On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Mon-Sun. 6:00 a.m. - 5:30 a.m.
Loading...
13.2 million, huh? When I win the Mega Millions, I'm going to buy Sunset Bowl back and give it to the people. We have enough freaken' condos! I used to spend my wages when I worked at Beth's cafe in 1980 here, I would put $5.00 into Battlezone and play for hours. In the 1970's, I mastered "Pinball Wizard" and "Spirit of 1976" at Sunset Lanes.
I'll miss the Moonlight bowl more than anything. I won my first $20 on a blue #1 pin, and it was cool to see everyone stop to watch you bowl--it was like you were a superstar for 30 seconds--nowhere else could you enjoy that for $2.00 worth of tickets.
:'(
Those people who put money before people--I want to be there when they get what they have coming to them on judgment day. That's all I can say.
...and NOW the evil condo overlords are doubtless re-thinking their purchase. Up to 70% vacancy in condos in Ballard? Huh. I hope you lose your shirts, after closing our frikkin bowling alley, which now sits VACANT.
Don't you all think it would be pretty fuckin busy NOW THAT NO ONE HAS ANY MONEY?????
Jeez. Assholes....
Suckers gonna tear down our bowling alley!
What the F**K?
We get to KEEP the roach motel known as…
Read more »
I took one of my best friends here last week while he was visiting from Spokane. Told him, "Enjoy this bowling. Who knows where we'll have to go to bowl next time." Got a pitcher of Pabst then a pitcher of Hefeweizen. Bowled two games and got over 100 each time, which for me is a cause to celebrate with rowdy fist pumping and an attempt at dancing in the worst dancing shoes known to man.
They're demolishing a bowling alley to make way for MORE CONDOS?! Are they Nazis? Nope, they're fuckin' nihilists! Say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, at least it's an ethos.
Nothing is sacred.
That's fucking IT!
I'm moving to Mexico. I think I will be one of those dudes that comes by in the morning with the agua. Or maybe I will drive a taxi? I guess I could be a masseuse - no one will check my credentials there and I give a mean Shiatsu rub down. I could probably be a housekeeper or gardener if nothing else works out.
Pinche condos.
Dee said it perfectly, dive bowl indeed! The cool, nostalgic, fun to laugh at but secretly love and covet dive.
The first night of the Yelp teams debut in the Red Hook Bowling league brought me back to the Sunset for the first time since my childhood.
Nostalgia hit hard for this child of habitual league bowlers upon pulling into the parking lot. 3 blonde little girls came out, all eating ice cream, to their car to get more quarters for treats and arcade games. It was like looking in a mirror 20 years in the past at me and my cousins. We gleefully ran rampant through the bowling alleys of the Northwest when our parents were busy bowling it up.
I had a BLAST! last night! I haven't bowled in ages, and am proudly peacocking around my 2 above 100 games (out of 3) to anyone who will listen and about half a dozen people that won't all day.
Yet another event for me, and the chance to meet yet another group of hilarious, nice, fun to be around yelpers. That alone was worth the price of admission.
The organizing of the league was a little chaotic, and even in the throws of starting last night there was a bit of chaos until things got going. I give props to the League Coordinator though...as she runs it while bowling the league herself. She had a real no nonsense approach of "listen while I talk" explanations.
If they handed out trophies for most enthusiastic, most high fives, and most random cheers to any team in this league, we would OWN that thing! We even cheered on the amazing bowlers (seriously, spin like that should be outlawed) in the lanes next to us.
Karaoke!!! The lady who 'runs it' has reportedly now been snagged into the world of Yelp, so 5 stars for her!! I was able to stay long enough to hear Betsy, Stephen and Liz belt out some tunes before I had to trek back to the suburbs for 3 hours of sleep before work. SOooo worth the bags under my eyes today! I couldnt think of a more perfect ending to the night than some tunes. :)
The drinks were good, the prices good, the bowling good, the atmosphere fun, parking adequate. For some reason our shoes were free even though we were repeatedly warned they cost...so BONUS cause that meant one more PBR for me !!!
