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VERO BOWL
Cuisine: Sandwiches, salads, munchies

Price range: $2.75-$8.95

Hours: 9 a.m.-1 a.m. daily

Address: 920 14th Lane, Vero Beach

Phone: 772-299-7467

Alcohol: Full bar

Handicapped access: Yes

Reservations: No

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VERO BEACH — Strike! Bowling pins are down. Appetites are up.

At the recently renovated Vero Bowl, the snack bar offers a break from the action with decent food by any standards. Compared with the dreck served at most bowling alleys, this is pretty stupendous.

First, the setting. The owners didn’t “spare” any expense in the sleek, miltimillion-dollar face-lift. To double your sports pleasure, 32 high-gloss lanes are crowned by 38 flat-screen TVs. This modern facility is nicely decorated in ochre, rust and beige, which echoes the colors of the swirly, Art Deco-inspired carpeting.

Parent-observers who just wish to have a cocktail and veg out after a long day of chauffeur duty are rewarded with a wonderful, sunken lounge area far from the madding crowd.

A friend raved about the balsamic vinaigrette dressing at Vero Bowl’s KingPinz Sports Grille. The fresh field greens with Roma tomatoes and crumbled blue cheese ($5.99) could have been served at any restaurant, as could The Wedge ($5.99), crispy iceberg with authentic Maytag blue.

Conch fritters ($6.95) and fried shrimp ($8.95) were freshly fried and tender, better than those served at some legitimate seafood restaurants.

Thanks to the sirloin, burgers and cheeseburger sliders were a treat ($7.79 for three).

There was some genuine “alley” food available, gutter balls to the high-end offerings: crinkle-cut French fries resembled the Ore Ida freezer brand, super nachos ($8.95) dripped with something suspiciously like Cheez-Whiz. My taste aside, the kids loved ‘em.

The menu also includes pizzas, sandwiches, sausages and Vero Bowl’s signature dish: fish tacos ($8.95) with fresh mahi mahi, shaved green cabbage, avocado, salsa and a great lime cream sauce.

I treated myself with cocoa-dense Death By Chocolate cake ($4.95) after I bowled my first spare.

If I’d waited for a strike, I would have gone home hungry.

Diana Foote dines anonymously at the expense of Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers. Contact her at foodgal@comcast.net.

In their places are 38 flat screen televisions, leather couches and a state-of-the-art scoring system.

The new $2.5 million Vero Bowl is set to re-open in mid-September as an entertainment complex, part of developer Michael Rechter’s vision for the 158,000-square-foot Majestic Plaza shopping center he owns on U.S. 1 in Vero Beach.

Rechter took over the bowling alley last December when he ousted tenant Sunbelt Development at the end of their lease, and is renovating the 30,000-square-feet of retail space he bought in 2007.

“We’re trying to turn this area into an entertainment destination that has the look of quality and can provide affordable, family fun,” said Rechter. “It will be as much an entertainment place as it is a bowling place.”

With 32 new lanes including six private VIP lanes, bowling leagues are returning to the facility in droves, Rechter said. And keeping prices the same as before has definitely helped, he added.

“We’ve already doubled our league business since we closed the doors,” said Rechter. “Last year, they did about $300,000 in league business but we’ve already booked $600,000 worth of business for this year. We’ve definitely pulled our Vero Beach people back here.”

Vero Bowl will also include a sports bar called the KingPinz Lounge and a restaurant, which features a full kitchen and its own chef.

“When you order a chicken sandwich, it will be a nice chicken sandwich,” said Rechter, laughing. “Everything we do will be high end.”

Part of the attraction for families will be a separate kid’s arcade and party room, as well as a billiard area.

“We want to entice people who don’t bowl to come over and party on a Friday or Saturday night,” said Rechter. “People want to bring their families to a fun, clean, safe place, and we expect to do really well.”

The bowling alley will be open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m., something that Rechter feels is necessary to attract a full array of customers. He has already hired 40 staff members and anticipates hiring another 30 more, mostly servers and bartenders, before the facility opens around Sept. 15.

“I’ve put a year of my life into this project, and a lot of sweat equity,” said Rechter, who estimates it may take up to five years to recoup his $2.5 million investment. “But I’ve learned the bowling business inside and out over the past year, and I’m in it for the long haul.”

VERO BOWL

State-of-the art $2.5 million renovation

32 brand-new lanes

6 VIP lanes for corporate events and parties

KingPinz Lounge and Sports Grille

38 HD television screens

Billiard room

Arcade

16 projection screen walls

Special effects lighting