Not your father's bowling center

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It's safe to call Chicago a bowling town. The numbers certainly back it up.

More than 25,000 people bowled in Chicago in 2004, in 910 organized leagues on a combined 1,802 lanes in 73 bowling centers, according to the Chicago Metropolitan Bowling Association.

We're talking hard-core bowlers: bags, shoes, personalized balls - the whole deal.

But that's not the crowd being targeted with the newest crop of bowling lounges in town, the latest being Lucky Strike Lanes in Streeterville. These new spots are more interested in the hipster crowd that puts knocking down cocktails ahead of knocking down pins.

"We very rarely get the person who comes in with their own ball and shoes and bowls five games to work on their hook," said Lucky Strike co-owner Bill Scheidhauer.

This isn't just the case for Lucky Strike, the posh new bowling spot that opened here last month; it's also the case for River North's 10Pin and, to a lesser degree, Lincoln Park's Seven Ten - the alley formerly known as Lucky Strike.

"Bowling used to be viewed as this nerdy sport," said Jason Erkes, president of the Chicago Social Club, who says he has 500 people participating in fall leagues in Chicago this year. "But as old things become new again, bowling has become hip."

Some hardcore bowlers make up that group, but most are single men and women looking to meet other single men and women. "It's one of the few sports where you can drink at the same time and casually talk to people you're competing with," Erkes said. "It's very social. That's what makes it such a fun sport."

The owners of the new Lucky Strike, the bowling chain that started in Hollywood three years ago, set out to create a concept that rebuffed the stereotypical bowling experience: crowded league nights, smelly shoes and sometimes poor service.

"We wanted to make it where it wasn't just about a game of bowling, but also a cool place to hang out," said Scheidhauer, who grew up in Glen Ellyn but helped open the Hollywood Lucky Strike.

Soon, the alleys were overrun with celebrities. Leonardo DiCaprio started hanging out there. George Clooney started hanging out there. Lucky Strike became a place to be seen.

"All of a sudden, we got up to four-hour waits on Friday and Saturday nights," Scheidhauer said. "A lot of times, people go in there knowing they're never going to get a lane. They just like to hang out and have some cocktails."

The Chicago Lucky Strike is the 11th in the chain (other locations include Denver, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, South Beach and Toronto). And, like at the others, it's more about the lounging than the bowling. Once you enter the room--which is on the second floor of the AMC River East theater complex--you'd be hard-pressed to actually find the lanes. The massive front area has a long bar, with several TV screens positioned along the wall. There are several couches, suitable for conversing and sipping cocktails. Next door, nine pool tables border another bar (two more pool tables are in the back).

What about the bowling? You'll find 18 lanes tucked in the back of the club. Cost is $3.95 a game - $6.95 after 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, which is when Lucky Strike gets most of its business. It also costs $3.95 to rent shoes.

You won't find many hardcore bowlers, however. The people that frequent these places are more along the lines of Britney Carlson, a 22-year-old Lincoln Park resident who, along with five of her friends, rolled up into Lucky Strike on a recent Saturday after taking in a movie at the AMC River East. According to Carlson, the group came in for a post-movie cocktail but eventually ended up taking over one of the lanes. "It's another way to spend time with your friends," a giggling Carlson said after consecutive gutter balls. "You can hang out, drink and have a good time."

Everybody else I talked to echoed Carlson. I didn't find one regular bowler at any of the bowling lounges, just a bunch people simply hanging out and having a few drinks.

It's the type of crowd that on weekends packs Seven Ten, which for 10 years went by the name of Lucky Strike before the Hollywood lanes invaded town. "We've always tried to get guys like me who aren't necessarily weekly bowlers," said owner Steve Soble, who owns the other Seven Tens in Hyde Park and Elmhurst, as well as Southport Lanes in Lakeview.

There are only eight lanes at Seven Ten, which charges $20 an hour for a lane, no matter how big your party is (it's half price on Mondays).

But this isn't about the bowling, remember.

"Let's face it - it's not your father's bowling alley," Soble said. "It's new, it's different. We're trying to take bowling and put it into a new setting."

By Terry Armour Copyright © 2005, Chicago Tribune