Gameday
Welcome to gameday in Pittsburgh! If you haven’t been here before, then you may not know what to expect. But you may be surprised when we tell you: there are more bars and restaurants within two blocks of PNC Park than there are within the same distance of Fenway Park! And way more than are around the Yankee Stadium, Dodger Stadium, Camden Yards, and most other ballparks. Which is all to say that there’s a ton to do here!
So let’s get you prepped on your options for before, during, and after a game at PNC Park.
What to do before the game
If you’re looking to grab some food and/or drinks before a game at PNC Park, you really just don’t need to go far. There are some great outdoor patios, breweries, dive bars, places to eat – everything you could need.
Best spots for beer and food
Mike’s Beer Bar
Directly across the street from the left field gate is Mike’s Beer Bar, a cool hangout bar with over 80 local beers on tap. We really like this place – it’s low key, casual, and when you’re in a new place, you should be trying local beers! They’ve also got a full menu, so you can knock it all out here if you want to.
Southern Tier Brewery
These guys have locations in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Charlotte, and Buffalo, but they’ve always got a menu of beers specifically brewed in Pittsburgh, and we’re fans of them. And even better, if you’d like to try a couple of them, they also offer beer flights! They’ve got a full menu to go along with the beer, and an outstanding outdoor patio, which makes this one of our favorite places.
Best Patios
Jason Aldean’s
This is our favorite view, looking over the river. Fantastic patio area, great vibe.
But there are also other places that offer happy hour specials, including:
- Bar Louie, with a happy hour menu from 5-7pm Monday-Friday, including $4 16oz domestic drafts, $5 16oz craft drafts, and 50% off select bar bites and flatbreads
- VooDoo Brewing has $.50 boneless wing bites on Wing Wednesdays
- McFadden’s has an impressive build your own nachos bar
Things to do
Shorty’s Pins and Pints
Duck Bowling, bocce, shuffleboard, pinball machines, $5 anytime beers, multiple outdoor patios, and a real cool space. You could easily spend a few hours here hanging out before or after baseball. We love this place!
Things to see
Statues
The Roberto Clemente statue is on the east side of the park, outside of the center field gate, right at the entrance to the bridge that bears his name. Absolutely worth checking out. But he’s not alone: Willie Stargell is at the left field gate, Bill Mazeroski is outside of the right field entrance, and Honus Wagner is at the home plate gate (which is also a great place for a picture).
Lower Riverwalk
Along the lower Riverwalk, just down from the Roberto Clemente statue, is a small garden with oversized numbers of Pirates Hall of Fame Players. We’ll be honest: they need to spruce this up and take better care of it. It should be a really nice thing, but it looks more like they’ve just forgotten about it. But you’re here, so it’s worth a few minutes to walk through.
Riverwalk
We’re talking about the one inside the ballpark that runs along the river. There’s just a lot of cool things to see, and it’s a very pretty space. Go for a stroll and check everything out.
Places to pregame inside the stadium
There are a number of good places to hang out inside the stadium during pregame. The Miller Lite Landing and Fat Head’s Bar in the outfield are great places to grab a drink, mill around, and grab a railing spot with a view of the field. These are really popular spots, especially on weekends, so go early if you’d like to secure that rail space
The Miller Lite Skull Bar in the right field corner is sometimes reserved for groups, but when it isn’t, it’s open to everyone, and it’s a great space with a huge bar and great views of the river and downtown Pittsburgh.
The Arnold Palmer Spiked Bar is around the corner from the Miller Lite Skull bar. It’s nothing fancy, but there’s plenty of tables around the bar, and it’s got a great view of the river.
The Pittsburgh Baseball Club is the 200 level club at PNC Park, and if you have a ticket, you can head up there to see tons of artifacts and mementos, play pool, and check out the really cool club concourse. Honestly, we sort of think it’s worth grabbing a club level ticket for at least one game so you can have access to it. But … the bars up there tend to be a lot quieter, since it’s just not that busy, so we’d only recommend it as a pregame spot if your group is bringing its own excitement, or you enjoy quieter surroundings.
For the kids
There’s a small kids playground inside of the right field entrance to the park. It’s nothing special, but the kids can never tell the difference – they just want to run around. They may be more entertained by the giant Pirates bobblehead along the Riverwalk.
On Sundays, kids can run the bases after the game (if you have time before taking off for the airport). The line starts right here at the kids playground in the 8th inning. You don’t really have to be there in the 8th, unless you’re pressed for time and need to be near the front of the line. In general, showing up right after the game is fine (but plan ahead for how long it takes to walk from your seats to the right field playground – you don’t want to be there too late).
Pirate Parrot (mascot)
Sadly, there’s no designated time to catch the Parrot – you’ll just have to find him on the concourse if you want a picture with him.
The Pierogi Race
Racing pierogis!
You definitely aren’t going to come to PNC Park and not catch this ! It happens at the end of the 5th inning, and it’s great. If you want a fantastic view of the pierogies as the round the track, sneak down to the lower bleachers during the bottom of the 5th.
TSI TIP: want to get your picture taken with the pierogies? Hang out on the Riverwalk before or after the mascot race – they usually pass by here !
Gameday tours
The Pirates offer tours of the ballpark Monday-Friday and some home games on Saturdays. The pregame tour is offered Monday-Saturday before evening games only, and includes watching batting practice and/or warmups. Tours start at 3pm for 6:40pm starts. Gameday tours are $25, but you’ll also need to have a game ticket for the same day. And once you enter the ballpark, you’re there for the game – there’s no reentry. So be sure that you’re prepared to hang out for the duration of the evening when you do this (if you enter at 3pm, you’ll be at the stadium for about seven hours!).
But one more cool thing: if there’s a giveaway that night, you’ll automatically get it when you show up for the tour!
If you want to do this, book it early here, because they do sell out.
Ticket Upgrades
Once you enter the ballpark, check out the Pirates seating upgrades to see what upgrade opportunities are available for your seats. We’re willing to bet there will be one, and you can move to lower level seats for as little as $8, and infield seats for less than $20! (This feature is only available to you after you are inside the ballpark).
Bottom Line
This is just a cool park, and even though Pittsburgh isn’t New York or Boston or Chicago, there’s a ton to do here on gameday. For those who are inclined to start their pregame outside the park, get to PNC early and go wander around North Shore – find a place that looks good, and plop yourself down. But for one of the days you’re there, make sure to get into the ballpark at gates open so you can check out the entire park – it’s well worth it.