See you all next week!
But what will happen to the "Hot Nut Bar" if Sunset Bowl is torn down?
The condos better offer a complimentary bag of cashews as a signing bonus.
I grew up and still live two blocks away.
My daddy took me bowling here for the first time when i was three, my feet were too little for their littlest shoes so I had to wear my socks.
I started taking bowling lessons here when i was 7.
I celebrated my 10th birthday here, 50's themed, of course.
I made the Ballard High School varsity bowling team here when I was 15.
I never got the chance to go back just one more time..... I'll miss you Sunset bowl, with all of my heart.
xoxo
For some reason I bowl well at sunset. maybe I had a lucky ball,or the lane was waxed just right for me. the world may never know.
It's not as dive-y as a few places I've been to in my life-that's not to say it doesn't have charm. I was happy I didn't have to keep score by hand, and that the pin clearer functioned properly most of the time. Oh, and the kinda psychedelic sea design, I'm curious who came up with that.
Besides bowling they have a bar with karaoke. I'm not so hot on digital karaoke, and having everything so regimented, but they at least had some decent songs. just don't throw out "F" bombs or the religious zealot will cut you.
I'm sure many will miss this place. Definitely go before it looks like the Denny's across the street.
You gotta love a dive bar that's not afraid to showcase its sweaty nuts.
No, seriously. If you're hankering for a handful of nuts while drinking and karaokeing at the Sunset Bowl bar, just reach into the well-lit nut curio cabinet (?) and get yourself some. Debbie the Bartender (not her real name, though it fits, no?) won't mind.
This is why I love Sunset Bowl. It's such a dive, but for some reason, I always have a great time there. It was only recently that I was able to achieve the elusive Sunset Bowl Trifecta. I'd been for bowling and for snacking many, many times, but never to the bar for drinks and karaoke, until last weekend. The final third of the Trifecta did not disappoint, either.
First: Bowling
A lot of fellow Yelpers know that I love to bowl. And I'm pretty good at it, too. Therefore, it goes without saying that I approve of Sunset's balls and lanes. They also offer a kickass discount coupon on their website for $1.90 shoe rental and $14 per hour bowling. But make sure you present the coupon before scoring a lane, though. Or else, Billy-Bob (not his real name, though it fits, too, I think) will give you the stink eye.
Second: Snacks
Nowhere else can you truly enjoy a basket of greasy, yet crispy, fries and pile of goopy nachos than at Sunset Bowl while throwing down a few frames. The residual grease from the fries also goes well with sticking your fingers into Sunset's balls. I'm convinced that this actually helps your game.
Third: Bar
The bar at Sunset Bowl takes security very seriously, as a uniformed man checked our IDs and made us wear wristbands. It felt a little over the top, but when there are tweeners running around with dirt moustaches, you can never be too careful about not letting the under aged in to the dimly lit bar for $3.50 whiskey sours.
I was there, however, for the karaoke. Thinking Sunset's karaoke setup was similar to any other karaoke bar I'd been to, I expected to wait at least an hour before they got to my name in the rotation. Not the case. After being scolded by the karaoke host to, "Leave the book, don't bring the book up here, put the book down," I entered my song choice into the computer and hit enter. I asked how many songs until my turn, and the host said three. Apparently he meant three seconds, because before I could sit down, I was up on stage singing "Hurt So Good."
See, the patrons in the bar were not there for karaoke. They were there for the first third of the Trifecta. Or, more specifically, they were waiting for a lane. And the host would call out bowling parties in between songs, as well. Classy. But I got my fill of karaoke, singing three songs over the course of an hour, until finally, it was time to go.
Especially since I'd gotten it into my whiskey soured head that taking a picture of the sweaty nuts was a good idea.
She was a small town girl,
Livin' in a lonely wor-r-r-ld...
She took the midnight train going annnnnnyyyywherrrrrre...
