Bowling, pool, darts, fooz ball, how can you go WRONG with THAT combo? Monday nights are also dollar brew and dollar dog nights! Sounds like KARAOKE HEAVEN to me! No way could such a place exist, I thought. I was wrong. For DECADES, I thought this little place had CLOSED! I heard a rumor as a kid that the place was shut down forever. From El Camino, it always seemed it was true. That was the BACK door I had been staring at all this time! I had NO idea that the other side had a bar, an old adjoining diner, and my GOD old stuff EVERYWHERE. The place should be a bloody landmark! I'm sorry, but any place that stays original for more than MY lifetime is worth blogging about!
My only regret is that I couldn't see it back in the glory days when my classmates competed for bowling championships or just bragging rights. When I was a kid every bowling alley was closing, so it wasn't hard to believe that Brentwood Bowl would follow suit. The guy handing you your rental shoes has been working there since he was 11 years old! He used to take score manually on the old school score sheets, and they STILL have the old manually operated pin changing machines BEHIND the new ones in the back! Blacklight bowl nights are lots of fun, but let's talk about karaoke!
Gus and Patti have been running the show here for YEARS now. How could I have known every Monday since I was younger I could've just stumbled home drunk a few blocks and been home! I feel cheated! I loathe the liar who spread that lousy rumor. All the Monday nights I've missed and am trying to recapture, I'll never have again! *sniff*
Gus is making a great recovery from Cancer. His vocal chords I make him stretch for me sometimes. He has a WONDERFUL singing voice. I miss him from Max's Opera House back in September. He was diagnosed with cancer not too long after that. Patti has been running his shows for him since. He still attends as a passive listener and reluctant participant at my behest at times. I can't wait to visit them both at Behans in Burlingame soon, but back to the bowling alley. I digress, as usual...
This sweet gem of a find seriously a video game arcade short of a serious teen hang out, it's right across the street from SEE's CANDIES omg those almond caramel things are so good! It's like a kitty corner away form EVERYTHING you could EVER need: Goodwill, Smart & Final, Safeway, Lucky's, CVS, Bally Fitness. Honestly, I could camp out here and be happy. The thing about Gus and Patti is that the equipment USED to belong to them, but now the alley owns it, and they have their own list of songs that Patti and Gus DON'T use at any of their other shows. Don't be confused if you've been to their other events and don't recognize the books.
What I adore about this venue is the older crowd. It's a chill mellow crowd of middle aged to elder types with teenagers all over and 20 somethings playing various games. You have a passive listening audience which is great if you have stage fright. They're busy doing OTHER things, so they're not really STARING at YOU. Good starter night for the microphone shy. It's never too busy, so you can get many songs in before they stop at 11pm unfortunately. That's when the bowling alley part is closed, and the bar is left open.
If they had karaoke at the BAR side of the alley, they'd probably do A LOT more business which is smart, but the management hasn't clued into that yet. I mean the equipment takes up a lot of space which they DON'T have in the bar which I understand makes things hard to maneuver, but that Dart board and set up could be moved OUTSIDE the bar, and karaoke could be set up by the back door facing El Camino. TA DA! I think it would bring them more money for the Bowl AND Gus & Patti. That's just one person's humble opinion. Definitely check them out from 7 - 11pm Monday nights.
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