Not into the Big Game? Try knocking down some duckpins at Breaktime Bowl & Bar where they will probably have the game on behind the bar anyway. I don’t think we’ve written about this special place since it opened and a recent visit reminded me how unique and amazing this place is. Human pinsetters ferchrissake! Think of Breaktime when you have visitors from out-of-town. Non-bowlers can enjoy the bar and the food and just watch and kibbitz.
From their history page:
The duckpin bowling alley was built in the 1920s by Hope Webbing Company in an effort to prevent its employees from unionizing. Despite voting for unionization likely in the 1930s, the owners decided to leave the bowling alley operational indefinitely. . .
Upon restoration, the alley saw its first use in over 20 years.
First thing to know if you go: They do not provide bowling shoes. Try to find a reasonable facsimile in your own wardrobe.
Second: This is duckpin bowling with its small pins and small balls with no holes.
Third: You rent the lane by the hour. One feature most missed by habitués of those fancy new bowling lanes is the computerized scoring system, but there are wall plaques that help with rules, etiquette, and scoring. But the trade-off for that convenience is that you get to spend time in this wonderfully worn, wooden time-warp. (Facebook page.)
And don’t forget to tip your pinsetter!
Breaktime Bowl & Bar, Hope Artiste Village, 999 Main Street, Pawtucket, (directions)
Sounds like fun!