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The first bowling alley to open in Brooklyn in (we can't even believe this) nearly 50 years is about to open up! The Gutter is new...but the feeling old. Brought to you by two of the same people who brought you Barcade, expect a similar vibe. There's a Schlitz globe spinning over the shoe counter, vintage bowling items adorning the bar, old lamps throughout, and even some TVs with rabbit ear antennas.
You won't find flashy flatscreens displaying your scores and advertisements hanging above the lanes. The scoring machines are straight out of the past, and the only advertisements are on the pin clearing machine. Those ads are likely for establishments in a town far far away, however -- as the equipment was all purchased from an old bowling alley in the midwest.
Some more fine details: the bar overlooks the lanes, there are no league nights, the bathrooms are unisex, and the bar is stocked with good beer (you can get pitchers too) and spirits. Located at 200 North 14th Street just west of Berry in Greenpoint, it's near Automotive High School -- but you can rest assured this is a 21+ establishment.
Regular Hours: Monday-Thursday 4pm to 4am; Friday-Sunday 12 noon to 4am.
How much money you'll need: $4 shoes, $7/person/game, $6 during happy hour (M-F before 8pm)
For groups of 4 or more: $42/hour and $36/hour during happy hour.
Cash only for bowling, but credit cards accepted at the bar for alcohol
The Gutter opens THIS WEEKEND with limited hours: Saturday 8pm-4am and Sunday 5pm-4am. Better stretch that bowling arm!
Photographs by Tien Mao
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awesome.
BEST NEWS EVER!!!
are these typical prices for bowling? seems a tad high for a group.
i hope the beer selection is as good as the selection at barcade.
but then again half the fun of bowling is drinking cheap domestic beer.
I am so glad I will never be going there!
This looks really great, but I really hope the crowd isn't as douchy as barcade.
Can I get an address?
Nevermind.
Gothamist, it's the first NEW alley to OPEN in Brooklyn in 50 years, not the first one open at all in that time, so it's bowling is not "coming back". There are plenty of alleys in the borough, no need to get so excited.
I was about to say that Maple Lanes is pretty damn cool.
Did the owners find everything in this shithole at a garage sale or scrapyard? You'd think it was the people behind the Tea Lounge that opened this place.
Real bowlers would scoff at this place.
i lurv it.
$6 for a game is the cheapest I've seen (in NYC) since the 90's.
You know what I like about this place? All the hipsters will go there, and I can go somewhere else.
That can't be right - when did Gil Hodges Lanes open? It couldn't have been 50 years ago!
grenpoint hispters homy god i BEt THEI"LL BE DRINKING PBR THERE WITH THEIR STROKES INERPOL AND BUSHWICKF LOFTS THOASE >>> MIDWEST HIPSTERS!! !this isn't for us real working class bowlers, posting here from bay ridge or the new jersey suburbs.
DAMMNN YOUY HIPSTERS AND YOUR IRONIC MUSTACHE BOWLING HEADBANDS
Seems a bit high to me. Four people for an hour would have to get two games in just to equal paying by the game. Not very feasible. Melody lanes is less than $5 a game if I remember correctly and like $2.50 for shoes. $4 for shoes???? Outrage!
wow. that bar is lame - not a soul in the entire place.
good luck with this one.
Anyone remember Rainbow Lanes on Knapp Street?
Gil Hodges Lanes opened in the early 50's.
This was happening in Minneapolis over ten years ago...the Bryant Lake Bowl, to be exact. Guess New Yorkers always think we're the first...ho hum. Melody Lanes is still more authentic. (Grouch, grouch)
For christ sakes its a bowling alley. No need to get so agitated. I think this place is a heck of a lot better then going to Port Authority or bowlmor. The crowd can't be any worse then the screaming kids at PA or the shitty yuppies at Bowlmar.
Rad. I will go there. A lot.
re: 17
at least hipster from the midwest know how to spell.
No mention of Melody Lanes? Good!
Keep it for the locals. It has more lanes, and is cheaper, than this place. Oh, and it's in Brooklyn. Brooklyn is bigger than Williamsburg and Greenpoint, you know.
Please explain! Why are people angry over a place that they would never go to?
Now all we need in the burg/greenpoint is a movie theater!
Looks fun. Greenpoint needs a lot more than a bowling alley though. How about a pierogi ban?
it will be packed to the gills every night. don't bother going.
#30 you're right, nobody goes there anymore - it's too crowded.
Hey let's all worry about who is going to the bowling alley we like and what they will wear and what facial hair they will sport. Seems like a good use of time.
I like melody, but it isn't cheaper - it's 6.50 a game and 3.50 for shoes. but they do have that awesomely trashy snack counter and a badass bartender.
this place was so much better back in the day, i've been going there for like 7 years.
wait...
