It seems bowling alleys are a dying breed. Perhaps not yet terminal in their condition, it is undoubtable that casual sport bowling has become more of a recreational niche with each passing year, and now stands firm on a cultural reservation. While attempts at ‘retro-revisitation’ by companies like Lucky Strike (formerly Bowlero) have brought about a resurgence in interest and revenue on a consistent scale, the new era of ten-pin lanes is definitely a twilight of what was once an infectious mid-century zeitgeist.
For the bowling enthusiast today, that may sound disappointing. You may think this is yet another example of you inheriting a world that seems less aggrandized than what was just a generation earlier. And yet, thanks to our cyclical interests, bowling’s pulse has yet to flatline completely.
Despite little brand competition, you still have options if you’re looking for a decent night out within a 15 mile radius of Westwood. For better or for worse, Lucky Strike holds a near monopoly on most bowling alleys across the city, so whether you visit Lucky Strike Beverly Hills, Mar Vista, Hollywood or wherever else, you’ll probably be treated to the same atmosphere, prices and institutions.
For example, visiting one of the closest alleys, Lucky Strike Mar Vista in Santa Monica, you’re in for about a 20-minute cruise coastward if you leave at 8 p.m. on a Saturday. A bus would probably take closer to an hour, and it’d be faster to boat around the horn than walk anywhere in Los Angeles. You won’t have to worry about parking, as the Mar Vista location has a fairly spacious lot out front.
Saturday night sees a decently lively crowd, but the wait shouldn’t be longer than 10 minutes if you don’t see anybody sitting at the counter tables overlooking the lanes. The atmosphere is excellent for a bowling alley, with low colored lighting flashing across the pin-aisles like a discotheque, and music just loud enough to give you a rhythmic focus. A strip of televisions run across the far lane wall in case you’re in want of visual stimulation, playing anything from “Avatar: Fire and Ash” to the latest news on the war.
An added bonus is that Lucky Strike’s automatic scorer and name input system programs are some of the easiest, most responsive versions of their horrible mutant species. Couple that with how quickly rounds fly because of Lucky Strike’s string pinsetter (as opposed to a traditional cycler that takes two minutes to place all the pins between frames), and you have what could probably be the most efficient form of bowling on the market.
But is it worth your while? Depending on the day you go, you’ll find a few different price points. On a Saturday night, $22 per person can give you a pair of shoes and a single round on the lanes, which lasts maybe twenty minutes to half an hour if you have three people. $55 per person can secure you two hours of roll time, which is a bit steep for a weekend activity. What’s worse is that past 9 p.m., the place converts into a 21+ joint on Friday and Saturday, so you’ll probably want to look elsewhere if you’re underage and want a weekend night out.
Sundays don’t hold that restriction, though, and their night pricing for two hours is a steady $28 per person, so maybe hold off until weekend’s end if you’re ecstatic about night bowling. Otherwise, be sure to check the website for the hourly rates and if any of the package deal specials interest you. The pricing is billed differently throughout the week, with the lower prices clueing you into low traffic hours.
That all said, though, you might be disappointed if you’re an avid ‘traditional’ bowler. In their pursuit for efficiency and treating customer’s insatiable hunger for instant gratification, Lucky Strike’s string pinsetter unfortunately affects gameplay in subtle but somewhat jarring ways. Since all the pins are attached to strings like marionettes, and because the lane is monitored by an over-concerned digitized system, the pin physics are a little wonky and are sometimes artificially manipulated to increase customer satisfaction (i.e., some pins that go untouched will fall on their own to boost your score).
It’s a small thing, but since Lucky Strike is the preeminent power in the bowling world right now, it helps to know that their locations are geared towards casual play. With their continued expansion, it’s probably safe to say that bowling won’t falter in the next few years. But as they’re the only widespread brand left near Westwood, all the eggs are in whatever basket Lucky Strike chooses to invest in.
So enjoy the fruits of the present while they last. If you’re out for bowling and want to sacrifice some of your surplus wealth, Mar Vista has a house for you. Expensive food, drinks and a little lane play should prove more than satisfying for an evening.
