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What to Try:
Easy Like Sunday Morning, $8
Fried Chicken, $13
Pot Roast, $18
The latest venture of Strategic Hospitality's Max and Benjamin Goldberg (The Patterson House, Catbird Seat, Paradise Park) strives to be the sort of place they and their friends would like to hang out. Hence, they've incorporated a bowling alley into their newest play space. Located in the converted trolley barns downtown, Pinewood Social is a fascinating hybrid of coffee shop, restaurant, bar, bowling alley, and private karaoke lounge. And after the Goldbergs install a swimming pool and bocce court when the weather warms up, there may be no better place for fun or fried chicken.
Nestled in the back (you can't miss the script-y neon sign), the bowling alley replicates many old-school lanes that have been shuttered in towns across the U.S. Rollers keep score without the aid of a computeriPads are available if you can't remember how to score the spareand the six lanes were specially calibrated by a team of traveling bowling alley engineers and carpenters. Our only complaint is that there aren't more of them.
The food menu is equally interesting, which is no surprise considering chef Josh Habiger developed it. The former Catbird Seat chef is serving upscale comfort dishesnot your average bowling alley fare. Alley patrons can order pitchers of drinks and buckets of some of the city's best fried chicken for a simultaneously highbrow and lowbrow experience. Another excellent choice for sharing is a hearty pot roast with roasted turnips, carrots, and gravy. The cocktail menu has a few pick-me-ups, including coffee drinks that take advantage of the fine brews whipped up by the team from Crema, who work at an attractive marble bar near the front door.
Even if you aren't at Pinewood Social to bowl, sit-down dining is a treat all day long, from delicate omelets at breakfast to dinner entrées that feature layers of elegant flavors. If a talented Southern granny studied at Le Cordon Bleu, she'd be right at home in the kitchen at Pinewood Social.
33 Peabody St., 615-751-8111; pinewoodsocial.com