This place looks awesome. So awesome. The detailing is great, from the photos. I'll be there ASAP.
Oh man, Melody Lanes has the best bartender ever. He looks and talks like a character out of a Scorsese movie. He once told me about an invention he was working on "it reads your f'in brainwaves and predicts your next actions so you don't f anything up!" Brilliant.
I don't hate hipsters (and I live in Williamsburg), but I'm going to continue hanging out at Melody, thanks. Those prices are nuts. And if this is run in the same way as Barcade, it'll be nightmarishly crowded and annoying at all times.
Uh oh, looks like a flock of Waayh Waayhs. Pooh pooh hipster ironic mustache PBR hipster headbands pooh. Wanh wanh wanh poopy poopy poo.
I am PSYCHED! This place will be FUN!
barcade is full of beer snob, too cool for school bartenders and it's patrons might be worse - fucking nerds. i like the idea of barcade, just can't get myself to go inside. hopefully the new bowling alley wont be full of idiots like barcade.
Now that the port authority lanes have been "upgraded" with flashing lights and a DJ there is no place for me and my friends to go. Athletes need an alley where they can see both the lanes and the beer selection. Respect the game.
this is great news!!!!
for those concerned about the price, there is a much cheaper alley near the cypress hill area but it's quite a subway hike from the greenpoint area.
wow -- I appreciate this great feedback about how this place will almost certainly suck. I was getting excited about having a bowling alley a few blocks from my house but now I know that I was just being a fucking douchy nerd. Nothing worse than people having a good time -- especially if they have moustaches. Thanks for protecting me from myself!
$56 an hour? What a joke. But hey - its hipsterifically ironic and retro! Bring on the PBR!!!!
Hipsters suck
jesus christ. it's a fucking BOWLING ALLEY where you can BOWL. why shit all over it before it opens? It'll be fun. and why would everyone from Barcade go there just because it's run by the same people? I haven't checked, but I'm pretty sure Barcade hasn't been building an army. Oh, and last time i did check, present day Williamsburg is a haven for YUPPIES and NYU kids, you idiots. It hasn't been "cool" here in 3 years. And the retro design? It looks pretty fucking cool. Would you prefer some horrible flashy place w a jumbotron? AND PBR? It's shitty beer but good cause it's cheap. If you do drink it cause you think it's cool, then you're just an idiot. REAL BOWLERS WONT GO THERE! I don't even want to imagine the makeup of a "real bowler" who also happens to comment on the Gothamist. Yeah Williamsburg sucks, but FUCK. it's still better than the NYU compound that is the East Village or the tragically co-opted LES or fucking Park Slope or shitty uptown. Move to the Bronx and think you're just awesome because you're fighting some non-existant battle that no one gives a shit about.
Yikes.
FYI, no PBR.
for a minute I thought it was going to be a fun place, but after all this jibber jabber I just dont know anymore. Ive lived in f'in Williamsburg for 23 years. Used to be you couldnt find a god damned egg sandwich in this joint.
ok, went there this weekend, and it's a wonderful place...howEVAR:
1. The old equipment sort of sucks, the computer didn't score our games properly, hope this gets fixed
2. They charged us for an extra game post-game, and were sort of dicks about it, which surprised me a little on the opening weekend...
but once they get the kinks out it will be a welcome and awesome addition to the neighborhood. Nice even lanes, ball-return and mechanics need some kinks out...
aight. rock out with your house balls out. i hope they have bitch bumpers for caligula....hoe.
yo. stalin. you handle my obstacles like old people fcuk. my bumpers are on lock down.
brought to you by WHICH two people from barcade? half the owners are great, the other half are douches...
oh jeezus, with the hipster jokes. i don't know whats worse: hipsters or anti-hipsters. are they really THAT bad that you have to openly bitch and moan about it? do you take them THAT seriously?
get over it and go to this place after work on a weekday, or lunchtime on the weekends, and you'll get a lane with little or no wait. i hear monday nights are slow ones too.
"waah waah hipster this, waah waah hipster that"...
how many total lanes are there, just eight? that is not going to cut it.
all you hipsters please stick with bowlmore, there are real bowlers in brooklyn that need a place to go that absolutely hate hipsters.
Looks great.
Can't wait till i come to NY.
Happy Birthday Wally.
Great place looks like fun.
I love bowling.
Vintage bowling + Modern prices = not so cool.
I guess $7 a game isn't that bad but I mean c'mon...it's obviously going to be about the beer and the scene, not the bowling. Even barcade is only 50cents a play...
Who am I kidding I'll go there no less than 3 times a year.
They should hold a "big lebowski" night. I'll be Donny.
Lots of haters. What a shame.