First Tennessee Park's Band Box covers all bar and food bases

I love baseball parks and revel in the nuance of their infinite variety. Dimensions are discussed in terms of friendliness, sightlines are scrutinized from every angle and even the poles and outfield walls are given names.

And then there's the food. For more than a century, baseball has been hotdogs, peanuts, Cracker Jack and beer. I don't think you can align specific foods with any other sports with quite the same historic depth as baseball, especially in terms of national identity.

The Nashville Sounds, flush with a shiny new ballpark, decided to up the entertainment ante. While most of the concessions are fairly pedestrian, management added some watered down Nashville-style hot chicken at one stand, which, and I can't believe I'm saying this, seems predictable.

What I didn't expect was the addition of The Band Box, an idea that came out of left field but landed in right.

Enter Max and Ben, the Goldberg brothers who are the current keepers of Nashville's culinary zeitgeist with places such as The Patterson House, The Catbird Seat and Pinewood Social. Baseball fans themselves, they forged a relationship with team owner Frank Ward, someone who Max Golberg says, with credible emotion in his voice, is now as close as family.

So, with the keys to the outfield gate from "Uncle" Frank, they created a bar and food experience that has, in one short season, become a lead-off home run.

Story continues below photo

First is the bar and party area. The Goldbergs tapped notable local designer Landy Gardner to help with the conception and he proved his worth and talent in sourcing attractive and comfortable outdoor furniture.

It reminds me of those perfect weather days in college when you would drag the couch outside for a lazy party, except The Band Box couches and armchairs don’t smell like last week’s thunderstorm, stale wings and youthful indiscretion. That’s because Gardner used state-of-the-art weatherproof fabrics.

The four-sided outdoor bar is the epicenter, bordered by lounge seating and gaming areas. Anyone at the ballpark can walk out to right field, belly up and hang out, and that's a great option, especially if you pay the $8 bleacher creature price and get there early enough to score a seat at the bar.

The other option, which I will say right now is my new favorite summer outing, is to reserve one of the four-tops that anchor the right field seating area. The cost to reserve a table is $70, which includes your four tickets to the game.

The best part is that it includes table service. Flip up a little flag and a server arrives, ready to take your order for Porter Road Butcher hot dogs, pulled pork sliders and other locally sourced fare the Goldbergs call "elevated stadium food." While the menu isn't vast, something we've come to expect at concept-driven sites, it paints the corners with something for most tastes.

Even the drinks are elevated with local brews such as Jackalope and Black Abbey, plus a frozen whiskey and Coke that goes down faster than a sinker by Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux on a hot and humid night.

I once had the opportunity to ask former MLB Commissioner Fay Vincent which ballpark had the best food. After he hemmed and hawed, talking about commissioner impartiality and not picking favorites, he said, "If you really want to eat well, get a bratwurst at Milwaukee County Stadium."

If you find yourself at a Sounds game, all I can say, if you really want to have a great time and a good nosh, check out The Band Box.

Reach Jim Myers at 615-259-8367 and on Twitter @ReadJimMyers.

What's in a name?

The term "band box" used to refer to oval boxes used for hats and starched collars. Writers in the late 1800s used the term to describe small, hitter-friendly ballparks, such as the Brooklyn Dodgers' Ebbets Field and Fenway Park in Boston.

Game day, fun day

The minor league baseball trend of adding more fun and entertainment off the field is due in large part to Triple-A baseball's Pacific Coast League President Branch B. Rickey. Under his tenure, many of the stadiums, like the Sounds', have enjoyed complete overhauls.

If his name seems familiar, it's because his grandfather, Branch Rickey, owned the Brooklyn Dodgers and signed Jackie Robinson as the first African-American to play Major League ball.

If you go

These boys of summer all almost gone; the Sounds' final three home games at First Tennessee Park (401 Jackson St.) are Tuesday-Thursday.

Reserved table seating was very limited at press time, but all ticketholders can wander over and enjoy The Band Box bar, food and recreation area.

Call 615-515-1146 to check availability. For other tickets, call 615-690-4487 or visit the website, www.nashvillesounds.com.