Our son Leo B. turned six this month, and we threw him a birthday party at the Lucky Strike in the Beverly Center. We ended up hosting over thirty kids and their attendant parents, and not to toot my own horn, but it was an excellent party.
The Lucky Strike team made it easy. I filled out a form online about a month before the party and received an email response from Danielle, a senior sales manager, almost immediately. We got on the phone and she walked me through everything, suggesting a package that included two hours of bowl time, shoe rentals, $10 arcade cards, chicken tenders, cheese pizza, fries, and unlimited soft drinks. I found a coupon code online and got 15% off the whole bill (Danielle did not volunteer this, and I'm glad it occurred to me to look). I paid a deposit and reserved the party time. She called again closer to the event, and I gave her an approximate headcount and ordered a few platters of food for the adults.
The only day-of annoyance was our own fault. We parked on the wrong side of the Beverly Center and had to walk around the building with two kids and a box of party favors to find our way inside. You want to get as close to the La Cienega restaurant valet as possible.
Once we were inside, the Lucky Strike crew took care of everything. We were helped by Marissa, Sam, and Sammy, who handled every aspect of the party so we, Leo's parents, could mingle and enjoy ourselves. I was genuinely surprised and impressed by the level of service. Food and drink were constantly replenished, and someone was always around in case we needed anything. We had four lanes occupied by children, most of them six and younger, and Sam and Sammy provided assistance inputting names and doing whatever else the kids required. We brought in our own cake, and the team set up a table for us and gave us everything we needed to serve it. We hadn't even discussed cake, they just did this as a matter of course, at no additional cost to us. We kept them busy, and they could not have been nicer or more accommodating.
The space was great too, very clean and shiny, with glossy lanes and neon lighting. There was enough separation between the lanes and the arcade that almost all the kids stuck to bowling instead of wandering off to play games. (The exception was Leo's brother, Wade B., but he's three and we put my mom on him.) We'd heard this was a hazard of bowling parties and tried to order off the $10 arcade cards to avoid it. Weirdly, there was no way to do this without surrendering the advantages of a party package. We just gave out the cards with the party favors, when our bowling time was more or less up.
Only the kids bowled, but it looked like a good time. They really got into it, and everything went smoothly. There were bumpers up at all times and even movable ramps that let little kids get speed on their balls so they wouldn't stall out mid-lane. I loved seeing Leo play with all his kindergarten friends. They took turns and cheered each other on, and I only saw one child cry (he was younger, and to his credit, the older boys were being chaotic).
The food was totally solid. Everyone ate the kid food, and we added hot honey pepperoni and buffalo chicken pizza for the adults, as well as some spicy mini chicken tacos. We also got a few pitchers of Santa Monica Blonde Ale, which were placed far away from the soft drinks.
The party wound down with cake and singing and a hilariously fast run on the party favors. After the bowling wrapped up, everyone hit the arcade, and while this was not my favorite part, I recognized that it was a nice arcade and the kids were obviously all over it. $10 in credits went fast, and my boys ran through a few surplus cards, too. They had a handful of tickets to show for their efforts, which they spent on candy.
I do think Leo, at least, was more into the bowling side of Lucky Strike. He's only been bowling three times now, but he's very into it and convinced that he's a great talent (I was surprised to realize that he is not, in fact, terrible, in large part because he takes it seriously). We live near the Beverly Center and will definitely bring him back, either to party of just to bowl a couple games. It's a fantastic bowling alley with top tier lanes and service. read more