Editorial
Front Page - Friday, January 7, 2011
River City Roundabout
Knock down family fun
Erica Tuggle
Ryan Tuggle and Josh Cain focus in on one of the many different games that Pin Strikes offers in their arcade. Instead of keeping up with pesky tokens or pulling money in and out of your pocket, Pin Strikes games are operated by a reloadable card that tracks the total amount left on the card.
- Erica Tuggle
During the days of the recession, entertainment options weren’t a high priority for most families. With the gradual emergence from this time and the holiday willingness to relax and let a few dollars go to entertainment, Pin Strikes is in a good position.
At the Pin Strikes location on Lee Highway, you find a strange mixture of activities that works surprisingly well in such close proximity to each other. It’s not often that you find laser tag, bumper cars, bowling, billiards, arcade games and fun dining all in one location, but that’s what you will get here.
This makes Pin Strikes good for big groups that can divide themselves among the activities they prefer, but still come together to bowl a game or share a meal.
Another great selling point for Pin Strikes is the degree of separation you can have. The bar and lounge area with dining tables, couches and flat screen televisions on every wall is located in the very back of Pin Strikes. While you are in the midst of music and talk and the sound of thudding bowling balls in one part of the property, you can walk down a hall and be as secluded as ever in a quiet and relaxing atmosphere.
Similarly, once you get a group up to play a game of laser tag or gather a few for bumper car collisions, when you enter these areas, there is a seclusion to them that allows you to focus on their function to entertain you and not to be influenced by other parties doing other things in different areas. The design of Pin Strikes was very conscious of this need to have individuality in entertainment even within a group setting.
The bowling ally section has the latest technology and was built with guest comfort in mind as well. Instead of plastic chairs and tables at the lanes, there is a large couch with a small mahogany looking table.
Unlike other alleys I have visited, I had no trouble finding the popular 10 pound bowling ball I use, and a server checked up on our group frequently to see if we wanted to try any food, drink or needed assistance. In such a large place, this individual attention was unexpected (especially with the several parties and crowd that was there) but welcomed.
My favorite part of Pin Strikes is their arcade. Even though I didn’t get to utilize the years when whole buildings used to be full of arcade games, I miss them. The Pin Strikes arcade is one of largest in the area that includes games of skill or chance for all the ages. Their wall of skeeball games is where I could spend many an hour. The Guitar Hero, racing, and shooting games are also good for fun with a friend.
Sadly, these games are not all a simple quarter as in the old days. Their prices range from .25 cents to $3 per play. Yet, Pin Strikes has filled in the technology gap here, too, by installing card readers on all these games so that to play, you must purchase a reloadable card and put your money on it. This eliminates digging for quarters and makes it easy to set out a specific amount you want to invest in play and track with each game you play.
This also allows parents to load a card for their child and then enjoy the Pin Strikes activities while their child keeps up with all the funds they are given on one pocket sized card. I can see this cutting down the hassle factor for parents a great deal.
What bothers me about places like this is how sometimes parents let their children run wild, and these children (not being taught politeness) will jump ahead of those waiting, climb on machines, yell and do other obnoxious things.
Fortunately, the security that walks around Pin Strikes seemed to keep this type of behavior in check. Even with at least three other holiday or birthday parties going on at the same time we were there, we didn’t feel crowded or have any kind of wait time for the activities we wanted to do.
Perhaps going on a weekend would have produced a larger crowd, but there were a good many on a Thursday night, and we all enjoyed ourselves nonetheless.
The Chattanooga Pin Strikes
location has a lot of versatility to it and makes sure that everyone in the group has something to do or enjoy while there. Their attention to their guests and thoughtfulness when it comes to planning the best results for a guest’s time make Pin Strikes a good example of “knock down family fun.”
Contact Erica Tuggle at reporter@hamiltoncountyherald.com.
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