“Way out west there was this fella…fella I wanna tell ya about. Fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least that was the handle his loving parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. Mr. Lebowski, he called himself ‘The Dude.’”
Film has a fantastic effect on the culture of the everyday American. No other genre of film, in this writer’s mind, has such a detectable consequence as the sporting comedy. No golf course has ever been the same since “Caddyshack;” Milwaukee baseball has never been the same since “Major League” (and to a lesser extent, “Mr. 3000”); hockey and Paul Newman fans have never been happier since 1977’s “Slap Shot.” The world of bowling – with all of its alleys, mustaches and slick shoes – shall forever thank “The Big Lebowski” for producing our loveable western hero, “The Dude” (“The laziest man in Los Angeles County”), for shaping the landscape of bowling into the standard for leisure activity.
This cinematic inspiration nudged me toward this week’s featured bar: Bay View Bowl.
This staple for rolling rocks is nestled among the busy strip of shops, bars, restaurants, and coffee shops, and sits among a new economic and structural presence on KK (2416 South Kinnickinnic Avenue) in the heart of what some would call a hipster community. But, if the hipster culture frightens or intimidates you, the bar is not exclusively peopled by hipster-folk; there are squares, hippies, junkies, whipper-snappers, chumps, dweebs, jocks and every other label associable in this area. Quick, stir the pot, it’s melting!
Kidding and label-making aside, Bay View is a great budding section of culture and progression in our area. Bay View Bowl is there to give you a break when you tire from ingesting all that this community has to offer.
When approaching BVB, you may notice there are multiple gates of entry, almost like you are trying to determine which entrance to sneak through for the “Monsters of Rock” at Alpine Valley — you’re pretty sure that all of the avenues will get you in, but which one provides the least resistance? In reality, all points of entry lead you inside to the sweet smell of lane conditioner.
The BVB bar is located in the southwestern corner of the building and takes up just a smidge of the massive building. Within the space, the L-shaped bar provides ample swivel-seating and a perfect view of lanes 7-12. The walls are dusk-blue and adorned with beer signs, promotional materials and other bowling paraphernalia. One small corner, near the entrance to a small “employees only” area, is guarded by the shining armor of a medieval knight. What that has to do with bowling, I’m not sure.
The cash register in the inner-lap of the “L” is surrounded by under-lit bottles of booze and is guarded from above by a pyramid-shaped, old school Blatz light which reads, “The three best beers.” It pictures a bottle of Blatz, a mug of Blatz and a can of Blatz. Apart from the suit of armor, I think I would love to have that light!
Aside from these, the undulating dark lights, or neon lights or whatever crazy lights those were at the north and south end of the bar, they kept the mesmerizing aspect of the bar in-tact and at the ready for Friday and Saturday night “Rocking Glow Bowling.” Whoever came up with that name must have been running the juke box, because it was rocking Gun’s N’ Roses, Alice Cooper and some light Journey. Metal lock!
As we hummed along to “Paradise City” I drank my Riverwest Stein lager and my “Ms. Lebowski” sipped a Jeremiah Weed and lemonade (I think she has a thing for southern accents whilst being a sucker for radio advertising). Miller Lite and High Life round out the Milwaukee beers on tap as Spotted Cow represented the rest of the state.
There was also an IPA on tap. But being among the Monday night bowling league, while watching the NIT championship on TV and those previously mentioned lights; I had other distractions to deter me from investigating who brewed the mysterious tapper.
BVB also carries some specialty beers, most notably, Gubna IPA from Oskar Blues Brewery in Colorado at $4.50. It has a light amber color with a citrus punch and finishes clean with a bitter rub – sounds good for a beer that comes in a can, eh? Also outside the barrel are two representatives from Alaskan Brewing Company, the White and Amber for $3.50 a bottle. The Amber is their flagship brew that used to fuel the miners way back when, and the White has sniffs of coriander and orange peel to accommodate the beastliest of Alaskan feasts. (growl)
As long as we are on the topic of feasting, BVB does offer some rudimentary eats, like pizza, soft pretzels, mozzarella sticks, etc. But, come on, the lanes are already greasy enough; we don’t need the juice from your cream cheese poppers on my 8-lb. ball. Yeah, I’m man enough to admit my love for eight pounders!
Although “The Dude” carries his own bowling ball and has experienced quite the high level of skylarking, his spirit is alive and well here at BVB on this night of league play. A bearded, t-shirt wearing bowler gave no hesitation as he ordered a White Russian before saddling up to hit the lanes. Let’s be sure he’s the REAL Lebowski.
The Bay View Bowl is a haven for the bowler who can cause a 7-10 split and is the sanctum for the almighty who can pick one up. But it’s also a neighborhood establishment that’s perfect for a walk-by cocktail or an extensive outing playing the game that real archeologists say started with the Egyptians – pyramid break!
“Sometimes, there’s a man, well, he’s the man for his time and place. He fits right in there. And that’s the Dude, in Los Angeles. And even if he’s a lazy man – and the Dude was most certainly that…sometimes there’s a man, sometimes, there’s a man. Aw. I lost my train of thought here…”
Let’s bowl!
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated there was a Monday night pool league when it was actually a bowling league. The post has been updated to reflect this. We regret the error.
