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On Wednesday, June 26, I took in a Chattanooga Lookouts game at their home ballpark of AT&T Field, which is a decent Minor League ballpark, however it is starting to show its age.

Opened in 2000, AT&T Field replaced Engel Stadium, the longtime home of the Lookouts from 1930 through 1999. The Lookouts currently play in the Southern League and are the Double-A affiliate of the MLB’s Cincinnati Reds.

I have attended a few Lookouts games in the past, so I’m already pretty familiar with the park. Just like my review of Nashville’s First Horizon Park, I will rate five different categories: surrounding city, parking, stadium design and seating, food options and game day atmosphere. Each category will be rated 1-5 stars and these ratings will be solely my opinion.

AT&T Field is located on 201 Power Alley in Chattanooga, Tennessee and is nestled next to Williams Memorial Bridge on the edge of the Tennessee River. With its location relative to downtown Chattanooga, the park is within walking distance of the Tennessee Aquarium as well as dozens of shops and restaurants. Getting in and out of Chattanooga was relatively easy, and there was little to no traffic that day.

With loads of things to do outside of the ballpark, and the easy nature of getting in and out of Chattanooga, I would rate the surrounding city of AT&T Field 5/5 stars.

Parking for AT&T Field was also pretty easy, with the closest option being the River Pier Parking Garage located right across from the ballpark on Power Alley and parking there will set you back $10. There are several other parking options in downtown Chattanooga that are still within walking distance of the park. Parking for AT&T Field also gets 5/5 stars for me.

The stadium features just one tier of seating, and while most seats are the typical chair backs, seating in the upper part of the bowl consists of backed benches. There is also plenty of shading for those sitting towards the top. Tickets for Chattanooga Lookouts games are very inexpensive. For only $11, I was able to sit just two rows behind home plate.

Besides the regular seating options there are also several party decks, including the Five Wits Beer Garden and Budweiser Party Deck on the left field side of the park and the picnic pavilion in right field.

Although the stadium has plenty of seating options for a great price, there are quite a few flaws. The park should, at least in theory, have a view of the Tennessee River, but due to the park being built on top of hill, and there being quite a few tall trees planted outside of the tall outfield fence, this view is basically non-existent.

Being built on a hill also means that you have to go up on an escalator and climb up a flight of stairs to access the main concourse, then climb up even more steps to access the lower bowl.

The stadium is also starting to show its age, lacking any unique features that make it stand out from the crowd. The video board in left field is a little small compared to a modern video board, and the video quality is also lacking.

Even though AT&T Field provides a variety of seating options at a low price, its overall design and lack of unique and modern features brings the score down to 3/5 stars for me.

In terms of food options at AT&T Field, there is no shortage of the typical ballpark affair, like burgers, hot dogs, nachos, pizza slices, ice cream and barbeque sandwiches. The hot dogs are of good quality, but the pizza and barbeque sandwiches were both lacking, with the pizza’s crust being too thick for my liking and the barbeque sandwich’s meat being a bit dry.

On a typical game day, a large soda will set you back $5.50 and a 16 ounce draft beer will cost you $7

Apart from the typical ballpark food, there isn’t a whole lot of variety of eats at AT&T Field. Overall, I would give the food at the stadium a 3.5/5 stars.

The game day atmosphere at AT&T Field was pretty average.

There was plenty of entertainment between innings, with a few lucky fans having the opportunity to participate in games such as let’s make a deal, musical chairs, the dizzy bat race and a frozen t-shirt contest. Like the Nashville Sounds, the Chattanooga Lookouts give a young fan the opportunity to be a junior announcer and announce the home batting lineup for one inning.

However, with it being a weekday game, the crowd was fairly empty, which brought the atmosphere down a bit for my taste. For the game day atmosphere, I rate AT&T park 3/5 stars.

With an average score of 3.9/5, I would say my overall experience at AT&T Field was a good one. Even though I think the ballpark is lacking in certain areas, I do believe the overall experience you get is a good value for your money. If you’re looking to go to a Minor League Baseball game while spending a day with your family, the Chattanooga Lookouts are a good choice.