Ultimate Baseball Road Trip (113 page)
Read Ultimate Baseball Road Trip Online
Authors: Josh Pahigian,Kevin O’Connell
Fans wishing to avoid the parking scene and traffic may take advantage of one of the several MTS light-rail trolley stations within walking distance of the ballpark. The Orange Line’s Seaport Village, Convention Center, and Gaslamp Quarter stations all service the ballpark and are within a few blocks of Petco. The closest station is the Gaslamp stop. The trolley is a very affordable and easy way to get to the ballpark.
MTS Info:
www.sdcommute.com/
TAILGATING LIVES ON AT PETCO!
We were pleasantly surprised to find that not only are there parking lots at Petco for motorists, but that the tailgating culture that was so vibrant at the Padres’ old stadium has traveled with the grilling fan base to Petco. With so many restaurants to choose from, and with Petco not being surrounded by parking lots, this was in question. But find them you will, tailgaters. We observed brats grilling, solo cup jockeys, and parking lot games in particular abundance in the lots off Imperial at the intersection of 13th directly outside the park.
The Gaslamp Quarter is an old warehouse and historical area. This was already an established entertainment destination before the ballpark opened, but it has grown greatly in the years since the Padres moved in. The Gaslamp Quarter now features practically every discernable type of bar and restaurant you could imagine. You’ll know you’re there by the gas lamps that serve as streetlights, as well as by the large welcome sign. The Gaslamp District has a Bourbon Street kind of feel to it. It’s comfortable, friendly, and has a lot going on. You almost feel as though you might be able to walk around with a drink in your hand—though we’re not recommending that. When we visited we noticed a man making his way up and down the streets wearing a Hawaiian shirt, swimming trunks, and Crocs. He had a dusty cowboy hat on his head, was smoking a cigar, and was holding a guitar with a live macaw perched on it. We provide this interesting image just so you know what kind of neighborhood you’re stepping into.
Truly, there is a bar, restaurant, and nightclub for every fan’s desire and budget. A stroll down Fourth, Fifth, or Sixth Avenues offers scores of bars and restaurants from which
to choose. Whether you want sushi, Mexican, Chinese, Italian, Irish, burgers, pizza, pub food, coastal seafood, wine bars, whiskey bars, they’re all present. There are far too many options to list, which is a great problem to have, so we’ll highlight some of the more interesting ones.
345 4th Ave.
www.dickslastresort.com/domains/sandiego
This franchise of Dick’s Last Resort from Boston’s Back Bay has outside seating complete with an outside bar. There are picnic tables, umbrellas, and a lifeguard chair with an attractive young lady working it. Dick’s is a great place to drink and sightsee, and an okay place to eat. Expect plenty of off-color jokes on the menu and from the wait staff. All in all, it’s not a bad place to be before a game and it’s definitely our choice of all the loud and rowdy-themed restaurants.
379 4th Ave.
Great food and great times await courtesy of Mr. Coffee himself, Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio. Actually, the food is average and we have no idea if this place has any relation to the Yankee Clipper, but with a name like that, we had to at least mention it.
505 5th Ave.
Finally, we found a place on the West Coast where we could get a thin crust slice before the game! If you’re still wandering around the neighborhood late at night and have the munchies, this is your spot. Try the BBQ chicken topping and you won’t regret it.
560 4th Ave.
This is the spot for Mexican in the Gaslamp. Skip the other places and dig in to their cheap and delicious menu. We recommend the guacamole, carne asada fries, three street tacos, and the TJ dogs. With plenty of happy hour specials, you may want to hit this place before
and
after the game.
715 J St.
This is a big, open place with outdoor seating, big crowds, and lots of TVs. And there are Christmas lights to boot! It’s not unlike a frat party: full bar, cheap beer, peanut shells all over the floor, shuffle board and pool tables, and a fairly warm atmosphere if you’re a cute girl. Here’s a tip—check in online at FourSquare, show your server your Check-In pass on your smart phone, and get a free order of tater tots. You can’t beat free tots. And the rest of the menu is better than you might expect. Try the patty melt. If it’s a Wednesday, head straight for the 25-cent wing special.
544 5th Ave.
We had lunch at this authentic Irish pub. Josh had the beef stew, which was nice and peppery, with the vegetables still firm and tasty. Kevin had the rasher (Irish bacon) and cheese boxty with a nice cream sauce across the top. Kevin’s brother Sean ordered the shepherd’s pie, which was also very good. Our friend Jordan ordered the fish and chips, which came moist and flavorful on the inside and crispy on the outside. With good Guinness and solid Irish music, this was certainly Kevin’s favorite place in the Gaslamp.
505 6th Ave.
Around since 1885, this place claims to be the Gaslamp’s oldest bar. In an area with far too many high-end eating and drinking choices, it’s certainly the district’s oldest dive-bar, which makes it okay in our book. A beer won’t cost you half a week’s wages here. Use your ticket stub for $1 off your first beer. For a Canadian favorite, try the poutine, which is fries soaked with gravy and smothered with cheese curds and Montreal steak seasoning. It’s the house special. But if you tried the poutine at Miller Park in Milwaukee and didn’t like it, the burgers here are good too.
310 5th Ave.
This regional chain is famous for its baja buckets, which are really exactly as you’re probably picturing them: buckets of fish that include everything from shrimp to lobster to mahi mahi. Some of this is fried, some not. With plenty of drink specials, this place is like other theme restaurants you’ve been to—grass hut roofs and mojitos made by an amateur.
