Have Some Fun With Your Food at Lucky Strike

On a recent trip back to Los Angeles, I called up my good friend Jacey and asked her if she would meet me at Lucky Strike Lanes & Lounge in Hollywood for lunch. She’s been a bartender at the Hollywood location of this now national chain for as long as I’ve known her, so she was well qualified to give me the lowdown on this great one-stop-shop for food, drinks and fun, which fortunately happens to be a part of the Rewards Network.  We got lucky, pun intended, with an unusually quiet Saturday afternoon (normally birthday parties take over during weekend days), and sat down in one of the lounge areas to order up some snacks.  It wasn’t my first time at Lucky Strike - I’ve had my share of drinks at the bar, tasty treats off the menu, and not nearly as many spares or strikes as I would have liked on the lanes. But now I wanted the story. And some fries. 

The first Lucky Strike opened in Hollywood in May of 2003.  Owners Steven and Gillian Foster had been big into the roller skating scene in the 70s and 80s as rink owners, and they loved the idea of combining dining and entertainment.  They first opened Gillian’s, also now a national chain, on Universal Citywalk, as a casual bowling, dining and bar environment. But they wanted to take it further, envisioning a similar idea with a much more upscale twist - a bowling lounge, if you will. As the idea took hold and began to spread and develop, the Hollywood location became the smallest and the most casual of all the Lucky Strikes, which now stretch across the country in 21 different cities in the US and Canada, including a second LA location downtown, Orange County, New York City, Denver, Bellevue, Houston, Miami, Louisville, Boston and Chicago (many of the locations participate in the Rewards Network dining programs as well).

Lucky Strike is currently in the midst of a menu overhaul, with a new variety of offerings coming out next month.  The new menu is part of their continued effort to keep the vibe of the place upscale and current, but with a little help from my inside scoop, we were able to order some of the favorites that you’ll still be able to get after the upgrade. The new menu features an expanded range of dinner choices as well as a large selection of appetizers and small plates, great for sharing while you bowl. And you can order and eat in either the dining area, a traditional restaurant setting, in the lounge – at tables or the bar, or at your bowling lane.  One of my favorite options, and one I’ve had before, are the signature mini burgers.  Something between a slider and full-size burger, they come in a variety of styles and you can order up a combo of two or three, served up with a side of some seriously tasty fries.  We went for the blue cheese burger and the buffalo chicken burger, but I was salivating over the short rib burger on the new menu, so I’ll probably have to go back.  Both were good, but order extra buffalo sauce with the chicken burger, it was dressed a little light. The coconut shrimp and the chicken pillows, essentially dumplings, rounded out our sampler for the day and both items can still be found on the new menu. The coconut shrimp was probably my favorite out of everything we ate. Oh, and those fries. Well, and the chocolate insanity cake. C’mon, there’s always room for dessert, especially when it’s the right combo of cakey and gooey and covered in melting ice cream.

So here’s all the important stuff you need to know before you head to your neighborhood Lucky Strike for some pretty glamorous burgers and bowling. If it’s a weekend evening and you want to bowl, reservations are a very good idea.  For $60 an hour, you can cram as many people as you want onto your lane. If you prefer to take your chances with the wait list, it’ll cost you $6.95-7.95 per person, per game, but on a Saturday night, be prepared to wait, it could be a few hours. If you just want to eat or hang out at the bar, no reservations are necessary.  After 7 p.m., the place switches over to 21 and up and Thursday-Monday, there’s a D.J. in the house spinning tunes. Tuesday night is karaoke and Wednesday features live bands. Monday night is also service industry night and if you work in the service business, bring a paystub from your job for happy hour prices all night and free bowling. This info is for the Hollywood location, so your local Lucky Strike might be set up a little differently, so it’s best to call and check. 

Whether you want to arrange a birthday party or just have a night out with friends at a place where you can find it all, Lucky Strike is a ball, pun intended. And with a gourmet menu and a well-stocked premium bar, it ain’t your neighborhood dive bowling alley either. Which means it’s not only safe to eat the food, it’s a pretty darn good idea.

Lucky Strike Lanes - Hollywood

6801 Hollywood Blvd 
Hollywood, CA 90028
P. (323) 467-7776

Karen is a member of AAdvantage Dining^SM