November 2, 2005
What We're Missing: A Place to Roll
Editor's Note: In this very occasional series, we've lamented our lack of a quick lube and a dearth of good bagels. Now, we wonder why bowling is so hard to do. Is there something you think D.C. is missing? Let us know.
What would DCist do for fun in an ideal world? Oh, the usual. We'd bowl. Drive around. The occasional acid flashback.
Sadly, we don't live in a perfect world, and the truth is that a night of bowling fun for the whole family is a bit of a tall order in D.C. Within the bounds of the District, the only option is the Hippodrome at GW, but considering it's alcohol-free and packed with underage college students, it might not be the first choice for the slightly more mature among us looking to get tipsy and bend over a lot to show off our butts.
You'd have to travel at least 5 miles to Strike Bethesda for an "adult" bowling experience. Strike Bethesda does have a full bar, and those mini-hamburgers are awfully tasty, but the place is also a little on the gimmicky side. Bowling need not be corrupted by fancy mixed drinks and glow-in-the-dark shenanigans. Bowling alleys should be a little on the dirty side, quite frankly. There should be a surly woman named Maude behind the bar and a suspicious odor to accompany your shoe rental. Anything fancier would very un-Dude.
There are a few other bowling options within driving distance: Strike House Bowling Center in Hyattsville, White Oak Lanes in Silver Spring, the AMF Alexandria Lanes, and of course, the various Bowl America establishments.
We haven't been to every single bowling alley near the city, but so far none of our experiences have really satisfied our appetite for quality, dive-bar style bowling. Maybe with the demise of Hollywood Star Lanes, the days of the classic bowling alley are done for. But we hope not. Where do you recommend we go to roll?
UPDATE: Thanks to a tip from the comments, we learn that a new Lucky Strike will be opening at Gallery Place in the near future. If it's anything like the Lucky Strike on Hollywood Blvd. in Los Angeles, we're in store for overpriced drinks in swanky lounge environs. It'll be perfectly suited that area, no doubt, though we're still not so sure about paying $8 for a White Russian.
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Something I miss? Sonic! What I wouldn't give for driving around with a cherry limeade and the top down on a beautiful day.
There is a bowling alley in the works at Gallery Place. Anyone know when it is opening?
Hell yeah, we are missing a Sonic. I could seriously go for tater tots righ now.
Tops on my "what we're missing" list for the District: batting cages.
Isn't there a bowling alley in the White House? Or was it removed by Bush like the DC license plates?
Liz - "coming soon," according to the Gallery Place website.
Gallery Place info...
http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2004/11/15/story7.html
According to a Wash Biz journal story a Lucky Strike is coming to Gallery Place.
Check out Lucky Strike’s Web site, here, which shows a location "Coming Soon" in DC!
I just put an update with a link to the announced plans for the Gallery Place Lucky Strike. I've been to the new Lucky Strike in L.A., and I'm guessing it'll be similar, if not exactly the same: Really expensive and very posh. Not quite what I was looking for, but no doubt a welcome addition to the area.
batting cages in the burbs - Upton Hill in Arlington isn't that far out, and it's usually not too crowded, esp. on weeknights. Bad thing is that it's seasonal.
Fort Myer in Arlington has a bowling alley, which I think is still open to the public. You just have to flash your ID at the security checkpoint and they'll let you into the fort. At least I think this is still the protocol - it's been a few years since I've been there. Anyway, more information here: http://www.fmmcmwr.com/bowl.htm
Falls Church has a great old-fashion dirty bowling alley, complete with hoardes of 12-15 year olds trying to sneak a drink and smoke.
There's a good batting cage on Wilson Blvd. east of Seven Corners.
But then again, these are all in the suburbs. Honestly the whole premise of this post, that somehow "we're missing" something because it's not within the boundaries of the District, is pretty condescending. Why are "we" missing it if it's not within DC? Are "we" missing an airport if they're all in VA or MD?
