The media hordes were taken on the now-annual tour of
Nats Park today to get a peek at the various changes, updates, and additions that the team has put in place for the 2016 season, which gets underway officially with the home opener on Thursday, April 7, but also with exhibition games this Friday and Saturday
against the Minnesota Twins.
* Mike Isabella of Top Chef will now have two new offerings, Kapnos at the Park and Catchfly, with Greek dishes and southern food respectively.
* Shake Shack is expanding into the old El Verano Taqueria window, with Verano shifting to a cart.
* The Virginia Biscuit Company is getting a second outlet, up on the Gallery level at Section 315.
* Delta is now the team's official carrier, and so the President's Club area is now the Delta Sky 360 Club.
* The team will be offering limited packages to celebrate kids' birthdays at the park on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, with pizza and cupcakes and tickets to the game.
* The Nats will now be running the Team Stores, which they say will result in "better prices, broader selection and 'exclusive styles.'"
* With Budweiser now taking over as Official Beer, the basic brew offerings will be Bud, Bud Light, Goose Island, Shock Top, Stella Artois, and Blue Point Toasted Lager. The old Scoreboard Walk will now be the Budweiser Terrace, and the Red Porch and Red Loft will be the Budweiser Brew House and Bud Light Loft. There will also be a "LIme-a-Rita Lookout" up on the gallery level.
* The PNC Diamond Club has been given a big overhaul, with a new mezzanine level that has its own seating and bar, plus much more seating and bar space on the first floor.
* Metal detectors will now be at all entrances.
* The only smoking pen will now be outside the First Base Gate, and it will require receiving a wrist band and coming back through the metal detectors once you've finished puffing.
There was a lot more than that, but I think those are the high points. And now to give you a few more photos while still telling you
to go look at the whole gallery, which also includes plenty of additional information in the captions.
Coming later this week, a guide for What's New Outside the Ballpark, for those who haven't been back to visit since last season.