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Practically Perfect PNC Park

Official Review by Steven Bieniek, Stadium Journey Regional Correspondent

Pittsburgh's beautiful PNC Park receives accolades as being one of the best of the 21st century ballparks. There is no doubt that the Pirates did everything right. Location, scenery, and fitting tributes to the Pirates rich history are all done just right. Unfortunately what's missing has been the product and patrons. The Pirates completed their 19th consecutive losing season in 2011. Despite its beauty, the lack of a contending team has left the stands relatively empty, and has deprived this treasure of the full appreciation that it richly deserves. If the Pirates can contribute a winning team, then this ballpark can be one of the best in baseball.

Food & Beverage    5

To get the bad out of the way, make sure you're prepared to spend some money. As with most major league stadiums, everything is expensive. If you want to avoid this expense, PNC Park does allow you to bring in your own bag (I saw quite a few Subway bags) and a bottle of unopened water. But if you're going to this ballpark, getting to eat here is part of the grand experience. To start, the overall variety is one that would be tough to be matched. There is a mix of local favorites and your normal ballpark fare.

Local favorites include Primanti Bros., Quaker Steak & Lube Wings, Rita's Italian Ice, and new in 2012 is Nakama Hibachi Grill. Chickie's and Pete's is also new at the ballpark in 2012, and has their one-of-a-kind (and can't miss) crab fries.

At random stands throughout the ballpark you will also find unique ballpark items, such as buffalo chicken strips, chicken fries, funnel cake fries, pulled pork nachos and a fill-your-own slurpee stand.

There is a stand behind center field called Manny's Grill that uses an actual grill for its burgers and also serves pulled pork sliders. Behind home plate there is also an ice cream stand that serves both soft serve and scooped ice cream with at least 6 flavors. Finally, there is also a healthy option stand called Just4U on the third base side.

The second thing that makes this stadium great is the quality of the food itself. The funnel cake fries had the proper amount of powdered sugar, the burgers were grilled perfectly, and Hibachi chicken was restaurant-quality especially after you added a little bit of soy sauce. There will always be a few misses in every ballpark, but it seems like there are fewer in PNC Park. It will cost you just as much to eat in the ballpark as it would at some of the great restaurants outside the ballpark, such as Grille 36 (owned by the Pittsburgh great Jerome Bettis), so I'd suggest doing your research before you go. Places like Grille 36 are great as well, but to get the full PNC Park experience, eating in the stadium would be the best.

One stand that could easily be overlooked at the park is JD's Kettle Corn. JD's has two stands, one behind center field and one behind the third base line. There are only a few options: kettle corn, cheese corn, caramel corn, a mix of cheese and caramel corn, and finally cinnamon-coated almonds or pecans. The cheese corn alone may be worth the price of your ticket. If you're used to the dry cheese corn you get in the bag, this is the complete opposite. This popcorn is served warm and if you see the workers making the popcorn, a cheese sauce is actually poured over the popcorn. Maybe eating this is not practical if you want to do anything else during the game, but it's well worth it. Your hands will be orange by time you're done, and you'll feel like you need to hose off after finishing the bag, but you won't regret getting this cheese corn.

Atmosphere    5

Pittsburgh is known for great atmospheres, whether it be at Steelers or Penguins games or even the once a decade U.S. Open that comes to Oakmont Country Club. Knowing this, PNC Park may have the best atmosphere out of all of these venues. For the first timers, it would be highly suggested to find seats directly behind the plate or on the third base side so that you can get what is arguably the best view in any stadium. You get the perfect city-scape views from this vantage point, along with a perfect view of the very large scoreboard as well. The seats are all slightly angled toward home plate so as to make sure you have a great view no matter where you sit.

There are some unique attractions (but not necessarily unique only to PNC Park) that really add to the PNC Park atmosphere. The "It's time to shoot some hot dogs" song (while the Pirate Parrot and others actually shoot hotdogs using a T-Shirt gun), the Pierogi Race, and tributes to past Pirate teams make PNC Park a truly unique place to see a game. Also, the Pirate Parrot may be one of the more underrated mascots in professional sports. One thing that has changed in 2011 is the opening video that brings out the Pirates. Every team has an opening video, and the previous years' "Pirate Ship Battle" was always fun to watch. It was a computer-generated video of pirate ships with the Pirates Logo and the opposing team's logo having a battle on the three rivers that surround the park. This video was replaced this year with a new, lesser video.

