Bowling in D.C. no longer precludes you from wearing sleeveless T-shirts, plain white T-shirts, hoodies, and motorcycle/gang colors. For ages, the only lanes within the District were at Gallery Place’s Lucky Strike, which also happens to have one of the strictest and weirdest dress codes in the city. (The place also bans headgear, except, you know, stylish hats.)
Pinstripes, a bowling, bocce, and Italian/American bistro that has no dress code, opened in The Shops at Georgetown Park over the weekend. The 34,000-square-foot restaurant is just shy of being the largest restaurant in D.C. (The Hamilton occupies 37,000 square feet near Metro Center.) The sprawling space includes 14 bowling lanes, six bocce courts, a dining room, private event space, two bars, wine cellar, and outdoor patio with fire pit that overlooks the C&O Canal. This is the fifth location for Pinstripes, which can also be found in Illinois and Minnesota (and soon Kansas).
The sports component is decidedly upscale with lounge-y black sofas in front of every bowling and bocce lane. Bowling costs $5 per person per game except on Friday and Saturday evenings when the price increases to $7. Bocce is $5 per person per hour but bumps up to $10 on weekend evenings. Rental shoes are an additional $4, but you get to keep a pair of Pinstripes socks.
The full menu is available throughout the space. Pizzas, flatbreads, salads, sandwiches, and pastas make up the bulk of the options, with dishes like baked lasagna, barbecue pulled pork, and gnocchi with ahi tuna. Small plates include crab cakes, fried mozzarella, and meatball sliders. Large plates range from grilled baby back ribs to maple-glazed salmon. Every night of the week, there are different specials like bottomless salad and spaghetti and meatballs on Mondays and live music on Fridays and Saturdays. Happy hour on drinks goes from 3 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 p.m. to close Monday through Thursday in the bar, patio, and gaming areas.
Check out more photos of the space below:
Pinstripes, 1064 Wisconsin Ave. NW; (202) 625-6500; pinstripes.com
Photos by Jessica Sidman