My spouse and I visited XFINITY Live! (formerly known as
Philly Live!) twice on a weekend in late July 2017: once for lunch on Saturday
at the NBC Sports Arena, and once for brunch on Sunday at 1100 Social. We visited
Philadelphia in order to attend a concert at the Wells Fargo Center, a baseball
game at Citizens Bank Park, and Eagles training camp at Lincoln Financial Field,
and XFINITY Live! provided a convenient place for meals. Parking is available
in an adjacent lot; however, it is only complimentary when there are no nearby
sporting events or concerts. (We arrived on foot because we stayed at the
nearby Marriott Courtyard at the Navy Yard.)
XFINITY Live! opened in March 2012 on the site of the former
Spectrum at the intersection of 11th and Pattison Avenue. The Art Nouveau style
building uses neon- and LED-lighting to accent the structures and walkways in the
80,000-square-foot space that offers dining, drinking, and entertainment.
Outdoors, you can watch sporting events or movies on a huge 24-foot LED video
wall at the XFINITY On Demand Theatre, enjoy a drink in the beer garden, or
listen to an outdoor concert. The nearby NBC Sports Field contains 300-feet of
artificial turf used for sports leagues and outdoor activities. Some XFINITY
tenants offer private outdoor areas for dining, drinking, and relaxing.
Indoors, at the NBC Sports Arena, you can watch an enormous 32-foot LED screen
in the center of the venue, surrounded by smaller (but still huge!) rows of televisions
on either side; in addition, an LED sports ticker circles the room. (XFINITY
contains state-of-the-art
audio and video systems.) Besides the NBC Sports Arena that occupies the
central space, the four corners of the building each house a large
bar/restaurant, including PBR (Professional Bull Riders) Bar and Grill, Victory
Beer Hall, Broad Street Bullies, and 1100 Social. (See our separate reviews of
NBC Sports Arena titled “Huge Venue to Watch Televised Events” and for 1100
Social titled “Interesting Food at This Well
Managed Restaurant”.) Part of the building has a second floor that
houses a VIP lounge area with hostesses, private bars, and TVs. Smaller counter-service
food vendors include Geno’s Steaks and Chickie & Pete’s. In addition, NBC
Sport operates two rectangular bars on the floor in the open atrium. The only
thing missing was a place to buy team sportswear and souvenirs. (Reportedly,
there is [or was] a Mitchell & Ness shop, although we did not see it.) The
complex hosts special recurring and one-time events such as Puppy Yoga and
Oktoberfest.
We have heard a lot about XFINITY Live! over the years, and
now we can say that we’ve been there!
No comments:
Post a Comment