A Glove and a Coke
Review by Andrew Nuschler, Stadium Journey Correspondent
FANFARE Score: 31
Food & Beverage: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Neighborhood: 5
Fans: 3
Access: 4
Return on Investment: 4
Etc: 5
The only bad day (or night) at AT&T Park is one where the home team gets annihilated. If the San Francisco Giants are in the game, forget about where you’re sitting or who’s playing or what season it is. To prove it, I chose a meaningless game in late September against the vanilla Arizona Diamondbacks for my visit.
Arguably Pac Bell…sorry…AT&T Park’s best feature is that the entire thing is accessible with the price of any ticket unless you’re talking about the real rarefied seating areas. Of course, it had to be that way given the volume of sensory input.
A simple walk around the concourse is anything but simple.
There is a dizzying array of food—everything from garlic fries to crab sandwiches to standard ballpark franks and even a selection of California. There are a plethora of options to keep youngsters busy behind the leftfield bleachers—a mini-diamond for actual use, the huge Coke bottle slide, and an arcade though this I’ve never seen. Furthermore, the water cannons following splash hits are always good for an ooh or ah.
For those adults who’ve been dragged to the stadium, the whole thing is one huge wireless hotspot so you can hop online.
However, the best is saved for those in the audience who are there for the beautiful game.
There aren’t any bad seats—the lower boxes are excellent, the skyboxes are as luxurious as you’d imagine (fine catered food, good wine, better beer, HD televisions inside and out for a closer look or should the mild NorCal climate take a turn, etc.), and the upper deck hangs over the action for a better-than-it-should-be perspective. Plus, the higher up you go, the more the lovely San Francisco Bay stretches out as the backdrop.
Inside AT&T Park
Along with giving the nosebleeds a nice panorama, AT&T’s design provides another neat little perk. Built with a full tier of seating encompassing most of the field, but with an abbreviated wall behind the bleachers that separates the arena from the Bay, the effect was calculated by design engineers to minimize the tortuous winds that plagued Candlestick Park. And it does just that—parkas and knit caps are no longer required paraphernalia for summer baseball in San Francisco.
For baseball nuts, everything is a reward—the rightfield wall is 24 feet high in honor of Willie Mays (a statue of whom adorns the main gate and is a popular meeting spot for disjointed fans), McCovey Cove lurks behind the same wall with a statue in tribute to the adored Stretch, a battery of retired jerseys and vintage posters hang all over the place, and so on.
Willie Mays Statue
There’s even a nod to fanatics without tickets—some of the archways in the brick rightfield wall provide obstructed views of the field for people walking around the outside.
There is no higher compliment I can think of for a stadium than to say AT&T Park remains an attraction even when the Giants are bad, as we’ve seen in recent years. Even in good times, it’s hard to ignore the yard’s majesty.
Did I mention the fellas won, 8-4?
Like I said, hard to ignore.
Restaurant Reviews
Acme Chop House—24 Willie Mays Plaza, SF, CA 94107 (Third and King Sts. actually IN the yard)
Beer Selection—Anchor Steam, Bud, Coors, Sierra Nevada
Food Selection—traditional steakhouse featuring meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, and usually for dinner only although opens for lunch during day games; food is all locally/organically grown
Additional—a little bit more formal than other options, though still not technically formal, great pre-/post-game atmosphere as it tends to draw a Giant-loyal crowd, sometimes see players/ex-players/coaches/etc. inside, pretty expensive
MoMo’s Restaurant—760 Second Street, SF, CA 94107 (right across the street from the yard)
MoMo's
Beer Selection—basically anything you want (Anchor Steam, Bud, Miller, Coors, Sierra Nevada, Guinness, Heineken, etc.)
Food Selection—California fusion type stuff with full menu (brunch, lunch, dinner); full listing here http://www.sfmomos.com/#menus
Additional—great place to meet before or after games although it’s a bit pricey (what around a baseball game isn’t?), fun atmosphere, lively and strong crowd, the food is very good, and extremely convenient as far as location.
21st Amendment—563 Second Street, SF, CA 94107 (about four blocks from the yard)
Beer Selection—Bud, Coors, Miller, strong selection of local microbrews, fancy beer “cocktails”
Food Selection—basic sports bar stuff like wings, onions rings, fries, burgers, etc.
Specialty item—Niemann Ranch pork chops
21st Amendment
Additional—more of your traditional sports bar vibe, younger/more casual crowd, packed before and after games, foods better than you’d expect but the beer is the selling point
