This is a mid-sized local venue in downtown Allentown, Pennsylvania. It is friendly, and hosts cultural, sports, and music events. Pro-tip: reserve your parking in advance. Don't get caught up in a logjam an hour before your show. The police are cool, the crowds behave themselves, there's dining and a nice arts district right across the street. Enjoy. read more

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Came here for a minor league game and I feel like I got the full arena experience. Pro: Very, very, very good food choices for an arena. Maybe unparalleled. Con: A lot of higher end clubs and restaurants like the Morning Call Club. It has a white-collar vibe here, more than I'd like for a minor league city. Con: The arena felt very adult oriented although events bring plenty of kids. It felt like every stand has beer. Kids made the lines extra long at the couple of places that actually have their foods. Pro: As the game got going, the cameras and cheers started focusing on the kids to make up for that. A bit. Pro: There are water fountains and restrooms at every corner of the arena. Con: The fountains didn't work by section 101. Pro: others did. Con: They knew about this last weekend and it hasn't been fixed yet. Anyway, if I was waffling on the 4th star, having a live band sealed the seal. Ladies and gentlemen, The Wonton Soups. read more

PPL Center - Lehigh Valley Phantoms 1/31/26 - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Allentown, Pennsylvania

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Easy to find parking nearby. Staff helpful. Would definitely return read more

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The venue is ok. Finding my seat was difficult , staff wasn't the warmest, and at the end of the night lack of crowd control created crowd crushing. Staff blocked off exits without telling people so it became dangerously overcrowded in one area. Thankfully another person told me to go the other way because of the overcrowding. read more

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Came here recently with my kid to see Papa Roach who had Underoath and Rise Against as openers. Had a great time listening but the review is for the stadium. PPL Center is the home of the Philadelphia Phantoms Minor League ice hockey team. It holds about 10,000 and there's plenty of nearby parking in garages or on the street. The one side of the stadium is stacked with three levels of Club Boxes. The other side has the second level of seating. My kid and I were off to the side in Row 1 seats 12/13 Section 202. I'm short and my knees were uncomfortable with the space to the wall. However, my aisle seat armrest did rotate to vertical which was nice. Seats were comfortable. The concourse had adequate space to move around and due to the smaller size did not take long to get around. Bathrooms were plentiful and clean. Staff was nice and well mannered. Someone during the concert lit up some weed so that was disappointing. Concession pricing was in line for what I've been to in the past. Each liquor stand, however, featured a different "signature" drink at an elevated price of $20 but didn't look like you got more ounces of liquor. I ended up buying a pretzel and two waters for about $20. You really get the "closeness" to the major acts from all seating here. They did a good job with the audio, too, dealing with the space. If I saw Papa Roach at a bigger stadium, I don't think I'd have as good of a time. PPL Center was pretty decent for a concert night out. read more

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We visited this weekend for a live event. Very easy to enter and find your seats. Clean restrooms. Friendly consessions. Parking is in nearby public garages. read more

Lehigh Valley Phantoms game was a great experience. Since it was the weekend of black friday the Phantoms gear was mostly 35% off - that was a nice bonus. Nice variety of concessions, some good craft beer, excellent pretzels, crab fries. We had a great time. We could have all done without the over the top club vibe with the way too loud music, but unfortunately that's pretty common at this point. read more

I can't wait for the game to start soon. It's a great area to take a group and have fun read more

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PPL has a special disdain for ADA patrons. At my stepson's graduation a security staff upon seeing my wife's walker (she has MS), he instructed her to go to the furthest entrance uphill even though there was an entrance open nearby where abled attendees were milling in. We pointed out her walker and continued to insist she to entrance furthest away and furthest from our seats. It's shame we need to look to Philadelphia or NY for an entertainment venue. This is not only a poor reflection on PPL, but an impression on Allentown as well. read more

Small nice arena. Seems like the right size for the minor league hockey. Traffic could be better on game day. And facilities could be more plentiful read more

