You Gonna Eat That? Bowlounge, Fort Worth TX
Yesterday was the coldest and windiest day of our winter season so far, so the kids and I were stuck inside the house to say the least. I don't do cold for the sake of doing cold. If I'm on a snow skiing trip, fine. I'm okay with being cold for a fun and unique reason - not just because it's a Saturday.
However, since we have been doing a lot of "at-home" weekends lately while I get the house ready to go on the market, I had reached a point of stir-crazy and needed to get out of the house and do something fun with the girls. So we put some pants on and had a girls outing at Bowlounge in Fort Worth, south of downtown.
Bowlounge has a retro-style bowling alley vibe, complete with bar-room games and a change
machine, but with modern great-working-order equipment, no-smoking, and higher-end food than the bowling alleys of my youth.
I like that you pay per game played here, not by the hour - especially when playing with kids. They don't take reservations here unless it is a larger group. It is first come first served, which I like on one hand, and my little planner self dislikes on the other. Not an issue, just a note. On our particular outing the two lanes they have with bumpers were already occupied and would be for an hour, so we opted to play without the bumpers and knew that next time we'd ask about those bumper lanes first!
The bowling rundown... ample comfortable seating, clean and well cared for, and the food and beverage service comes right to your lane instead of the like the old days where you had to leave to go to the counter and place your order... etc. Good selection of bowling balls to choose from and the machines work seriously well. There wasn't the constant pressing of the "reset" button to clear the lanes or wondering when in the heck your ball is going to return to you. That's really nice.
I didn't do food while we were bowling because I didn't want the kids' greasy/sticky hands all up in the bowling balls. So once we finished up our game we headed to the bar room/restaurant side to get our grub on.
The kids really enjoyed the games that were available to play. It kept them occupied quite well while we waited for our food. We were there before 3pm on a Saturday, so it was brunch at that time. They switch to the regular menu later at 3pm.
We had the Breakfast Pizza with cheese sauce, hash brown, pork sausage, bacon, eggs, mozzarella, and spring onions. As well as the Red Velvet Chicken & Waffles.
The breakfast pizza was better than we imagined it would be. The crust was nice and crispy but still had a bit of chew left to it. The toppings weren't piled high all over making it a daunting task. It was, dare I say, delicate in a sense? As delicate as a breakfast pizza can be I would wager. The chicken and waffles were beautiful. One of my kids loved the waffle and one thought it was a bit too hard/crunchy for her teeth/gums (we have missing teeth in this household). I also thought it could have been just a tad fluffier/thicker to create a perfect texture. The flavor of the whole dish was really great though. The chicken tenders were big and juicy and the sweet drizzle complimented the sweeter waffle as well. The bartenders make a solid drink here so watch yourself!
It was a bit of an expensive outing vs. just going to dinner, but it is a really fun family activity to do together when you can. The kids and I will definitely be doing it again, as well as I'm making plans for a "ladies night" with a few girlfriends of mine in the near future.
Next time I'd like to try the Biscuits & Gravy or the Avocado Toast (I'm a sucker for goat cheese) if I'm there for brunch. On the regular menu, I'm gonna hit up those sliders!
- Monica