Karaoke here rocks. They recently upgraded to an all computerized system with a boat load of songs. There was not a one song that I wanted to sing that wasn't in the system. Wasn't very crowded on a Saturday night either. Make sure to tip the KJ so he buys more songs!
so Don't Stop Believin', hold on to that feeeeeeeelin'
P.S. the KJ dude reeeeeeeeeally likes to sing. Like, so much that you end up drinking lots more so that you tune him out but then have to call a cab home.
P.P.S. Journey rules.
Truth be told I would love to be pissed drunk here. I haven't bowled a good game lately, and I definitely haven't bowled drunk lately. I'm one of those "athletes" who uses substances to enhance their skills. Pool, darts, and now bowling are physical activities that I look forward to participating in but yet lack absolute confidence to do them without enhancers.
Enhancers such as the bowling pin shaped Bud bottles. I don't really like Bud but it's in a frakkin' bowling pin shaped bottle! Ya gotta love it.
The bowling is fun, and with the child the bumpers are always up, but after the last time I was there on a Sunday, the bumpers being up seemed the norm.
But what can I say? It's a fucking bowling alley and it's holding fast to its 70s atmosphere. But the employees are nice (demented and sad but social) and the one gal at the counter always confirms which coupon to use to get the better deal.
Their shoes run big, get one size down to start and go to their website for coupons. Good luck and happy bowling.
Really, you don't know what you got, 'til it's gone.
It's not progress that I despise, it's change (and the character sucking overpriced condos that have been going up all over Ballard). I, like many people who have reviewed this alley, have a lot of great memories tied to the Sunset Bowl. I encourage everyone to go there as much as possible while it's still open.
i get excited when my ball does not go into the gutter, so you can only imagine what kind of bowler i am. It is okay. I have come to terms with it. My atleticism does not extend to bowling, but my enjoyment of sport def does. Although i did not beat my PR (personal record) of 90, I did have one of the best times i have had in a long time. I think the 3.50 screwdrivers that the attentive waitress kept on bringing, had something to do with it... and the cake the michelle brought...and all the funny jokes/things yelpers were saying...and my excitement of singing at the karaoke...
which brings me to my next point, when you are there, you have to sing. The best part of sunset bowl is the karaoking. It's small enough to make your inner rock star or your childhood dream of being the opening act of New Kids on the Block come out. I don't think i had that much fun dancing and singing. The sound quality is not great, but who cares?
so go. sing. bowl. laugh. make an ass out of yourself. you won't regret it.'
p.s. their fries are awesome. their thin and crispy and oh so delish. my boyfriend got their burger and he said that it was really really good. so their food rocked too.
Someone needs to drive me here so that I can drink way too much whilst bowling and then roll into the bar to rock out at karaoke.
You know the service button in bowling alleys that you press to get people to come and bring you more drinks? Sure you do! Well they don't seem to watch for you to press it. So, if you can figure out how to call it up in the comp-u-tron bowling computer, they likely will not come any sooner. Try shouting and screaming for booze. That might work better.
Bowling is the working mans' golf*, so dress and act accordingly. Make sure to talk about dick and fart jokes, drink too much, and bellow at each other. Cat call all women in sight, not just the hot ones, all of them. They'll love it. If they start throwing things at you, do it more. Trust me. They can't get enough. They are put on this earth for your amusement, after all. Hey! Another round over here!
Karaoke here is fun-ish, but small and cramped feeling. The last time I went out was Bush Garden, and that place is a winatorium for karaoke. This just can't stand up in comparison.
Bowl, have some drinks, do a little karaoke. It's a good time and open 24 hours. Bowling at any time of the day or night!
.
* It's true that many grown manchildren play golf just to get away from the wife and/or family and drink beer served by hotties in sundresses that drive around a booze cart. How do I know this if I do not play golf? Because the married guys never stfu about it. These are also the men that have made Hooters a wildly successful national chain.
I can't believe this happened. One Big Fat *TEAR*. My family & I will forever miss this place. We always had bday parties here or just going late at night for a few games has been a joy. This was our spot. I won't want to go anywhere else, really, unless we get invited for a party at the Garage....maybe....
