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Known as "The House that Griffey Built," Safeco Field has been a treasure in the northwest since it opened its doors in July 1999. With a retractable roof to deal with the unpredictable Seattle weather, and... read more below
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Safeco Field (map it)
1250 First Avenue South
Seattle, Washington 98134
Year Opened: 1999
Capacity: 47,116
| Date | Tickets | |
|---|---|---|
| Mon, Sep 13, 2010 | Red Sox at Mariners | StubHub |
| Tue, Sep 14, 2010 | Red Sox at Mariners | StubHub |
| Wed, Sep 15, 2010 | Red Sox at Mariners | StubHub |
| Fri, Sep 17, 2010 | Rangers at Mariners | StubHub |
| Sat, Sep 18, 2010 | Rangers at Mariners | StubHub |
| Sun, Sep 19, 2010 | Rangers at Mariners | StubHub |
| Thu, Sep 30, 2010 | Athletics at Mariners | StubHub |
| Fri, Oct 01, 2010 | Athletics at Mariners | StubHub |
| Sat, Oct 02, 2010 | Athletics at Mariners | StubHub |
| Sun, Oct 03, 2010 | Athletics at Mariners | StubHub |
7 Comments | 0 of 1 people found this review helpful
Known as "The House that Griffey Built," Safeco Field has been a treasure in the northwest since it opened its doors in July 1999. With a retractable roof to deal with the unpredictable Seattle weather, and some of the best food in baseball, you can be sure that your game will be played, and you will have a great time.
The FANFARE scale is our metric device for rating each stadium experience. It covers the following:
Each area is rated from 0 to 5 stars with 5 being the best. The overall composite score is the "FANFARE Score".
5/5The beer selection is limited, with only a few non-macro options, and no local options to speak of. Prices are generally ballpark reasonable. Typical stadium fare (hot dogs, nachos, pretzels, etc.) is reasonably priced in the $3-$10 range, depending on your food of choice. A soda will run you between $3.50 and $5, depending on size. Beer prices are fairly high, with a pint costing $8-$8.75, dependent on import or domestic.
Specialty foods (sushi, barbecue, name-brand vendors) can run all the way up to about $12 depending on the item. There are plenty of unique items around the ballpark, including garlic fries and shish-ka-berries, most notably.
4/5The atmosphere in the park on this night was tempered by a late-arriving crowd. Late arrivers or not, Mariners fans are notorious for being a passive bunch in recent years. Losing will do that to you.
4/5The Pyramid Alehouse is a multi-story facility that sits directly across the street from the left field gate of Safeco Field. With two indoor levels of seating, as well as an expansive outdoor beer garden (which moonlights as a parking lot), the Alehouse is a quick, convenient, and fairly affordable way to get food and drink before or after a game.
For more brazen fans who want to avoid in-stadium beer prices, the Alehouse has a walk-in mini-mart of sorts featuring bottled six-packs of their alcohol selections. For the same price you’d pay in a grocery store, you can purchase micro-brewed beer directly across the stadium and attempt to sneak it in. (Not that we advocate this).
While not your standard restaurant or sports bar, the proximity and practicality of Uwajimaya provides fans a very affordable, very convenient way to get food and drink before or after the game. Fans can purchase items to take to the game (food of any kind can be brought into Safeco Field), or eat on-site in the food court. Uwajimaya is the only full-service grocery store within walking distance of the stadium. The food court features standard American, Chinese, Japanese, Hawaiian, and Korean fares. There is also a large, full-service grocery store.
3/5As the game wore on, the 20,000 or so fans in attendance got excited when they were supposed to (a Jose Lopez home run, for instance), and remained quiet during the down time. The fans were far from a raucous crowd, and bordering on the mundane.
The fans are fairly knowledgeable about baseball, but the organization has done their part to sedate the crowd over the years. (Example: A few years ago a fan was banned from the park for wearing a “YANKEES SUCK” t-shirt.) The family-friendly environment that has been carved out is great if you’re over 50 or under 12, but can be a little frosty if you’re between those ages and/or like your alcohol.
2/5The accessibility to the stadium is average, at best. There are 2000 spaces available at the Safeco Field parking garage and an additional 2000 available at the Qwest Evenet Center Garage. Parking will cost you from $20-$40 on the day of a game.
If you’re a savant of the area, you might have a chance at free parking in the nearby Pioneer Square or International District neighborhoods. In order to accomplish such a task, you must arrive precisely at 6:00 PM (when many cubicle-dwellers leave for home and street parking becomes free) and be patient enough to circle the block more than once.
4/5In all, the experience at Safeco Field is worth the price of admission so long as you a) can find inexpensive/free parking and b) do your best to eat/drink outside the stadium.
