Lucky Strike

Thanks to Hemal and Tommy, I was able to get into the opening of Lucky Strike at Gallery Place last night. For those who don'’t know, Lucky Strike is an upscale bowling alley. Tommy wrote a good review here for DCist.

Numerous celebrities have bowled at various Lucky Strike locations, at least according to the tabloids that they have in the bathroom. This is actually an important point to understand. When you go into restaurants they frequently put up favorable reviews along with the front cover of the publication that gave the review. For Lucky Strike, the equivalent is the cover of the issue of The Enquirer that featured a picture of Geena Davis bowling at a Lucky Strike. The fact that The Enquirer adorns the wall above the urinal perfectly describes the whole bowling alley.

The alley itself is very trendy, particularly for DC, featuring flatscreen TVs playing movie clips and showing artwork, an extensive bar, and nice sofas. Maybe it is because I managed to finagle an invite at the last moment, or maybe it was the surroundings, but I was actually a little scared to bowl. I had this feeling that once I was seen actually bowling my cover would have been blown and I would have to leave.

I should clarify that I grew up bowling in a Bowl America. Certainly a more democratic, i.e. dirtier and without a dress code, experience.

All that said, I had a great time. Now that could be due to all of the free booze and food they pumped into me, or my love of bowling, but do I anticipate returning. One of my life's goals is to break 200 in a game, and I don't have very many options near me so those Lucky Strike pins better prepare themselves for my wrath.

Also, they have Bud Light in bottles that are shaped like a bowling pin, and that is awesome.

The photo, and others from the night, is from Tommy. You can see more here.