I have spoken to the people who work at the Gallery Place "mall," and they've told me that the bowling alley should open in February.
Of course - try getting to Dulles or BWI with a week's worth of luggage and without a car for less than $50 round-trip.
If you want to talk about what DC is missing, which can't be satisfied by the suburbs, it's Korean grocery stores, like they have in NY. They couldn't thrive in the suburbs because there's not enough density and foot traffic. But they could work in parts of DC (Georgetown, Dupont, Woodley, U St., etc.). Screw delis, what we need is a place that sells fresh fruits and vegetables right out in the street (i.e. not Freshfields). Maybe there's still not enough density and foot traffic in DC to support them, but they'd be a huge improvement if they came.
DC is missing a good ol' fashioned roller rink. Those were the days. Roll Bounce D.C. style.
How about a decent easily accessible skateboard park?
A few years ago when I lived in Silver Spring me and a friend of mine who lived in Bethesda were craving some bowling. There was an old bowling alley in Silver Spring but it was shut down by then. We were new to the area and didn't know our way around. So we just started looking up places in the phone book and calling for directions. Then we ended up driving out somewhere in either eastern Montgomery County or in Prince George's. I have no idea where we were, but we were two clueless young white girls driving through this not so great neighborhood and we walked into this bowling alley, and it was like a scene from a movie. Every single person in there was black, which is no big deal, except they seemed to all turn and stare at us. It was like time stopped and they were all thinking "are they lost?" It was actually pretty funny.
I. Matt:
BWI - $1.80-$5 Metrorail fare to Greenbelt. Then hop onto the $2 Metrobus to BWI entrance.
Dulles - who wants to fly out of Dulles?
II. Sommer:
Rinaldi Riverdale Bowling Lanes [independent]
http://www.ncaba.org/centers/riverdal.htm
6322 Kenilworth Ave,
Riverdale, MD
(301) 864-5940
College Park Lanes [AMF]
9021 Baltimore Blvd.
College Park, MD, 20740
TerpZone Bowling
http://www.union.umd.edu/TerpZone/index.html
Adele H. Stamp Student Union @ UMCP
College Park, MD, 20742
301-314-BOWL
There's a skate park at 11th and Shaw.
11th and shaw? I meant 11th and Rhode Island Ave, which is in Shaw.
Yes, there is a bowling alley in the White House... specifically, in the Old Executive Office Building. However, after September, 2001, the public is no longer able to use it.
The bowling alley was originally installed for President Truman, I think. President Nixon used it a lot, too. Here's a photo:
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/photography/presidents/presidents7.htm
See also this story fron the NY Daily News:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/story/345162p-294700c.html
""If you saw [the lanes] you'd cry," said a league member who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution by his superiors. "They're ruined."
The White House declined to allow a Daily News reporter to see the lanes, which are occupied by contractors involved in the building's renovation."
Also, google "
Let me second the person who repped AMF Lanes in College Park, which is the bowling alley closest to DC that reps Mid-Atlantic tradition by offering duckpin bowling. Duckpin is kind of similar to candlepin (for you New England folks), but the pins are shorter and squatter; like in candlepin, the ball is slightly larger than a softball and the pins are arranged in such a way that you do not necessarily get the well-known cascade effect from hitting the lead pin just off-center. You know you are talking to someone who actually grew up in suburban Maryland when that person went to a buncha duckpin bowling birthday parties in his or her elementary school years. Word. FONTANA BOWLARAMA RIP! SILVER SPRING, REPRESENT!
Not sure if this counts, but I grew up hanging out on the weekends at the Jelleff boys and girls club roller skating rink. I haven't been there in years, but it might still be going on. Nothing like a little roller skating, foosball, and Mike Tyson's Punch Out to get your Saturday night going.
Waffle House! I miss Waffle House so badly.
