California Guide and Deals

Each week, the 32 lanes at Pinz sparkle beneath the strobe lights and disco balls of Shake, Rattle & Bowl. When they’re not glowing or being incubated by confused chickens, the bowling balls can be hurled by visitors and league bowlers alike, rolling swiftly past the 10-foot video screens that line the alley’s far wall. Behind the scoring table, in the VIP billiard room, plasma TVs help to ensure that guests can play pool without missing critical sports moments or any commercials starring famous cats. And in the on-site arcade, players can enjoy more than 40 games including air hockey, skee-ball, and video bowling.

Palos Verdes Bowl has been open for more than half a century, but just because it's reached middle age doesn't mean it lacks modern amenities. On Friday and Saturday evenings, the alley's karaoke hours turn civilians into celebs as they rock out and star in music videos in front of a greenscreen. The stage also plays host to professional musicians on Thursdays and Fridays. Throughout the week, non-bowlers can compete on electronic dartboards or engage in winner-takes-all conversation over a slice of Rizzo's Pizzeria pizza or a tall brew from the onsite bar.

The sound of crashing pins draws equally loud cheers from players at Ventura Bowling Center as their progress is tallied via an automatic scoring system. Arcade games and dartboards entice them to take a break from alleyways, while hunger draws them toward the snack bar. Meanwhile, a full onsite bar supplies players with enough bubbly soda and ice-cold beer to celebrate a big win or an impressive moonwalk made possible by a pair of smooth-soled bowling shoes.

Bel Mateo Bowl, home to 24 newly-installed Murrey synthetic alleys, fully automatic scoring, brilliant LCD monitors, and automated bumper bowling, provides family-friendly pin pulverizing seven days a week. Black-lit lanes illuminate bowling balls as they travel down the center's slick alleys during Planet Bowl, held each Friday and Saturday evening and fueled by colorful lights, upbeat tunes, and gravity. In addition to hosting leagues and bowling camps for kids, the colorful bowling center stocks a snack bar and serves drinks at a cocktail lounge punctuated by big-screen TVs. The alley's arcade room, complete with glowing air-hockey table, driving games, and pinball, hosts gaming kids and inner children alike, and karaoke on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday encourages lively covers of popular tunes and somber odes to fallen bowling pins.

As friends sup quietly in a private banquet hall, chaos reigns a floor below. There, stones hurtle toward the wall, forming piles of rubble soon swept away and forgotten in the clamor. Still, the friends dine peacefully, unaware of the destruction happening under their feet. At the two-story Irvine Lanes, bowlers topple pins on the first floor's 40 lanes while the second floor hosts private parties and catered events in an elegant setting. Of course, a snack bar lets bowlers eat downstairs, too, and a full arcade, bar, and smoking patio keep outings interesting as the machine whittles new pins between frames.

Automatic scoring screens hover above West Lane Bowl's polished hardwood floors, allowing players to focus solely on sending balls on a collision course. Inside the spacious facility, families and pros alike compete during 10-frame series as the coffee shop serves wings, burgers, and pizzas and the sports bar welcomes players into its TV-filled enclave for a cocktail or a game of billiards. Those celebrating a birthday or successful weaning off of bumper bowling can gather in the private party rooms for cake and festivities between games and send guests home with swag-filled goody bags purchased from West Lane Bowl's pro shop.