– An Easy Spread –

701 7th Street NW, Second Floor, Washington, DC 20001 in Gallery Place

http://www.bowlluckystrike.com/home

Happy Hour Monday through Friday from 12 – 2 p.m.

Highlights: Bowling

Cheap bistro entrees

Who says your happiest hours have to occur after work? Here at AnEasySpread.com, we encourage joviality at any hour of the day. That’s why we think Lucky Strike’s lunch special is the perfect midday pick-me-up for anyone’s case of the Mondays.

Lucky Strike combines the dim lighting and plush couches of an uptown lounge with the audio-visual experience of a sports bar (ten projection screens!), and plants them in a 14-lane bowling alley in the heart of Chinatown. It’s expensive and crowded…unless you show up for lunch (Noon-2 p.m. Monday through Friday). After lunch hour, you’ll pay over $10 for shoes and a game alone. And if you waltz in on a Saturday night without a $75 reservation, prepare to wait hours for an open lane.

But enough negativity. At lunchtime, $7.95 gets you one of eight entrees—including three types of pizza, two salads or a BLT with avocado—a fountain drink or iced tea, a bowling lane and shoe rental. Your server greets you at the lane to take orders before the first frame. While service mid-match was slow (good luck getting a refill), the timing of the food was perfect. Our waitress appeared with our plates minutes after the last frame, allowing me little time to fret about my paltry 97, worthy of last place.

I forgot about my woeful collapse as soon as our food arrived. The waitress delivered a thick stack of lean turkey breast on garlic foccaccia, topped with brie and drizzled with an apple balsamic glaze. The BBQ chicken pizza rivaled that of most local pizzerias, with red onions, mozzarella cheese and a tangy barbecue sauce. The portions were ample, and unexpectedly delicious.

Considering the location, the quality of the food and the novelty of bowling during lunch hour, this place is a steal. Just check the dress code before you go. Wear your soiled wife-beater or shredded trucker hat, and you’ll be munching elsewhere.

Article by our happy hour columnist, Warren Ciabattoni.