STRIKE bowling alley and Arcade

A few months ago my son Ryan was invited to his "BEST FRIEND" (at the time) Marco's 6th birthday party.  The party was held at a place called Strike which is located at 1350 Union Turnpike in New Hyde Park, Queens, New York.

     With much anticipation we counted down the days to the party.  We bought the Happy Birthday 6 year old card, signed, and sealed it, and the present was purchased, wrapped and ready to go.  If only the big day would come!!! Ryan just couldn't wait.  It was the second birthday party he had been invited to this year and having had a taste of party play dates, he couldn't wait for this second one.  The big day finally arrived and off we went.  I actually drove right passed the place because it is located in seemingly such a small building and set back quite a bit off the road.  My navigation system said:  "you have arrived" and I looked around and said:  "WHERE???"  We had to make a u-turn and head back.  When I saw the building I thought:  How can they fit a bowling alley in there?  The building was THAT SMALL!  I parked the car as Ryan (and his friend AJ who along with his mom had driven with us) were completely bursting with excitement:  "PARK THE CAR MOMMY!" "We're here, PARK PARK PARK!"  Parked and unbuckled, we all walked into the building and found steps that took us down to our destination.  It was a bit dark, but what would you expect when going down below street level.  The place was quite huge actually--who knew???  We met up with Ryan's friend Marco and the rest of the kids who were anxiously awaiting their shoe rental.  While I put on Ryan's fabulous new shoes, I watched his eyes scan the place and grow wide with anticipation and he began to rattle off all of the things he wanted to play prior to leaving.  It was at that moment that I knew we were in for a long, but fun-filled day.

     The party was very well run.  We had two girls assigned to our three lanes who made sure that the kids were set up and that the games were runnning smoothly.  The food was great--perfect for kids!  They set up a mini buffet table and one of the girls helped the kids serve themselves chicken fingers and fries and assorted fruit.  The drinks were pre-poured so the kids (and adults) could help themselves.  After eating, the kids bowled a few more games and then it was on to Brithday cake.  After two hours of bowling and eating the official party had ended and the kids were given goodie bags by Marco and his parents and a strike credit card which could be used in the Strike arcade.  We went around playing games for about another hour and Ryan (king of the tickets) racked up over three hundred tickets playing the games.  We redeemed Ryan's tickets for some cool kids' prizes and called it a day.  Ryan and I both had a great time; he got to spend time with his classmates and I got to sit down with the other moms and chat.  We also got to enjoy some mommy and son time without his baby brother getting between us which is something I know he misses.  On a scale of 1-10 ice cream cones, I give Stirke 10 ice cream cones.  Ryan gives it 110 ice cream cones.

P.S. Strike also has late night bowling, a bar, a lounge, and makes a great place for happy hour with your friends.