![]() ![]() That balance is reversed at traditional bowling centers, which report 60 percent or 70 percent of their revenue from bowling.ĭeclining league play continues to cripple that revenue. ![]() … And the food is definitely better.”Īt Tavern+Bowl, as with other trendy bowling centers, Canzoneri said only about one-third of its revenue comes from bowling. “This is more of a party atmosphere,” Herrera said. ![]() Rebecca Herrera, 26, of Santa Ana organized a team-building party for her Luna Grill co-workers at Lucky Strike in Orange on a recent night. And the restaurant serves up dishes like lobster sliders and bacon-wrapped Kobe meatloaf with craft beer flights. Bowling lanes, cued by iPads from comfy booths, fill up quickly on weekends. Tavern+Bowl hosts trivia nights, airs UFC fights and has DJs on weekends. “We don’t call ourselves a bowling alley,” said general manager Marc Canzoneri, who has a background in bars and nightclubs. The attitude is similar at Costa Mesa 55 Tavern+ Bowl, which opened with 10 lanes at The Triangle in March 2014. “Bowling is sort of a side thing,” he said. “The main thing is the arcade games,” said Hector Martinez, a worker with the alley’s amusement staff. The City of Industry-based chain offers just 14 bowling lanes and one night of league bowling each week at its Santa Ana center, focusing on mall walk-ins by also offering karaoke, billiards and a large arcade. The county’s newest bowling lanes are at Round 1 Bowling & Amusement, which opened in May inside Santa Ana’s Main Place Mall. Then there are chain-owned spots that have sprung up in shopping centers since 2003, with Orange’s Lucky Strike and Tustin’s Bowlmor luring the “Real Housewives of Orange County” set with sleek decor and craft cocktails. Forest Lanes in Lake Forest still plays host to statewide tournaments, and Fountain Bowl in Fountain Valley pays homage to the cult classic film “The Big Lebowski” with its annual Lebowksi Fest. There are bowling alleys built from 1958 to 1990 that cling to their blue collar origins. The remaining Orange County locations are split. The bowling alley is the latest victim in an industry that’s been shrinking by an average of 4 percent to 5 percent every year for almost as long as the Nitzes have been married. It will be replaced by an Orchard Supply Hardware store. ![]() Unfortunately, so has the next part of the story.Īfter 38 years in business, Tustin Lanes closed its doors this month. Theirs is a courting ritual that has played out countless times over slick lanes and cheap plates of fries in bowling alleys across the country. The couple will soon celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary. “We spent the majority of the next year and a half at Tustin Lanes, whether it was working for me, bowling, eating or playing video games,” she recalls. Thinking it was trash, 18-year-old Pajares started to throw the napkin away until Nitz lunged to stop her. After a week of daily visits, he worked up the nerve to slide a napkin with his phone number across the snack bar. Nitz spied the beautiful girl handing french fries to a customer and became mesmerized. Kristin Pajares was working the snack bar at Tustin Lanes bowling alley in 1984 when 17-year-old Anthony Nitz walked in. ![]()
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