I'm writing about the food issues at the arena. This is based on the last year or so to give a timeline. This arena just can't seem to find a way to provide even the basics of arena food. I think we all know you're going to get ripped off at an arena. PPL center offers the basics and has a Tim Horton's and Chickies & Pete's attached to the arena. Probably 70% of the time in arena food will be stale and substandard on multiple levels. You'll pay seven dollars for a pretzel only to find out it's stale. The popcorn will be stale and the rolls and buns will be stale. Whoever oversees ordering and rotation of food inventory needs to go. You'll get a sandwich and the roll is so stale the merger ingredients will not even stay in the sandwich. Then you look next to the booth you're at and there sits two pallets of rolls. There they are, the fresh ones. There is no doubt many food items are saved and used for the next event. Yes everything is top dollar. They will offer several promotions like a dollar dog etc. PPL places time limits and limits on pre person portions. Some of the promotions are so bad you wonder why it's even offered. They limit the dollar dogs and it appears they have a smaller promotion dog made for them. The Chickies & Pete's is not sponsored by the chain. So it's a name sake only. Way overpriced and a limited menu. I'm convinced that PPL ownership doesn't care at this point. It's not a pop up problem it's just the way they serve food. Try and plan not to eat there but it's difficult sometimes. Pretty bad when you can't get a hotdog, pretzel and popcorn right. Not to mention you paid for a steak dinner with what it cost you. read more

I've been here a handful of times now and I've never been letdown. From the play on the ice, to the friendliness and helpfulness of the staff, to the food and drinks. Only Tim Horton's location for who knows how long, that's reason enough to come here, but if you get some seats in the Morning Call area you have access to some other awesome food as well, with a rotating menu. These photos are from my last time there, but I have so many more. Will absolutely be going back soon, great place to catch a game. read more

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We have been to see shows here a few times and it's a great little venue. Because of the size there isn't a bad seat in the house. Another advantage is the ability to get close parking for a reasonable price. For shows with kids, like Disney on Ice, PPL Center is a wonderful option read more

One of my favorite AHL hockey arenas. The real + for this place is the seats. More comfy than most arenas for any sport and no matter the level. The food lines can be long and there isn't a ton of space if your trying to walk around the concourse. The club/suite seats are nice as well. Good site lines to the action read more

Nice arena. We were here for an AHL game, Phantoms v Comets. Easily accessible parking, nice concourse, and good sight lines. The game was fun, crowd really gets into it. There are a number of food options, beers, and gear. The bathrooms aren't bad either. Plenty of places just outside the arena as well. read more

We just went to our first event at the PPL Center (Lynyrd Sknyrd) and it was not a positive experience from the view of the venue. We had decent floor seats and many many people were allowed to walk up from the rear and totally block our view in the aisle. One security guy came through early and he had no effect. One person opposite us blocked the aisle as best he could and people were yelling and pushing him to move up to block the aisle. What happens? Security finally shows up and pulls that guy instead of controlling the crowd. Just terrible. Ruined the show for us although Lynyrd Sknyrd was great. Another point - the PPL Center website suggested we buy parking in advance and sent us to an app. We paid $17 for parking. We got to the garage and the guy working the gate asked us for $10. We told him we pre-paid and we told him we paid $17 - he found that hard to believe and let us through. Unlikely to attend an event at this badly run venue again. read more

PPL Center - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Allentown, Pennsylvania

worst venue I have ever visited. It is Dirty! the staff is unhelpful at best. The venue is cashless. that would not be so bad if they had macHines to put cash on a card. they don't. if you are not prepared enjoy being thirsty and hungry for the entire even/ read more