K Street and 4th Avenue
This is a cheap deli, liquor store, bakery, grocery store, ATM location, and lottery-ticket seller all rolled into one. It’s the kind of place you’d expect to find in the Bronx outside
Yankee Stadium. It’s seedy, but we liked it. We cannot vouch for the baked goods, however.
340 5th St.
Don’t let the name or the scantily clad woman on the logo fool you: This isn’t a “girls get naked” strip club but rather a place to order strip steaks and martinis—unless there was a back room they weren’t telling us about. They actually let you grill your own steak at this place, which is kinda cool.
Josh:
Do they still expect a tip?
Kevin:
Yes, as a matter of fact, they do.
Josh:
Can I pay in singles?
Kevin:
Don’t you always?
202 Park Blvd.
Now, this is our kind of Mexican food—simple, fresh, cheap, and de-scrumptious. Order anything off the menu, because this is the kind of place where you cannot go wrong. The carne asada fries are the bomb. Josh recommends the carnitas, because you know, you have to go with pork when you’re having Mexican. And while Kevin agrees, he’s got a thing for chile rellenos, and he recommends the chile rellenos specialty plate highly. And remember the Lolita’s motto: Patience is the essence of fine Mexican food.
310 10th Ave.
http://sandiego.tiltedkilt.com
Detailed in the Pittsburgh chapter, this chain tries to combine kitschy Scotch-Irish kilts with Hooters-type serving girls, and rolls it all into a pub that serves American food and beers from all over the world. We’d like to pan it, but the reality is … it’s close to the ballpark. The food is average, but there are kilts aplenty. So we’ll let you visit the website and go to the photo gallery to make the call if this is your kind of place or not. Sure, they’re popping up all over the place, but is that such a bad thing?
10th and J Street
Hipsters will migrate to this joint, and will find here some tasty burgers and cool drinks upon their arrival. The building itself is very appealing—two stories with a very open feel. The menu is simple, sticking to what they do best, which is burgers and pub fare. P.S.: Sandos is hipster-speak for sandwiches. Josh recommends the Jalapeno Burger, which is hot. Kevin prefers to build his own burger with a side of fried pickles. Add the draft of your choice to wash it down.
Josh:
We should do the three-pound Burger Challenge. If we eat all six patties, the toppings, and the cheesy tater tots in under an hour, it’s free!
Kevin:
We just came from Lolita’s.
Josh:
You really have gone soft.
Kevin:
I prefer to think of it as going “smart.”
410 10th Ave.
We didn’t make it into this popular pizza joint. We were too stuffed to eat another bite. But the line after the game was long—and that’s usually a good sign. A quick review of the menu did let us know that this is a build-your-own-pie kind of joint. There are four “basic” pies, and you add the toppings you like. Judging by the line around the block, they seem to be doing something right.
7510 Hazard Center Dr., Ste. 215
If you just can’t get enough of the fuzzy-topped pitcher from SD, or if you only feel comfortable in a sports bar, then you might want to make the journey by car to Jones’s place. The food and atmosphere are precisely as described: All-American, so choose from burgers, barbecue, wraps, sandwiches, chili and more. The menu’s actually quite extensive and we just had to mention the place, because Randy’s a heck of a guy who was also a pretty good pitcher in his day.
Petco features an asymmetrical outfield that offers a bevy of angles, nooks, and crannies. In left field, the corner of the Western Metal Building is 334 feet from home plate. The gap in left-center is 367 feet away, dead center is 390 feet, and the deepest part of the park in right-center is 409 feet. A spacious right-center-field gap measures 387 feet away before tapering to just 322 feet down the right-field line. How does this measure up to Qualcomm? The Q was 330 feet down both lines, 375 feet to the power alleys and 405 feet to center field, with its outfield wall taking one long and unwavering trip along the outer perimeter of the field: Boring!
Petco’s front row seats along the first- and third-base lines are just thirty-three feet from fair territory, as opposed to the forty-four feet it measured from the front-row seats
at the Q to the white lines. The first row of the Club deck is thirty-four feet above the field, as opposed to the forty-four feet above the field it was at the Q. And the first row of the upper deck is sixty-six feet high, as opposed to seventy-nine feet at the old park.
Does The Pet offer some quirks just for the sake of quirks? Perhaps. And we are well aware that these things can be overdone. But we were glad we weren’t seeing a game at nondescript Qualcomm. We liked the unique dimensions and quality views of this interesting ballpark. We do have one suggestion for management, though: There’s too much exposed concrete inside Petco, and it takes away from the feeling the Padres are no doubt trying to create. Please continue the Indian sandstone tiled theme you did so well outside Petco, and cover up some of the concrete on the deck supports. It will truly enhance the interior look of your park. You might refer to Target Field in Minnesota or Minute Maid Park in Houston, where such efforts to dress up the facing of the upper levels have contributed to aesthetically warm and appealing parks.
THE WESTERN METAL SUPPLY COMPANY BUILDING
Building the ballpark around this building and then making it physically part of the field of play was the true stroke of genius in Petco’s design. The left-field foul pole runs along the corner of the building such that balls that hit the wall on the left of it are foul, and those that hit the right face are home runs. On the HR side, supporting decks house luxury seats, and while perhaps not among the best in baseball as far as views are concerned, they certainly are among the coolest. On the building’s roof are standing-room bleacher seats that fans with any seats at all can sit at for a maximum of three innings—eighty feet above field level. The building is decorative, functional, and simply a very distinctive part of the ballpark.
