Date Night: Zeno & Bryant Lake Bowl

Jeff and I used to live in Uptown and while I'm quite glad we moved to our incredible loft in the North Loop, we still like to visit our favorite old haunts from time to time. Yesterday afternoon we decided to have a late lunch at Zeno Cafe - I was craving my favorite thing on the menu w/my own twist - the house salad with parmesan ranch instead of the balsamic dressing, pinenuts and shaved parmesan..favorite salad ever. It was happy hour so it was buy one appetizer, get one free and we tried the clams in white wine and garlic broth - amazing - and the Mediterranean sampler of hummus, olive tapenade, goat cheese and sun dried tomato over crostini. Paired with a nice glass of reserve Malbec, it was the perfect late lunch.

We hadn't bowled in months so decided to head over to Bryant Lake Bowl, and got a lane after just a 5 minute wait which hardly ever happens. Unfortunately we were next to a bunch of extra chunky lesbians tucked in to tight tees (why do the girls in MN with the most stomach rolls and love handles insist on showing them off with extra tight tees, esp in Uptown?? Cover that shiz up like the rest of us do, please), some of whom were making out for the first 20 minutes or so but once they left we were good to go. The first game I somehow got 6 spares and bowled a 176, probably my record. It all went downhill from there but I still managed to beat Jeff 2 games out of 3, winning the last game by exactly 1 point. At about 8:15 pm they turned the lights down and the disco ball on with the pins lit up which was pretty cool.

I normally love BLB but was quite disappointed by the service last night - nobody came and asked us if we wanted a drink and I had to flag down a somewhat bitchy waitress with a shaved head who said she could get me a beer - as if it weren't her job and she was about to do me a favor - and then never brought it. After about 20 minutes of waiting, I went up to the bar and asked the bartender for a cocktail I remembered was on the menu and he looked at me like I had 14 heads with a very rude face and handed me the menu, so I just asked for a beer. Thanks for all the service, guys. Maybe I should just stay in my hood and take my 6 spares to Elsie's from now on.