Bowling’s big? Crazy, but yes. Bowl & Barrel, a new alley in Dallas–with a bar and boutique restaurant

 

You’d be forgiven if you were to think Bowl & Barrel is a saloon, a salad bar or a kitchen accessories store. Not even close. According to B&B’s owners, Josh Sepkowitz and Kyle Noonan (pictured above), it’s “Dallas’ first upscale, ’boutique’ bowling alley featuring a full-service restaurant and bar.”

The two SMU grads are opening Bowl & Barrel in the Shops at Park Lane, building out a 15,000 square foot space to feel like a European beer hall.

Fifteen bowling lanes, a 3,000 sf restaurant and bar with craft beers, handcrafted cocktails, boutique wines, and a menu inspired by  “artisinal ingredients.”

“Consumers are avoiding the tired model of smokey, dingy bowling alleys with a decor of black lights and disco balls, serving stale beer…and nacho cheese sauce,” says Noonan.

Noonan says the lease has been signed, permits have been secured and funding is complete, adding that B&B should open in September.

(Hey, Kyle–maybe you should take over Bailey’s Prime Plus, which recently dismissed its chef and sommelier — I hear the multiunit steak house is being retooled and reconcepted by –wait for it — Bob Sambol, who’s now with MCrowd’s Mercury Grill but founded and once owned the original Bob’s Steak and Chop House. (Sambol didn’t return a request for comment.))