Getting Our Schtick On

Before she leaves the house, Julie often says, "I've got to get my stick on." That means she needs to put on lipstick before she heads out into society.

I don't have this problem. If I rummage around, I can probably locate two tubes of lipstick, both of which predate my move to Ada (which also means that I've moved them to four different homes. Fortunately, they're small.)

I don't think I'd be speaking out of turn if I said that Lynne and Pat have similar "stick issues", though to her credit, Lynne has been trying.

So, while we may not be too concerned about stick, we are always up for schtick, which is precisely what we got when Lynne found an article in the Lima News describing the food at bowling alleys around the area. Alley Cuisine was born.

Last Friday was our first foray into the bowling world. (Loyal followers know that we have a bowling ball in the flower bed near our front door, but that's just for showin' and not for throwin'.)

Our first stop on the Bitter Train Tour of Bowling Alleys was Westgate Lanes in Lima. I'm actually not sure of the name of the place because I tend to just get in the car and do what I'm told when we go on these little trips. Sure, I could ask Lynne, but it's 3 a.m.

The bowling alley had a nice atmosphere. It looked like it had recently been redecorated in a motif that was a cross between spray painted graffiti and a coloring book, but it worked. I'd expected to be eating at a beat up table near the lanes, but this place had an actual restaurant and our waitress was very nice. She was efficient, friendly and knowledgeable without being annoying and overeager. I give her eight pins.

Now for the main event...the food. We ordered four different items from the menu: a chicken and blue cheese Caesar salad; an appetizer combo that included onion straws, nachos and chili cheese fries; a small pizza; and the Triple Play which included two small sandwiches and sweet potato fries.

So yes, if you're keeping track, we had two types of french fried potatoes. It was Friday night and we were bitter. Get over it.

The chicken and blue cheese salad---as Pat said "We just got it because we felt guilty about all the unhealthy food" and it was a mistake. The only noteworthy thing about it was that the chicken was really dry, in fact it was so dry that Lynne mistook one of the croutons for the chicken. Of course, she also had a beer with her dinner. This item also lost points because it was served with packets of salad dressing rather. Rating: Gutter ball.

Next up was the appetizer combo with onion straws, nachos and chili cheese fries. I think it was called Taster's Trio. I thought it said "Tater Trio" which confused me since there was only one tater related item.

This item got a split. The onion straws were excellent...thin and crispy and they were served with a spicey ranch dressing that jazzed things up quite a bit (I also used it on my salad and on the little sandwich in the Triple Play). The nachos, despite the scarlet and gray chips, were pretty dull. The chili cheese fries had a chance to be good, but the fries were underdone and doughy inside. Next time, we'll just get the onion straws (and ride home with the windows open).


The pizza---a strike! This was right up our alley. The crust was thin. The sauce had a good flavor and the cheese combo had Pat stumped. I just thought it tasted good, but I don't have her Italian genes, though I do like their dressing.


And finally, the Triple Play. Wow. This was a direct hit on the head pin. It was two little sandwhiches plus sweet potato fries. The sandwiches were about like a White Castle burger except that instead of a tiny piece of meat with holes in it on dry bun, it was a nice sized piece of beef on a sweet Hawaiin roll, plus shredded pork and cole slaw (thus the name, Triple Play. We mistakenly believed it was called the Triple Play because there were three sandwiches, but when there were only two sandwiches but each with three ingredients, we figured it out. ) This sandwich was very tasty and it included two of the major meat groups---bovine and porcine.

The sweet potato fries were an added bonus---sort of like getting to roll a third ball in the tenth frame----they were fresh and crispy and had a great flavor.

If the three of us went again, I'd get two orders of the Triple Play (would that be a six pack?) so we could each have our own little sandwich and there'd be plenty of sweet potato fries. I'd also get the pizza again because it was good and because those sandwiches are sort of small and we'll need our strength if we decide to actually bowl. I'd skip the salad and the Tater Trio, though I'd consider getting the onion thingies, if only for the dipping sauce.

Until next time...keep your balls polished and don't let your palms get sweaty.