PNC Park in Pittsburgh Stadium Scorecard

By Steve

We arrived in Pittsburgh a few hours early to grab some food and take in the city.  We discovered that the city is pretty clean and tranquil for the most part…until game time. The streets fill up with a sea of gold and black and it doesn’t take long to realize that Pittsburgh is full of die hard fans. We parked at the 526 Penn St parking garage for $4 on the opposite side of the Allegheny River so we could walk over The Historic Roberto Clemente Bridge to the park. The bridge offers plenty of photo ops, whether looking toward the stadium or toward the downtown area.

When we got off the bridge, a strip of restaurants and bars adjoined to the ballpark lined the block. The best bars you’ll want to see before a game are located on Federal Street, one block away from the stadium. Soho is a modern bar, good for an after work drink (or if you’re us, a during work drink) with a large eating area. The best and most crowded spot was Mullen’s, located across the street from Soho. At Mullen’s pick up an IC Light, the premier beer in Pittsburgh, which is reasonably priced at $3.75. We found a table with some Yankees fans on a smaller, but equally as honorable stadium road trip as ours. After scouting out the features we decided to check out a final bar, and headed toward The North Shore Saloon. Live Music, three floors, and a floor painted green & lined to mimic a football field added a cool touch, but it just didn’t have the Mullen’s atmosphere. Mullen’s takes the gold in Pittsburgh.

From the moment we walked in the gate, PNC Park had a lot to offer. One of the coolest aspects of the stadium were the opposing team bullpens right next to each other. Watching both starting pitchers warm up right next to each other is definitely a sight to see. There were almost too many food options; including pulled pork sandwiches, $35.00 all you can eat ticket combos, and Primanti’s iconic Cheesesteak sandwiches which skyrocketed Pittsburgh’s ballpark food to the top tier of the food list. We’ve seen a lot of stadiums mimicking the structural layout of another — which is totally fine. If every stadium looked like Camden Yards, the country would be a better place, but landscape views are another story. The outfield view from homeplate in PNC park is a skilled work of art and our only complaint was with the upperdeck seating. If you sit in the first two rows your view may be obstructed by a railing at the bottom of each staircase. The Roberto Clemente golden bridge leading into downtown Pittsburgh is an unreal view that we will not likely see for the remainder of the trip.  And a view like that comes in handy, when the hometown team is 34- 64.

PNC Park Ratings

The rating system is based on a scale of 1 to 5 John Russell heads. 1 John Russell head is a lowest rating and 5 John Russell head is the highest rating.

Hot Dog

$2.50

7th Inning Tradition

“Catch Some Meat”

Note: This has been our favorite stadium tradition so far. The catch some meat theme song plays on the jumbrotron then they load hot dogs into a t-shirt shooting gun and launch them into the crowd like delicious missiles ready to take your eye out.

Signature Food

Primanti’s Cheesesteak

16oz Beer Prices

$7.25

Bathroom Line at Bottom of the 4th Inning

Note: No line.

Stadium Superfan

N/A

Street T-shirts

Note: Didn’t see any for sale bt the fans were wearing a few.

Mascot

Parrot

Signature Player Chant

“BOOO!”

Note:a relif pitcher got shelled and was basically boo’d off the field… hilarious!

Bleacher Fans

Note: The bleacher fence is about 4 feet high and the seats are right on the field, a very cool experience.

Pregame Bar

Mullen’s

Note: Great bar if you’re looking to booze.

Soho

Note: Good for an after work crowd looking for a beer and burger

North Shore Saloon

Note: forgettable

Stadium Aesthetics

Stadium Atmosphere

Sneakability

Notes