Some of us wanted to see the NCAA Championship Football Game and all of us needed to eat. We consulted our napkin of suggestions and decided to combine activities at Pinewood Social.
It is located in an industrial area on the Cumberland River that is gradually converting to more genteel uses. The former hanger or warehouse is so big they can provide a large restaurant, big bar and still offer six lanes of bowling in the back.
We sat in a booth with televisions visible in every direction. The cocktails were terrific and interesting. Nashville mixologists are having fun with bitters. There are also local brews and old favorites.
We started with the fried broccoli and it was amazing. I could have eaten that all night. It is simply broccoli—no breading—slightly crunchy with just the right amount of salt. I ordered the fried chicken and it came with fries and a terrific cole salw type salad with all kinds of yummy ingredients. The fried chicken was excellent just trending toward spicy hot.
At this point the ballgame was no longer capturing our attention and we decided to bowl. The party moved to a lane. An attendant fetched us some shoes (and we bought rabbit socks since some of us were wearing pumps). They give you an iPad for keeping score and the app makes it easy if you have forgotten how to bowl.
I am not much of a bowler. I can probably count on my fingers the number of times my score broke 100. The first 2 practice balls were gutter balls. Sometime mid game Jessica suggested aligning my thumb differently and voila! I started knocking down pins. My boss Chuck was well ahead so I wasn’t worried about my score. I was just having fun.
Then a small miracle occurred. In the last two frames I bowled 4 strikes in a row! And I won the game!
We bowled a second game so Chuck could make his comeback and my bowling went back to “normal”. The cocktails kept coming and we enjoyed ourselves knowing that our designated driver Jessica would see us safely back to the hotel.
You know it is a good place and a fun time when you all start planning how to open a similar place back home. We did not need a reservation for dinner or bowling, but it was a Monday night. Best to call ahead.
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