My husband and I took our children to see Cirque du Soleil there last night and while the show was amazing the venue clearly has no regard for their customers. We didn't realize this but if you park your car on the street, right out the entrance door we were, the meter only allows for 2 hours. Now the town of Allentown knows that shows with intermission are mostly 2.5-3 hours, but they choose to cap the parking to two hours. There were no signs where we were that indicated this. We only discover this once we were at the parking machine with our credit card in the thing. So we said ok, we will come out during intermission and add to the meter. Nope! They would not let you exit. While there are multiple exits to get out of the place and like three security ppl guarding them, they refused to let us out of the door where are car was. Instead we had to walk all the way around the entire venue and go through a small restaurant bc apparently the security there were the only ones with a re-entry stamp. So now walking all around the building in the freezing cold to put more money in the meter. Then not even being allowed to reenter the venue with the stamp from the entrance near our parked car, we had to walk all the way back around to the place where we exited the building to re-enter. And when I asked the lady if the town is strict with the parking if you go over she said oh yes, they will for sure ticket you! Sounds like someone at the venue is working in tandem with the crooked parking authority of the town. The town clearly wants to ticket you or they would make the meter limit more than 2 hours. And the venue is clearly in cahoots with town to prevent ppl from easily exiting and refilling their meter. At every entrance you had three security ppl literally standing there doing nothing except preventing ppl from leaving. The management isn't intelligent enough to give each exit /entrance their own re-entry stamp for ppl? Or is it that they are helping the crooked town make money on parking tickets? We ended up missing the first 10 mins of the second half due to us not wanting to get a parking tix. Show amazing, the venue doesn't care in the least about customer service. The venue and the town should be ashamed of themselves try to extort money from ppl like that. Tickets to shows are expensive enough for families and they want to make ppl pay more? Lesson here, either avoid this venue like the plague or pay the 20 bucks and park in a garage. read more

We just enjoyed our first event at the PP&L center, it was a hockey game. The arena was nicely cleaned, all employees that we had contact with, were very pleasant. Restrooms were cleaned and fully stocked. We had really nice seats, but to be honest with you, the size of the arena, no matter where you seat, you will be able to see the field. Parking in the garages cost $6 for the events, and they take cash only. read more

PPL Center - Hockey Field - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Allentown, Pennsylvania

I haven't been been here to see any events yet but it's a very cool and beautiful spot filled with numerous restaurants including a sports bar, coffee shop, and a hockey ring that doubles as a concert hall. Went walking around to check everything out and I can't wait to come here for an event, soon. read more

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The staff here has little to no concern for those of us with any type of physical limitation. First, the security staff doesn't know the difference between guard staff and spectators (despite the extremely obvious wristbands) and even after you tell them that you are with the staff, they don't let you go where you need to to get things done only to find out that they were wrong and you should have been allowed to get to the part of the arena you needed to. Now back to the lack of ADA accommodations. They designated a space farthest from the center of the performance to allow those of us who are currently mobilly challenged to watch the shows, despite there being about 30 seats open but they have chose to close those for spectators. And the "handicapped" seats at the top of the section, well those are occupied by the Karen's who obviously are handicapped by their sense of entitlement! WTF - isn't out money as good as those that can get around fine. read more

Went there earlier this week for TOOL concert. Since ticket release was delayed until 72 hours before the show (set to release Saturday), and my tickets did not appear, I just figured I'd call the box office Monday to see what the error was. Surprise! Ticket office has very limited hours (Tues &Thurs 12-5), so it was only through extreme persistence over the course of the day that I was able to get a call back on Monday. That experience left me leery, because that is terribly poor customer service. The venue is smallish, which is good for seeing a show. The concourse however is borderline dangerous when full of people. It was literally elbow to elbow with hundreds of people, with me hanging onto my husband and older son's jackets to keep from getting pushed around (I am not a small woman either). We killed some time at the attached Chickies and Pete's, where I got served raw chicken tenders. I showed the server and they offered something as a replacement free of charge, but it put me off eating at that point. Just saying this to be aware if the restaurant is busy during an event and they're rushing to turn over tables. Positives: easy access to the venue, there is a parking garage right there, but we chose to park on the street so we could leave without sitting in post show traffic, and that actually worked out great. Not sure if I'd rush back. read more

Pretty decent place to take in a concert. I did purchase standing room on the floor and ended up being about three people deep from Chris Stapleton and enjoyed every second of it. I like that they had a small lounge bar in the bottom level and it rarely had a line and they could serve up pretty much anything you would want. Great experience and we didn't have to pay too much to park nearby which I recommend because it does seem a little on the rough side in these parts of the city. read more