Neighborhood    5

PNC Park is located on the North Shore (Federal Street to be exact) which is an ever-growing area in Pittsburgh. Stage AE is a new venue that hosts both indoor and outdoor concerts. PNC Park is beside Heinz Field, which has the Rivers Casino on the other side of it. The Casino can be used for many things other than gambling, including a before-game dinner (the buffet is usually exceptional but pricey) or parking.

The other side of the stadium hosts a few bars that can be visited before or after each game. If you have a lot of time to kill, you can also walk across the Clemente Bridge to downtown where any number of bars, restaurants, shops and hotels can be accessed. Also for families, there is the Carnegie Science Center right beside Heinz Field.

The neighborhood should only get better in the future as well. There are already quite a few restaurants in between the two stadiums; the best (and the one that can generate the best Pittsburgh experience) is Grille 36, owned by Pittsburgh icon Jerome Bettis. More restaurants are going to be coming to the area especially after the North Shore "T" project is completed. The "T" is Pittsburgh's subway system that does not extend above downtown. Once this project is completed, you will be able to take the "T" all the way to the stadiums or the casino, which will also improve the access to the stadium.

There is no shortage of available activities before or after a game, all within walking distance of the stadium. There are also several hotels in the area as well, that make weekend trips easy.

Fans    4

No matter the sport, most Pittsburgh fans are knowledgeable, involved and extremely loyal. Considering the Pirates are in the midst of the longest losing season streak ever produced by any major American professional sports team, the fans should be commended for supporting the team as much as they have. As an example, on a recent Monday night, the "Left Field Looney's" caused a communication error between the left and center fielder of the Mets, causing a fly ball to drop. Considering this was a Monday night game and the Pirates won the game by one run, this shows the type of commitment the Pittsburgh fans have.

The fans also help make PNC Park a great place to bring families. Taking your family to summer baseball games is just an American tradition. There are rarely unruly and rude fans that come to Pirate games, so even if the team is losing, the fans and family atmosphere are winners.

Access    3

The one and only downside to PNC Park may be the parking. For those who have not been to Pittsburgh, it's a confusing city to get around as it is, let alone before the game in traffic. Stage AE has taken away more of the parking that used to exist between the stadiums, so you may be forced to park at the casino or across the river and walk across the Clemente Bridge, especially if it's a Saturday night game. If you find a lot open that's close to the stadium, it's probably going to be an average of $12 to park. If you do park at the casino or across the river, you should pay less than that, but you will walk a little farther, but not unreasonably so.

Because games usually don't sell out, getting out of PNC Park is usually not all that difficult; just make sure you know where you're going before you leave. Getting into the stadium depending on the day and time may actually be harder than getting out of the stadium. Finally, the bathrooms are as clean and accessible as any stadium, so there's nothing special to talk about in that regard.

Return on Investment    5

Pittsburgh is constantly one of the lowest cost-of-living cities in America. Tickets to a Pirate game fall right in line with this trend. Tickets range from $10 for upper grandstand seats to $180 or more for the Lexus Club behind home plate, depending on the game day and opponent.

For an added value, you can purchase a $38 left field all-you-can-eat seat. This ticket gives you a wristband in which you have your own concession stand. This stand will not include things like the cheese popcorn or specialty items mentioned earlier, but there is still plenty of common concession food from which to choose. It would be tough for management to jack up the prices of tickets too much, considering the teams' recent track record; however, after seeing a game at this stadium, it would be hard to say that you wouldn't pay more for tickets. The Pirates management has made a trip to PNC Park an experience all in itself, one that would surely put PNC Park in the top ballparks around the country.

Extras    4

One new feature for 2012 is a free program when you walk in the gates. You used to have to buy them at any random stand, but it's a nice memento to take with you. The other star is just for the overall experience of the game. Mostly everyone, from the people at the concession stands to the ushers, is friendly. The amazing part about PNC Park is that this stadium holds up so well, despite never seeing a winning team. Once it sees a contender late into the season, the entire nation may be flocking to see this stadium.

Final Thoughts

Going to PNC Park is an experience all in itself. This should be put on any stadium traveler's bucket list. The one piece of advice I'd give is make sure you arrive early and take in the experience. While PNC Park does not have the history of Fenway or Wrigley, it has all the makings of one of the country's great sport venues.