Rumor had it that they may keep it- putting a parking garage under, and the condos above. Now THAT would be sweet. Don't know how that would work though. Even IF that could happen, they would have to still shut it down for a couple years while they renovate and build....
Sunset Bowl is a karaoke contradiction and it breaks my heart.
It has the BEST BOOK you will find in the city, if not anywhere. Why? Because it's computerized. The database of song choices is staggering! If you want it... here it is, come and get it. Also, what better atmosphere could you ask for in which to drunkenly croon Sinatra or twang David Alan Coe than a Formica and pleather infused bowling alley where you can swill Budweiser from bowling pin-shaped bottles whilst dining on handfuls of salty nuts scooped from a bin?
Unfortunately, while Sunset Bowl has a lot going for it, it also has some MAJOR shortcomings. First, the speakers are old and the hosts are paranoid about having them blow out. I have been badgered and my roommate has even had the mic switched off on him just for singing with the degree of enthusiasm one would expect from someone trying to do justice to Prince's Darling Nikki.
However, the biggest drawback for the Sunset's karaoke quality is the primary host. The alternate hosts are wonderful, normal people, but the guy who normally runs the show is the most obnoxious, ego-maniacal schlub to sling songs in a bar. Imagine attending karaoke hosted by the comic book guy from the Simpson's minus the charm of being an animated fictional character. In fact, I find the primary host so irritating, that I have vowed NEVER to attend karaoke there while he is present.
So, if you find yourself at the Sunset Bowl with the alternate hosts, sing quietly to your hearts content. But when the boss man is there run away and never look back.
"Not too shabby." Just like "Harrison Ford's a quarter Jewish" in Adam Sandler's Hanukkah Song. There's lots to do here, and even more fun for the adults (sorry kids!).
Bowling, arcades, karaoke, drink, eat, pull tabs, and bathrooms! Oh did you forget your socks? No worries, buy some with bowling pins and a ball on it from the vending machine. I had socks, but was still tempted. Darn you, socks!
The server comes around often, so your drink is never empty when yer at the lanes. Because you know, you will always bowl better drunk!
You don't? That's a shame.
If you're going to go bowl, do yourself a favor and print the coupons from their website. Hot buys all around, and then you can splurge on some nachos... or a few games of Dance Dance Revolution!
Lots of parking, and now non-smoking (YEAY!) so things are tolerable inside and outside!
Just watch out for people taking a piss outside. Um. Yeah.
Reasons I love Sunset Bowl:
Old ladies team-bowling, slapping high fives, and having alcohol-fueled, highly animated conversations.
The lounge. Budweiser served in bowling-pin-shaped bottles. Nuts for a buck-twenty-five, Slim-Jim-type sausages four for a dollar. The best karaoke song selection I've ever seen. A weeknight karaokess that's sort of blue-collar hot and sings like Patsy Cline. The fact that, as the tournament play ends, the lounge fills up, and I get to sing Sinatra to half-shitfaced cougars. Makes my week.
Food that is not good, but that is cheap, and that you won't die eating.
And most of all? The fact that not one ounce of effort has been devoted to muting the off-the-charts tackiness of the classic bowling alley atmosphere. Good call.
Karaoke at Sunset is where memories are made. After showing your ID to the off-duty (or is he on-duty?) officer when entering the lounge, you can theorize endlessly as to his reason for being situated at Sunset Bowl on a Saturday night. Is he there to protect the patrons of the Sunset from the ruffians trying to get in? Or is he there to keep the ruffians from getting out .. catching the drunkards before they hit the streets? He's wearing his SPD uniform, so is he on- or off- duty? Talk amongst yourselves.
Inside the lounge, you'll be treated to vocal performances and song selections far more varied than were on display at our beloved Leilani (RIP). Where else could Journey, Prince, the Humpty Dance, and You're So Vain all come together in a perfect storm?
On a recent Saturday, one woman planted herself right down on the floor next to me -- as she was attempting to sit down, she misjudged exactly where the edge of her chair was located and ended up splayed on the carpet. This sets the tone for the evening. This is Sunset.