The stadium itself is gorgeous. Really like the style of the stadium. The layout is neat. The "Jumbotron" at centerice is super cool and full high definition. Went to back to back Phantoms game and about 98 percent of the food vendors were really nice. There was one guy at a smaller stand that was a jerk but we just had that one bad encounter. The food itself is standard fair for a sports venue and just like all sports venues, the prices were high but they weren't ridiculously high like some of the bigger stadium. Parking was really easy. Getting into the stadium was easy. And overall we had a great experience. Allentown is soooo blessed to have a gem like this in the city. Go Flyers and Go Phantoms !!!!! read more

Went to a Phantoms game with some friends here last month. The stadium is clean, new, and impressive. There's a parking garage directly across and the price to park wasn't bad. There's a Chickies and Petes in PPL Center and the prices are a little lower than Philly prices, but expect to pay the same price for beer as you would in the city. read more

PPL Center - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Allentown, Pennsylvania

Nice local venue to catch a minor league hockey game. Seats were very comfortable and I liked the fact that there is an attached parking garage. We pre-purchased the parking garage option...I'm not sure if you can pay on the day off to park there. There is a Chickie & Pete's attached to the arena and if the PPL Center isn't open yet, there is an outside entrance that you can use to access the restaurant. Unfortunately, it was packed the day we were here and didn't feel like waiting 45 minutes for a table, which would have meant we would have missed the first part of the game. Instead, we did pick up some crab fries from a counter service that they run and grabbed the rest of our meals from a few different places inside the arena. The crab fries were good, but everything else was bleh. Next time we are here, we will definitely eat somewhere else first. But overall, we enjoyed watching the game and look forward to catching another game in the future. read more

Phantoms hockey games are great! The arena host BowTie Ben is incredible. Along with Elizabeth crazy hair! They are both the top 2 entertainers there The seats offer great views but are tight. The corridors are tight too but overall it's a great time. (Skip Chickie and Petes it sucks. Go to the Allentown Brew Works across the street) read more

PPL Center - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Allentown, Pennsylvania

TSO concert was to start at 3 and hundreds of people standing outside in the rain waiting for door to open at 3!! Show started at 3:15 with still hundreds of people still outside in the rain. Traffic was just stupid! Before and after the show! No workers outside to instruct on which line you will need to get in. Guess they didn't want to get wet? PPL needs to get more organized for a show of this caliber!! Traffic was basically a standstill with people looking for parking. Doubt I'll be going to another concert there ever again! As for TSO the show was incredible!! And the Lazer and lighting just it made it that more special!! read more

We saw Trans Siberian Orchestra this past Saturday, 3pm Show . Admittedly, we should have gotten to the show earlier then we did, it was horrible to find parking and we were standing in line to get in at 2:40. The main issue was that it took us 40 minutes to get through the line and to our seats, and they started right at 3 so we missed the first 20 minutes! The main problem was getting through security. There were two metal detectors and only one ticket taker. It was so slow because everybody had large jackets and umbrellas, and if someone had a purse, it had to be searched. How a venue that knows the show is sold out does not have the staffing they know they will need for a big show like this is unbelievable. How early should you have to show up for a show? We saw Janet Jackson last weekend at the Boardwalk Hall in AC and ZERO issues as we had at PP & L. This will be my last trip here read more

My wife and I went to the Michael Buble concert tonight. She's a big fan and hasn't been to any events since COVID started. I bought the very expensive floor tickets almost two years ago at the box office the moment they went on sale, to ensure the best seats. When we arrived, we were told that our ROW HAD BEEN REMOVED along with some others. We were totally dismayed! The staff had no idea where to send us, and just pointed to random open seats. Of course, very soon others with tickets for those seats came and took them. The staff then sent us to other random seats, and we were bumped again. Disgusted, we left the concert. My wife is very sad, and I am very angry. This is completely unprofessional and bush league!! read more

Sure beats hauling your rear end down to Philly or New York to see a hockey game. With the money you save you can buy a Mercedes. Good food selection, plenty of local spots and great hockey make for a great time. It's a crime what they charge for a soda but sandwiches are not too bad. Even the beer is not too bad, you can get two cans for $9. Not sure of the decor except to say it reminds you of the inserts in your newspaper on Sunday, all ads. read more

PPL Center - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Allentown, Pennsylvania