4/5Safeco Field is an extremely fan-friendly venue. It’s a beautiful stadium with stunning views of Puget Sound, the mountains, and the city (dependent on one’s vantage point) from the upper levels. Food, beverage, and parking prices are on the high end, but ticket prices are reasonable and the stadium itself is worth the price of admission.
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"The beer selection is limited"
Did you go to the right stadium?
The beer selection is far from limited. In fact, of the 15 or stadiums I've been to, I think Safeco has the most different and interesting beer options I've seen.
I believe the centerfield stand alone has about a dozen taps, and many of the isolated kiosks offer unique options (including some from very small breweries like Lazy Boy, Elysian and Hale's)
Certainly many of the main concession stands sell the requisite Coors/Bud/Miller, but most have a microbrew alternate and in most cases it's either local or at least NW.
This incredibly false statement clouds my opinion of the entire review.
by BigGreenFrank (Prospect) | Apr 20, 2010
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??
No stadium lot?? Are you blind? Did you miss the 6 floor parking garage that has a sky bridge to the stadium?
Also you say "The beer selection is limited, with only a few non-macro options, and no local options to speak of." There are many local brews available at the game. How did you miss the specialty beer stands seemingly every few feet on the main level?
by ace71 (Prospect) | Apr 20, 2010
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I have to wonder if you really went to the stadium
1. The beer selection section is especially damning. I've never been to a stadium with a better local beer selection. I have seen plenty of stadiums with pathetic selections, but Safeco is certainly not one of them.
2. There is a giant parking lot that you should have noticed. I do agree that parking is still a problem if you drive to the game, but to say there is no parking is not accurate.
3. I agree that there has been some lame cracking down on fun things like Yankees suck and stuff like that, but I don't see how this could be in evidence on a night with a passive 20,000 person crowd.
by Donkey (Prospect) | Apr 20, 2010
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Parking Update
Thanks for the comments about the parking. After looking into it, we have updated the "Access section" regarding the parking options.
by paul (All Star) | Apr 20, 2010
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My .02 cents
I'm a lifelong Chicagoan and recent transplant to Seattle. As a diehard White Sox fan, I think the Seattle fans - specifically for the Mariners - can be a bit anemic. I dare say that they’re the opposite of Cubs fans. Your typical bleacher bum is loud and obnoxious with limited baseball knowledge. Mariners fans seem to sit on their hands for the entire game but are rather knowledgeable about the sport.
As a vegetarian I was pleased that they've added a stand (The Natural) that serves only vegetarian food! The best part is theres hardly ever a line for it. Aside from that, I've heard that there are some new items at the ballpark like prime rib nachos! The beer selection is better than average, you just need to know where to look.
If you get down to Safeco early theres a few bars to pre-game at but, as far as I know, there is no tailgating allowed in the parking lot.
I live near the stadium and have never dealt with parking but I don't think it's a major issue; traffic on the other hand is! If you're coming from East of Mercer Island leave plenty early as I90 is gridlocked on game day. I'm assuming 520 & I5 suffer as well, but haven't experienced that firsthand yet.
by Carpenter (Minor Leaguer) | Apr 22, 2010
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Alex doesn't know anything
Here to echo my sentiments about a couple of things.
Beer Selection
In now way does Alex know what he is talking about. Multiple brews from Pyramid, Hale's, Georgetown, DeChuttes, Widmer, New Belgium ect. are available. (3 of the breweries I mentioned are local and the 2 others are from Oregon)
Access
Who parks at the stadium for $20-$40 buck a pop? Morons thats who!! Find a bus, or park in Pioneer Square somewhere (the 5 block walk is going to kill you?), or park in one of the many "event parking" lots that are littered around the stadium (usually around $10).
by John (Prospect) | Apr 27, 2010
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Too Expensive
I love Safeco, and I love the M's, but one thing is for sure, the return on investment is minimal. Good tickets are going to run you $40 as a charter seat holder, $58 at the door.
With beers approaching $8-9ea, you can't afford to have food with your drink. A family of 4 trying to have the good 'ol fashion baseball experience can count on spending easily $300 between 4 decent tickets, 1 drink each, 1 meal each (say burger and fries?) and parking (which the stadium parking IS excellent for it's SUPER easy to park, SUPER easy to leave).
Want an officially licensed MLB souveniour? maybe a jersey for each member of the family? You're in $500+ for one game.
All this so a guy can make $20,000,0000 - $50,000,000 (possibly Puhols next contract?) per year playing baseball. Best game on earth, but prices of salaries and prices at the ball park are an insult to the game and the people who love it.
by Dustin07 (Prospect) | May 3, 2010
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