As of the date of this post, the Pirates have lost 935 games since they moved into PNC Park, and the

As of the date of this post, the Pirates have lost 935 games since they moved into PNC Park, and their best season was a mere 75 wins in 2003. No ballpark this beautiful should have to endure losing like that. Unless something miraculous happens, 2010 will be the worst season since the early 1950's for the Pirates, and that's saying an awful lot.

by paul | Sep 09, 2010 06:34 AM

Under-rated a bit

Seems like you short changed them on the food and on the ROI. First, any place where you can get a Primanti Bros sandwich must score better than a 2! Overall, I feel like PNC Park is well worth the investment.

A couple of other cool things for a trip to PNC, th eoriginal home plate from Forbes Field and part of the left field (I think) wall are located on the campus of Pittsburgh, and is well worth the 10-15 minute side trip. Also, I love that the RF wall is 21 feet high in reverence of Roberto Clemente (who wore #21).

Granted, I've never been to PNC when it was a full crowd, so that may affect some of the scores, but I would think it would just add to the exuberance of a beautiful setting, and what to me is a near-perfect park...

by paul | Aug 27, 2011 12:52 PM

My take

"If you can go on a low attendance night......," that is pretty much all they have at PNC Park. I was surprised to see a sell-out.

I went there in 2001 for a Reds/Pirates game on Roberto Clemente Bobblehead Day. Outside the park I was able to get a free ticket for myself and then my friend. I then got another and another and so on, until I had about seven extra free tickets handed to me by fans with extra tickets,

Being the enterprising capitalist that I am I figured that I could sell the extra tickets for $5ea to fans that think you have to buy tickets and cover my food costs. I sold the first two and then a guy comes up to me with a Pirate retro jersey on and asks me how much for a ticket. I said it was five bucks and he pulls his jersey back to uncover a police badge hooked to his belt. He was an undercover policeman. He told me selling tickets was illegal, I about pooped in my pants. I asked him if I could just tear the remaining tickets up and turn away from my wicked, criminal ways, if he would let me off. He said yes, and I felt fortunate to hustle into PNC Park not wearing handcuffs.

That was the start of a fun day at PNC Park. Also I found free street parking, so it cost me zero.

by CigarBoy | Aug 27, 2011 01:07 PM

Food

The food is great, if they have it. But when you are out of all soda except Sierra Mist on the first day of a home stand that is just awful. It took me 2 innings to make my way down to the lower level for those pictures behind home plate. It would have taken another 1 1/2 innings to just get to the Pirmanti Bros stand, let alone make it all the way back to my seat. The place just isn't built for that many people. Even baseball writing gods like Posnanski said the same on twitter from his visit the week after mine.

by collegiatestdms | Aug 28, 2011 10:30 AM

C-stand service was horrible

I went to PNC in July to see the Reds play there, and was very disappointed in the service at the concession stands. i waited nearly two innings just to get something to drink. A local in line in front of me said the staffing is always at a a "low attendance" level, so when a big crowd unexpectedly turns out for the game, every stand is under-staffed. A reasonable explanation, but not a good excuse for poor service. Contingency plans should be in place to make sure nobody waits in line a long time. Beautiful park, but I won't go back any time soon.

by CBJRedsOSUfan | Oct 12, 2011 11:56 AM

Light Rail Access

A new light rail connection has been completed this spring, 2012. There are two stations now on the North Shore, one near PNC Park for the Pirates and the other next to Heinz Field.

With an agreement between the Steelers, the nearby casino, and other parties, the "T", as it is called, is a free ride both ways from the downtown station to both North Shore stations.

by mac | May 10, 2012 09:40 PM

Pirates vs. Reds

I went to the Reds vs. Pirates game this past September. The ballpark itself was surprisingly really cool! Everyone was very friendly, even to a group of guys all decked out in the opposing teams colors. I thought the entertainment value was great. It reminded me of the single A ball club Dayton Dragons, where the majority of fans are there for entertainment as well as the game..no offense Pirates fans. Food was great. I took Steven's advice and got the Crab Fries with cheese sauce (located behind section 130). They were awesome and it's definitely a snack for 2 or more! Access was amazingly simple thanks to the new subway line. While it's free to get on, be prepared to wait a bit as the system gets overwhelmed from the crowds. I suggest sitting on the home dugout side so you look out into the city. The visitor side has a straight shot of the scoreboard. Overall great experience and definitely will be back when the Reds are in town.

by Joepiechota | Oct 17, 2012 09:48 PM

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