StadiumJourney.com does a fantastic job of rating the areans around the country and have asked that we post their review of Citizens Bank Park. As you can imagine, and as any Phillies fan know that has been there time and again, it’s a favorable write-up.

It’s not quite on the level of Camden Yards, but CBP is often talked about positively throughout baseball.

Here is some of the review from Kurt Smith of Stadium Journey. Click below it for more:

Phun with the Phillies

Official Review by Kurt Smith, Stadium Journey Guest Correspondent

When Citizens Bank Park opened in 2004, the long awaited transformation of Philadelphia sports venues was complete. For the first time since 1971, Philly had a baseball-only facility again. Philly was among the last of the cities to get a new ballpark, but Citizens Bank Park was well worth the wait.

Best of all, the Phillies managed to become a pretty good team, winning five straight division titles and a World Series championship in 2008. There’s nothing like a winning team to bring unparalleled excitement to a ballpark in a sports-crazed town like Philadelphia.

Food & Beverage    4

Citizens Bank Park has a fantastic range of food options, but you have to be selective.

Longtime Philly institutions Tony Luke’s and Campo’s sandwiches are both good. Tony Luke’s is known almost as much for the roast pork and provolone as they are for their classic cheesesteaks with Whiz. Campo’s serves a spicy cheesesteak sandwich called a “Heater”-with salsa and jalapeno cheddar cheese. Again, they’re good, but for the cost, you might be disappointed in the amount of meat in your sandwich.

Near the left field gate is an underrated sandwich called the Schmitter; it is a variation of a cheesesteak from a tavern called McNally’s. The Schmitter (which is not named after Mike Schmidt) contains steak, salami, tomatoes, cheese, onions and Schmitter sauce on a Kaiser roll, and it’s a great sandwich, better than the two classics in this writer’s humble opinion.

You also have the option of Bull’s BBQ in the right field corner, where former Phillies slugger Greg Luzinski greets fans who buy his pit beef. It may be a ripoff of Boog’s in Baltimore, but the pulled pork, turkey sandwiches, kielbasa dogs and most everything else at Bull’s is terrific.

And of course you can get a large cup of Chickie’s and Pete’s crab fries; crinkle cut fries with Old Bay seasoning and a cup of cheese sauce to dip them in. The sauce is like a mixture of American cheese and ranch dressing. You won’t be disappointed in the fries, and don’t worry about the long lines. They move fast. But you may want to get them at the actual Chickie’s and Pete’s…more on that in a moment.

Around the rest of the ballpark there’s plenty to choose from. The Hatfield dogs and sausages are all very good, and you can smell them throughout the concourses. The boardwalk fries are okay, and the Cobblestone grill also has cheesesteaks that according to them are every bit as good as Tony Luke’s and don’t have a long line. Recently a deluxe nachos stand has been added with extras like barbecued pork nachos, but it’s still melted cheese glop, not shredded cheese. Seasons Pizza is the official pizza of Citizens Bank Park, and is very mediocre.

There are two restaurants as part of the ballpark: Harry The K’s, underneath the stands in left field, is known for terrific chili and other appetizers. You can pose outside of Harry’s next to the statue of Hall of Fame broadcaster Harry Kalas, whose voice is sorely missed in this town. There’s also McFadden’s Pub, where the cheesesteak nachos are fairly popular and the barmaids are known for being easy on the eyes.

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