I liked my experience here. Mom's in a wheelchair but staff was so kind & accommodating. Every seat in house was a good seat. Bathrooms coulda been cleaner. We used the restroom upon arrival & it was already strewn with tissue and sloppy looking. One thing I HATED, though, was the traffic to get into the Linden St lot and the traffic to get out of the parking garage. Between the garage elevator & the lot traffic, it took us nearly 45 minutes to leave! Next time we'll just park in the local lots near the arena. read more

Second concert here, probably won't return. Michael Buble was good as benefits expensive floor seats but hated masks so wanted to try again with no mask requirement. James Taylor concert not so good, with seats in top row. Crazy smoke or haze in the air all evening, sound quality too loud and dreadfully muffled. Couldn't understand much of speech or song lyrics. No handicap access to upper levels, don't attempt if, like us, you are older and have difficulty with steps. Food and drink prices ridiculous and intermission bathroom and snack crush a mob scene. Will leave this all to the younger crowd. read more

Due to Covid-19, the PPL Center is battling ticket purchasers on giving back refunds. Since numerous games were cancelled due to this pandemic & a lot of people are out of work, a lot of us cannot afford to lose the cost of tickets now. We purchased tickets prior to the shutdown, and now customer service at the PPL Center is radio silent. I will come back and edit this review upon receiving a refund, or if I do not, I will make this review even worse for them. Now is not the time to be messing with your loyal paying customers. If anyone else is experiencing this issue, let them know and get involved in litigation responses if they arent working with you. Thats what Im doing :) read more

bathrooms got gross midway through the concert so i wish they'd had staff cleaning then more frequently. nice staff. decent prices for an arena read more

I have been to the PPL Center twice. First time was the Tom Petty concert and the second was last night for Monster Jam. It was an awesome experience both times. I recommend getting to Allentown a couple of hours early and eating at one of the great restaurants near the arena. Parking on the street was easy - we only had to walk about a 1 1/2 blocks. However if you get there at the last minute you may have trouble finding a spot near by. As a resident and small business owner in Allentown for the past 14 years, I have never been so excited for the future of our city! read more

PPL Center - Monster Jam - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Allentown, Pennsylvania

I thought the Steelstacks at the Sands was bad this place has replaced it for the top bad spot to see a concert. Terrible parking, horrendous check-in then if you like basically sitting on a cold concrete basketball court to watch a concert is the clincher. Never again. read more

Tickets are way too expensive for AHL hockey plus they add fees on top even if you go to the box office. The arena makes you pay more money if you go in person to the box office to encourage people to buy tickets online, presumably so they can cut staff. read more

I went to the PPL Center for the first time last night for a show. It is a great, clean venue with lots of near by available parking. The only down fall I would consider would be the $12 beers and $8 grilled chicken sandwiches, but that is how it is at any venue. Overall great experience. read more

PPL Center - Photo of the stage. - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Allentown, Pennsylvania

Okay, so three stars: not great, not awful. I guess the most frustrating part of the three stars is how easily it could be five. (Hint: very easily.) This place is new, it's clean, and the location isn't bad. I'm a huge fan of the revitalization effort for Allentown and I love the Phantoms, so I'm here pretty often. I've never had problems with parking, but I do tend to arrive early (think, an hour) for pre-game beverages. There are always plenty of policemen helping with traffic flow and crossing the street. I adore the standing room only spots, but there isn't a bad seat in the entire place. The ladies restooms are generally clean, but several are missing locks on the doors, which is kind of silly for a place so new. Now, where'd those two stars go, then? Easy: No wifi, the Molson kicks crazy early, and the beer servers can be less-than-helpful. For example.. My friend and I went for the last Phantoms game. The Molson kicked 5 minutes into the first period. Five. Minutes. Now listen, y'all, just because it's the last game doesn't mean you shouldn't be prepared. I wandered around, and asked another beer stand if they knew if Molson was available elsewhere. The man's response? "Molson? Like, what is that?" (As he pours a lager for a patron...) All in all, I'll keep coming back, and I'll like it (mostly). I'll REALLY love it when there's wifi, and their beer doesn't kick. read more