Dear people who are closing Sunset Bowl,
What's wrong with you? I hate you.
Sincerely,
Felecia
Get drunk and bowl!
The staff is friendly and sarcastic enough to make it fun. They have an arcade and a crappy little diner. They pour a terrible drink though (is there really alcohol in this thing???).
It is busy as hell so don't expect to show up on a Friday night at 8PM and just start bowling.
There are those of us that have been here, that have bowled, that have bowled in leagues, that have bowled with our kids, that have bowled here at 3 am, that have enjoyed ourselves here time and time again. I'm glad I got to be one of those lucky individuals and I'm sad for those of you that didn't.
You don't know what you've got till its gone...
A bit kitch, a bit seedy, and a LOT greaser mixed with a little Ballard charm and there you have Sunset Bowl. It has seen better days. From the decor, I'd guess it was somewhere in the late 70's/early 80's. Nevertheless, a bowling alley are not a fashionable seen-and-be-seen type of place. It is designed for serious sport with serious drinking and lots of hand waving over air vents to improve your game.
Sunset Bowl totally brought it. Unfortunately my inner 'Dude' did not.
Low -key bowling alley...pretty much what you'd expect.
**Make sure to print the coupons off their website, especially if you're going with a large group. We probably saved almost $100.
I was a little confused about the reservation policy: they only take them during the day, not at night. I'm not sure about weekends.
The karaoke area is tiny but the selection is huge and the drinks are cheap. Plus, being within stumbling distance is always a plus.
Now every neighborhood bar has its flavor of karaoke, the songs you'll hear more of... some places it's soul, some it's 80s, some it's country - here it's mostly BUTT ROCK. I hope everyone can understand how awesome this is.
Gets the job done. Cheap drinks and you can get away with creative bowling and not get yelled at.
The snow had us looking for stuff to do, and after skidding around on the icy roads for fun, going to the movies and having drinks at a few bars we came here. The drinks are cheap and we were able to try a few rounds of how far can you launch the ball down the lane, the broken chicken wing and even broke a glass in excitement...no one turned a head. Not bad I say!
Didn't actually bowl here but between Karaoke and "Dance Dance Revolution" I got my entertainments work. Thursday night's Karaoke wasn't as busy as I would have expected so my co-workers were able to rock the place to the ground.
Definitely worth checking out when you don't have anything else to do and my first experience with Dance Dance Revolution was pretty amazing. I need one in my house now :)
PS: As Alix H said before; "Journey Rules"
I just got back from bowling at Sunset Bowl tonight (the first time in about a year, btw), and HOLY CRAP! The stale smell of 20 years of cigarette smoke has left the building! This is an amazing feat.
I would give Sunset 5 stars for that alone, but then I remembered: their drinks are so weak that I was still sober after 7 of them. Boo!
I came here at 11pm once, stood around in the parking lot while a bunch of my friends from a research ship sang sailor tunes, same song karaoke, then bowled a late night game.
What a great night.
*Edited* as I am sad to hear that Sunset Bowl is closing down. I am therefore giving it an honorary 5 stars.
This was a great place to bowl to hang out with hipsters. It was open 24 hours a day and was like a museum of what bowling alleys looked like in the 70s.
I was only here for five or so minutes - friends decided to bail early.
But from what I could see - the place was packed. Had a descent sized bar and I even hear they have karaoke!
I'll have to try this place again - perhaps on a different rainy night when bowling seattle-style calls my name.
We tried to go on Sunday evening. We called and were told that they have lanes available. When we got there 15 minutes later, they turned us away because they actually only had 3 non-league lanes which were taken and there was already a party in front of us. Boo. How come they couldn't mention that on the phone?
DDR machine was broken and the motorcycle racing game ate our $.
(sigh)
At least they are close and answered their phone ...
Are the rumors true? Is this place really going the way of the buffalo? Wait, buffaloes are still around, right? Does that mean there's still hope for Sunset?