There's a bowling alley on the corner of Riggs & Eastern. It's on the Maryland side of Eastern, but definitely qualifies as the "closest to the district", since the border is right across the street.
Seems like all the DCists live in NW! We need some Northeast representation.
What are we missing? It's almost entirely unforgivable that in a city of DC's size, there isn't a single vegetarian restaurant. (No, the Amsterdam Falafel Shop, as great as it is, doesn't count.) You can barely find a vegetarian entree. We ought to be embarrassed. I'm not even a vegetarian, but it really drives me crazy.
Gwydion, there is a vegetarian restaurant, Vegetate, that just opened on 9th St. in Shaw. Haven't been there yet, but I do want to check it out.
For a bowler, you sure are picky. Bethesda Bowl is too gimmicky? Just have another drink, ok? Jeez.
Anyone from LA miss some Roscoes? DC needs some chicken and waffles!
I'm more concerned with the lack of good bowling close to the metro.
But what DC is really lacking is a proper brewpub. Not a restaurant that also serves locally-brewed beer, but a brewery that serves passable food.
Jesse,
I heard tell of a brew pub coming to 9th, by the convention center. anyone know anything about it?
Also, while it is a restaurant first, Franklins in Hyattsville makes what i believe to be the best beer around.
wish it werent so damn far from my home!
I went to Vegetate for brunch on Sunday and had the fritatta. It was good. Lookiing to try the dinner menu. Don't forget Soul Vegetarian on Georgia Ave. MMM. Vegetarian carry out and I think sit in, too.
OH, And DC proper needs some Asian markets fast. Pain in the butt to go to the burbs (no car) to get my rice and red bean paste.
I agree about the bowling. I'm on a local bowling league and while it calls itself a DC league, we find ourselves trekking out to the burbs to bowl. Since two of our teammates don't have cars, it becomes a convoluted process to get there each week. It's true DC could use a lot of things, but some more types of standard recreational spots would make it feel more like a city and less like a place people just happen to live and work. ESPN Zone hardly gets me my fix. :)
DC is totally missing a Golden Gate Bridge.
Everlasting Life is also right down the street from Soul Veg, and there's Java Green on 19th and Amma's Vegetarian Kitchen in Georgetown.
In my hometown there was a dirty combination bowling alley/indoor mini golf place, which coupled with the fact that half the people there were wearing Wranglers or Carhartts made it one of the best bowling alleys ever.
Unfortunately impossible to get a good bowling alley in NW though. You can't really have a cheap dirty joint in a neighborhood full of rich yuppies. A trip to the 'burbs (or even better to somewhere more rural) seems inevitable for a quality bowling experience.
I miss the Waffle Shop (on Park St.), any word on if it will re-open elsewhere? I've heard rumors of 11th st., and I want to be there to order the first huevos rancheros when it does open.
I think calling Strike Bethesda too 'gimmicky' is completely legit. Plus who wants to pay that much.
Doesn't Howard have a bowling alley too? I've heard there's one in the student center.
yeah, i have a feeling the gallery place lanes will be a closer version of strike bethesda, which sucks. still, this just isn't a bowling town. it's white collar/dirt poor. my advice is to go to a virginia or college park alley once every few months. as a former once-a-week bowler i can safely say a few frames per year is plenty for most people.
Antonio,
I haven't checked either of them out, but the Common Share in Adams Morgan and Gladys Night & Ron Winan's restaurant at Largo Town Center each serve chicken & waffles.
Roscoe's seems inimitable, but I've actually heard really good things about Gladys & Ron's.
Here you go, a metro accessible, D.C. area bowling alley. No idea on whether they serve booze:
http://www.howard.edu/currentstudents/studentlifeactivities/blackburn/default.htm
there is a tiny bowling alley in one of the student centers in GW. about 15 lanes. it's not the greatest, but it is open to the public.
