Good Food, Bowling, Theater -- It doesn't get any better than this...

Bryant Lake Bowl and Theater, Photo by Dr. Laniac.

Breakfast at Bryant Lake Bowl. Too much drinking yesterday at the Walker Opening party. Hangovers and slight headaches. Can't face cooking and cleaning. Go to Bryant Lake Bowl. Very busy today. Sit in the back. Get the usual. Take pictures, read the NY times and down the juice and espressos. Space Panic is our server today. Who is Space Panic anyway?. From the EDQ blog.

Michael Schade, the wizard behind the Dupont Circle Update, informed me about the Bryant Lake Bowling alley and theater "complex" in Minneapolis. Like the McMenamins brothers in Portland, who have made a good business rehabilitating old theaters and other "odd" places (an asylum, old schools) into great mixed-use entertainment venues. The McMenamins brew their own beer that they supply to their 50+ establishments, etc.

Bryant Lake Bowl shows a lot of creativity--just like Buffalo Billiards did in its time on Dupont Circle--who thought that a "restaurant" could make money with an underground location [although I do miss the dancing babes at "The Cellar"]? Well, add a destination component that's a lot of fun, urban-oriented entertainment like billiards and darts, in an area starved for such attractions, and you have a recipe to make money.

The food looks pretty good too... There are concerts there, etc.

Serious theater at Bryant Lake. "Hijack" from the Minnesota Artists website.

Bowling at Bryant Lake, photo by Dr. Laniac.

Index Keywords: arts-culture; restaurant; concerts-music urban-revitalization