Review by Wes Holtzclaw, Stadium Journey Correspondent

The home of the Atlanta Braves, Turner Field, is located in Atlanta, GA at 755 Hank Aaron Dr. SW., right beside the Olympic Park of 1996 Olympic Games. Turner Field was built in 1996 and officially opened in 1997.

FANFARE Score: 32

Food & Beverage: 5

Once inside the stadium you notice several restaurants: Smokehouse BBQ, Johnny Bravo Diner, A Taste of the Majors and The Braves Chop House, which has three levels and for the top two you must be 21 to enter. There are also several places to get your classic food and beverage items throughout the stadium. There aren’t many places like Turner Field where you can get a grilled chicken quesadilla, shrimp basket, and a BBQ plate that includes ribs and turkey legs.

Atmosphere: 5

The Braves organization is the longest continuously running franchise in baseball history and you can feel the history when you walk into the stadium. Statues of Braves greats Warren Spahn, Phil Niekro and “Hammerin” Hank Aaron join a statue of Georgia native Ty Cobb throughout the main entrance.

Neighborhood: 3

There is not much around the stadium as far as food goes, but I did find a couple of great places to eat about a mile and half away. There is an Italian eatery called Grant Central Pizza located at 451 Cherokee Ave SE. They serve the best pizza and calzones in the state of Georgia. They use only fresh ingredients in everything they make and their homemade marinara sauce is especially good. They have a full bar and serve mainly specialty beers including Blue Moon, Samuel Adams, Fat Tire and other Lagers. Prices on the food: $1.50 a slice for pizza, $10-$16 for a whole pizza and $6 for a calzone. Beer prices: $4 on most and $7 on Fat Tire.

Grant Central Pizza

Right across the street from Grant Central Pizza is Dakota Blue located at 454 Cherokee Avenue. Dakota Blue is a Mexican/American style restaurant. They serve all kinds of burritos, quesadillas and nachos, as well as burgers and all kinds of sandwiches. Many feel their Cuban sandwich is the best. Prices on the food: $4.50-$6.25 per burrito, $5.50-$6.50 per quesadilla, sandwiches $5.50-$7.50 and burgers are $6-$7. They serve a variety of beer and mixed drinks including margaritas and bloody marys. Beer and mixed drink prices: beers are $4 and mixed drinks are $4-$6.50.

Dakota Blue

Fans: 5

Braves’ fans are awesome. They were very knowledgeable about the game of baseball.

Access: 5

Parking costs range from $5 to $12 with the $12 parking getting you right across the street from the stadium. Parking seemed very reasonable, especially up close to the stadium. The main parking lot is where old Fulton Co. Stadium use to stand with a marker that shows exactly where Hank Aaron’s homerun No. 715 landed.

Return on Investment: 4

I would not go much higher on the prices of the tickets or food.

Extra Points: 5

If the kids need a break there is the Cartoon Network play zone and there are TVs   scattered throughout the stadium.

Final Thoughts:

Turner Field ranks high on the list of places to take your family to watch a ballgame. Even though Turner Field has an old-time feel when you walk up, once you enter the stadium you can tell it is a state of the art facility. I have sat in just about all the sections of the stadium and there is not a bad seat in the house. I did not run into that dreaded “drunk” that felt like he knew everything in any part of the stadium. I feel that is very important when going to a game with young children. This is a great place to enjoy the classic baseball experience. Take the guys or take your family; either way you’ll have a fantastic time.

Inside Turner Field