Alison C.
Yelp
My friends and I happened to stumble upon The Gutter the other night. We walked past its small, nondescript lobby with stairs down to a basement, providing little hints as to what the place was like. We decided that bowling would make for a fun evening, so we walked in, surprisingly had our bags checked by a security guard, and headed down to the subterranean main space. The sprawling floor plan included a few bowling lanes in the front and a few more in the rear (12 in total). Between the two sets of lanes were a massive bar and a good deal of tables. From the hanging Tiffany lamps to the wood paneling to the full-size pinball machines, the whole experience felt like we were in a 1980's basement. The atmosphere was very casual, but that did nothing to reduce its crowd. We tried to reserve a lane, which were all first-come, first-serve, and were told there was a 2.5 hour wait time. At that point, we decided to just settle for enjoying some drinks, and we made ourselves comfortable at a large booth.
The server dropped off some menus, and we were confronted with a huge beer list, including mostly drafts available as pints or pitchers. I was excited to discover that they had my favorite sour beer, Hudson Valley Brewery Peach Silhouette, and we decided to order a pitcher of it. The tart, sweet, and almost effervescent brew was loved by all. We paired the beer with a large Pin Deck Pizza, which was topped with spicy sausage, potato slices that tasted like French fries, fresh mozzarella, rosemary, and fiery Calabrian chilis. It was an unique and absolutely delicious pie!
We were just debating if we should order another round of food and drinks when we were told that we could claim a bowling lane, only about an hour into our, what was supposed to be longer, wait time. Bowling rates varied by day, but were based on each half-hour of play. However, shoe rentals were always priced at $5. We swapped sneakers with the front desk staff, committed to playing for an hour, and went over to our classic ten-pin lane. We tried out a few of the balls and found a couple that were 10 pounds, though many were more like 12-14 pounds. We played our game with no issues and had an amazing time!
For a vintage bar and activity lounge, The Gutter sure had swagger! Definitely check the place out!