other beers, including craft or local, in the future.

Starting with the second home stand, four new kiosks will be set up near the Long Bar where fans can submit and pay for an order with the swipe of a card. Choices includes hometown favorites Frisch's, La Rosa's, Skyline, Penn Station and Taste of Belgium, plus a hot dog stand. The order can then be picked up at an express line at each stand.

New in the concession line-up is the Fry Box, which will serve hand-cut fries topped with a Buffalo-chicken mix, pulled pork, or pot roast, or with either ranch or truffle salt. It will be opposite Mr. Red's Smokehouse.

Ole Smoky Moonshine will take over the Party Barn, an event space for groups adjacent to Mr. Red's Smokehouse. Even if you're not part of a private party there, you'll be able to buy the Tennessee distillery's three moonshine cocktails at concession stands throughout the ballpark. There's Mr. Redlegs Punch — and because it's made with 80 proof Hunch Punch Moonshine, it does, indeed, pack a punch — and the lighter, fruity Ballpark Berry Lemonade and Apple Pie Slammer.

The Smokehouse will still have its delicious, monstrous turkey leg, prime rib and pulled pork. As they've done for a few years, they'll offer specials themed to the visiting team. There's smoked stuffed cardinal (actually quail) when St. Louis is in town, and it's a very fun thing to chew the bones of a little, delicious bronzed, smoked quail while watching a game. When Pittsburgh's in town, it will be a Primanti-style sandwich, and smoked soft-shell crab when the Nationals are here from D.C. (That one's not for everyone, but a great surprise if you're a soft-shell fan.)

The sports-bar-style restaurant at the park, The Machine Room, does extra-good versions of standard sports-bar food. New this year is bacon on a stick. Drenched in Ohio maple syrup and chili pepper, the thick-cut bacon is broiled to crisp, sticky deliciousness. If it goes well in the restaurant, I vote for a bacon-on-a-stick concession stands all over the ballpark. The Machine Room mac and cheese is perfect, and you can get it with a layer of tender pot roast underneath. The grilled cheese sandwich is made with aged cheddar, gruyere, and smoked provolone, with an egg or bacon optional.

With the All-Star game here this year, there are some upscale additions that will be rolled out during the season. For now, the special rolling carts serving various specialties will be in the luxury suites, but look for them in the concourse later. One is customized guacamole, made to order. Another is a carving station, but using large roasted tomahawk steaks instead of prime rib or big sirloins. With roasted fingerling potatoes and mushrooms, this is worth getting in line for if you see it. There's also a cold rolling cart that could be used for a raw bar on wheels, with oysters, crab claws and shrimp, or for sushi or dessert.

The biggest change in the ballpark restaurants is the conversion of the Riverfront Club to the Handlebar, with a buffet on the theme of "gastropub meets the ballpark." The menu includes Korean barbecue on scallion pancakes, Moroccan chicken osso bucco, and infused, compressed fruit. That dish includes intriguing flavor combinations such as blood orange infused with sambucca, orange-sage canteloup and mint and rosemary honeydew.