Sure, the interior is severely dated and, lets be honest, grimy. Sure, me and my friends were once kicked out by a surly cocktail waitress (who had served us many times before; two consecutive 10-week bowling leagues...hell, I knew her by name!) because two of us were supplying drinks to the third who forgot her ID. And sure, the folks behind the counter probably wish everyone would just go home already so they can watch some Magnum P.I. in the bar, but isn't that why we come?
Man, I really love Sunset. Underdog bowling here was a blast, as was late night drunk bowling...and early morning drunk bowling for that matter. The food is always predictably greasy and delicious and they have bowling pin-shaped Bud Light bottles!
Unfortunately the past few times I've been back to Sunset and tried to re-live the halcyon days have been unsuccessful. Evenings and weekends (the only time most normal, non-retired people bowl) have seen the lanes jam-packed with bowling leagues and consequently bursting with people more patient than I waiting upwards of one and a half hours to bowl. I assume the alley brings in more money with leagues so powers that be fill up the schedule with them but this leaves the casual and reminiscent bowler out in the cold.
I'm biased since I bowl league here every Monday. However, this bowling alley has fairly well maintained lanes despite its somewhat rundown appearance. The drinks are decently priced and decently strong, and while it no longer allows smoking, it still keeps the same old bowling atmosphere you'd expect.
Avoid the college crowd on Friday and Saturday from 8pm until 1am or so, otherwise its a great place to drop by for some bowling a drinks.
(Their Karaoke system is horrible though)
Good for smoky, twenty-something bowling.
I used to live just down the street from the Sunset Bowl, and have bowled there many times. It is good for a certain kind of bowling (OK, this is based on nighttime visits - I cannot vouch for the days) - ironic, kitsch, smoking and drinking expeditions into "wow it's so cool that we are actually bowling!"
On Friday or Saturday night, the place is packed with twentysomethings in vintage and Value Village wear, drinking cheap beer, bowling a few frames and fighting for the few seats in the bar to sing Karaoke. If this is your scene - go fot it! You'll have a blast. If not, you've been warned.
They have a bar and a restaurant. And, ya sure you betcha, pulltabs, to make the scene complete.
The first couple of times I went to Sunset, I was amazed at how trendy bowling has become. I sort of felt like I had stepped into the cool college bar. But you can't deny that bowling is fun and obviously there are some that enjoy the aura of a real bowling alley.
Nonetheless, I like to bowl and they have good rates in the late night and there are coupons that make it even cheaper out there. I'd make sure that you call in advance as they sometime have leagues that limit the number of open lanes on certain nights and on certain times.
you need to understand that sunset bowl is a portal to another dimension, smack dab in the middle of ballard, USA.
when you get there, right after work on friday night, you meet your friends in the diner, located by the front door. it's easy to find because of the grease smell. go towards the smell, friend. you need to eat something fried up real nice by a really obnoxious, impossibly large/bald cook who can't help but leer at every female backside that passes by as if it were made of chocolate. then, you watch him get yelled at by his un-endingly cranky supervisor. i'm saying that you eat his grilled hot dog and fried cheese sticks while he is berated. you know the food is great and you know that he deserves it.
because you put your name on the bowling list before eating, by the time you have some grease and a beer from a pin-shaped bottle in you, your name is called for the bowling.
you bowl in another man's shoes, amongst the overlapping niche crowds. you are wedged in a lane between a group of 60 year-old chain smoking, lottery-ticket-buying grandmas who bowl better than you in their sleep and a group of bright green novelty t-shirt wearing hipster doofi who pose for pictures that no one is taking and who bowl so so badly.