OH for a Lebowski-like bowling alley. Or even a Stuckey Bowl stand-in. Sadly, if we get new ones, they won't fit the bill -- they'll either be too swanky/gimmicky (a la Lucky Strike), or will try to emulate the charm that only 30 years of cigarette smoke and Nat Lite bring.
Melanie, that old bowling alley in Silver Spring is across from my office building. It probably did better business when there was also the movie theater in the basement of my building. (That has now flooded so many time I don't think it is ever coming back.) They are doing construction on the old alley, but I don't know how much yet (they haven't torn it down, but are gutting it at the moment). When they first started work I thought they might be renovating it to be a bowling alley once again. If anyone happens to know what the are doing, I am endlessly curious about it.
White Oak's lanes are also Duckpin. I went to, and hosted, several birthday parties there. if you are military, you can use the very nice full-size bowling lanes at the Bethesda Naval Medical Center.
What is this area missing (besides quality bowling):
1 more vote for a Waffle House. IHOP gets old quick.
A Cracker Barrel. Fredericksburg and Fredneck are the only two "near by."
And in honor of the new DUI laws: a Brew Thru!
Mike - I think there's a Cracker Barrel in Springfield just south of the 395/495/95 interchange.
Waffle Houses are in MD but not sure how close the nearest one to DC is - not sure about VA either. I was surprised to see the Krispy Kremes downtown my last trip up.
There was a similar article to this post in the WaPo that the only miniature golf place left in DC is in Potomac Park. I'm guessing the rest are all in the burbs too? I had trouble finding many in Baltimore my last trip up there too.
I do remember an indoor mini-golf place in the Old Post Office Pavillion in the early '90s but I think that expansion of the shopping center there has now been swallowed by the federal office space that requires all the security checkpoints just to get into the food court now.
I'm kind of jonesing for a bocce court. Any tips?
unless you like banging them off the walls you don't really need a court for bocce. play on the mall. or any park.
are there bocce pits in dc? i haven't seen one.
There is a cracker barrel in manassas, right off of 66 on 234
and the 'brew pub' on 9th street is supposed to be an Old Dominion.
DC seriously needs some car washes. like the ones in LA where they run your car through the washers and then a bunch of latino guys run out and hand-dry it and clean the interiors. all for $7.
Mike is right that I forgot that White Oak is duckpin. Somehow I never seem to get out there.
How sad that they're opening an bowling alley in Gallery Place - GW boasts to prospective students that the Hippodrome is the only bowling alley in DC, except for the White House. At least they can still say the Bazooka was invented there.
How sad that they're opening an bowling alley in Gallery Place - thus ending GW's boast to prospective students that the Hippodrome is the only bowling alley in DC, except for the White House. At least they can still say the Bazooka was invented there.
Car washes in DC, eh? There is one on Connecticut and one on Wisconsin, but I don't know the price or who dries your car. The one on connecticut is on the west side right up by UDC. The one on Wisconsin is also on the left side, right around Rodman's. (That is between Tennleytown and Friendship Heights metro stops. I also know that there are car washes similar to what you describe in McClean, and one in Silver Spring on the south side of Georgia Ave. a couple of blocks before it hops on the beltway. Just take 16th straight out of the city and when it ends take a left. It will be a block or two or there down on the left.
I don't do the car thing, so I have no sense of the going rate.
theres an $8 hand wash at florida and 5th NE too. ne corner.
8 dollar caucasians should not be a problem. I believe this was a reference to "the dude". One little problem: The dude only drinks caucasians while not rolling. While rolling, he and boys drink beer. Now, a 8 dollar beer. This would be a problem.
missing a brew pub? cap city brewing co. -- HQ in shirlington -- brews some pretty tasty suds on the premises, and the food's not bad and not too expensive. happy hour pints go for something like $2.50.
Veg restaurant: Java Green on 19th NW, bet. K & L.
I grew up in a Rust Belt city where neighborhood bars had small bowling alleys, and fish fry with pierogis on Friday. Ah, I miss home.