Every year, our US Open piece is among our more popular posts of the summer. Since our first one three years ago, we have gotten enough e-mail from readers to know that: (1) nobody likes a sub-par lobster roll, (2) $4.00 for a non-alcoholic drink is pushing the envelope of acceptable pricing, and (3) hungry fans will eat just about anything when hard-pressed, and not always willingly. So this year, we took a slightly different approach at the Open, forgoing the lobster rolls in favor of a thoroughgoing search for the best two dishes on offer at the tournament. And as with most concessionary food, what constitutes ‘the best’ here is not on par with what you might find in Flushing, right outside the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center’s gates.

At the same time, it is clear that someone in the Open’s event team has started thinking more seriously about the quality of the food. Yes, there are still missteps like the nightmarish beef and mozzarella churrasco Franken-crepe and the more mundane, but equally dry and terrible ‘deli style’ roast beef sandwich. But among the dreck, there are a few new and quite decent options, like the shrimp and lobster salad with citrus vinaigrette (pictured below, $18.75), a large, well-composed romaine salad with very fresh grape and cherry tomatoes and a lightly-dressed seafood salad that contains nearly as much lobster as shrimp. Even better, the vendors have kept the price of their lobster roll stable at $17 and have eliminated their teensy crab cake sandwich.

Our second pick is one that we suspect is being test-marketed at the Open. The tomato and mozzarella panini (pictured above, $9.50) are available only in two Italian Experience stalls, both of which are inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, which means that only visitors with reserved seats in the massive, 23,000 seat arena can access them. But it is also not too difficult to sneak into Ashe, especially late in the afternoon, after the final day match there has been played. If non-traditional panini, made on sweet, naan-like flatbread sound compelling, then a little crafty rule-breaking might in order. Just do anything to avoid having to eat that churrasco crepe.