You bowl a medium-so-so game, having spent most of your focus on constantly changing the names of your friends into dirty words and in-jokes with the help of the bowl-a-tron 2000 computer score keeping system. you also have some more beers, served by either a surprisingly kind goth-lady, a very small smiling man, or the unbelievably awesome butch albino waitress. (yes, i'm dead freakin' serious.)
when you finish your game, it's really time to head in to karaoke because you want to get a good table and one of the song books that is listed by artist 'cause you know that's the best kind. then you have more beers and you wait for ed. he is your karaoke master.
ed is a large, bespectacled man wearing one in several computer trade show shirts he's collected over time. he sometimes arrives late, often overwhelmed by his journey, but if you're lucky he's early and you get to watch him eat a sandwich, relishing his last moments of anonymity before he turns to the mic. he is ed.
karaoke by ed is run by way of a computer system of ed's own design. you type in your song choice and user name, which you have chosen with care because it is the only one you'll ever get. i'm telling you, pal, if you choose the user name "scrote" to make your friends laugh, "scrote" you will be for eternity because ed does not compromise. he is ed.
before the group gets a chance to croon, ed introduces the wait staff, whom you've just read about, and the bartender who is new to you. she is a short, curly-haired woman and wishes ed would die a slow, torturous death. you can tell because while he talks about her, she crosses her arms over her chest and seethes. ed does not see the seething, and the tension is delicious.
what happens next is that ed sings you a song. often it is a song about a workin' man who cares about his lady and i don't remember the song's name. but if you are so so lucky, ed will sing a song by the band called "styx". and you realize he can SING. for real. and it is then that you feel the love for the man called ed.
then it's a crap-shoot. you'll get to sing and, of course, you'll be awesome, but the strangers do strange things and you can't predict 'em. one night you're treated to a 400 pound head-banger who belts out a judas priest ditty like nothing you've ever heard before and the next, you'll suffer through that girl who wants to sing like mariah carey and it burns you like fire. one night from 9 to 11pm the bar contains ed, you, your friends and a guy who sings nothing but 80's power ballads but at 11:ish, a crowd of pre-libationed jack-asses enters, all wearing wigs and screaming "rock and roll". you will probably leave soon thereafter, but you'll say something really funny about "damn wiggers" to your friends first.
mix in the yelling that ed does at the people for not signing up right, or for touching the mic wrong, or for not being attentive, or for dancing or high-kicking or swearing and then add the very real possibility that you will be subjected to any number of drunk, stupid crooners who pick 8 minute songs...8 minutes in which you simultaneously imagine brutalizing them with a mic stand and killing yourself, and finally factor in the possibility of spotting the dance-dance-revolution guru in the arcade who eats candy the handful, dancing in ways you thought were only possible in japan and when he's done, he tips his head to you, walks out the side door, and disappears into the inky shadows of the parking lot never looking back, and you have to know you will be forever changed.
My heart breaks as I watch the fences arise around Sunset Bowl, the place that has been my home away from home for years now. I remember that last Sunday night as Rob and I hosted the final Karaoke show. The pictures were snapping, drinks were flowing hard, and the clients were reminiscing about their years as regulars at this center of working class culture in Ballard. The staff that was not working came in hugging and dancing the night away. A few of these are people who have been working at sunset since before this songbird was born. Good people who have raised their own children there and whose livelihoods have depended upon their patron's love of the game. There were a few well-deserved tears shed but in the end, they were in remarkably good spirits that night. We all were to a degree. I don't know what it's going to be like for me when they tear it down. It will be hard to witness, but I know that even without the physical building, the family created by Sunset will keep up the tradition of support and love that has been a part of the framework of our lives for a good while to come.
We'll miss you,
Michele Parent
They have bowling, they have video games, they have food, they have karaoke and they have $3.75 stoli's! I know, WTF? $3.75 stoli's that actually have stoli in them! What more could a girl want in a place like this? If you're looking to bowl, sing, drink and eat all in the same night with out moving places this is your spot.
I had a great time here last week. I wish that they weren't tearing it down because I would be back every weekend.
Kenmore, WA
Category: Bowling
For the hardwork and bullshit I put up with to…
These are teenager approved without a single…
Walkable everything due to the extreme lack of…
I'm so not a jock, but here are some places to…
My local dry cleaner, watering hole, deli, cafe,…
Live large? Big house? Five cars? Finding a…
These are the places I hit up every time I'm back…
If you're not gettin any and you need to rid…
