Chatham Bowl

Can’t beat the Chatham Bowl for family fun and great pub food at the attached Side Door Grill! Don’t ask why, but for some reason the beer just tastes better here. The establishment loves kids who are welcome as bowlers and in the pub/​resaurant. What a great place for a family with kids on a cold winter’s evening in Upstate New York when everyone has cabin fever?

I am ashamed to say in my 38 years of either living in or traveling back to the area, I have never been to the Chatham Bowl. When I was a kid and young adult, we had a bowling alley in Hudson, and we went there on any occasion that called for bowling and/​or drinking.
We went to the Chatham Bowl today with 3 adults and 5 kids and had a blast. The staff was super-​friendly, accessible and accomodating. We only had an order of french fries and a pitcher of pink lemonade from the café for the kids, but everything was great (my only small complaint was the use of disposable plastic cups… would love to see them use reusable hard plastic cups).
Can’t wait to go again and try some more food and have some beers. I can’t see how anyone could not love this joint.

Owned by two couples, Walter and Kim Layton & Jonathan and JoAnn Barnes, this is not just a mere bowling alley in the middle of nowhere… no. This is also the home of The Side Door Grille, an intimate, sports oriented bar connected to the bowling alley. Of course, you enter at the side door!
We went here for the first time the other night searching for a place where we can get a burger and some appetizerey foods without spending a ton of money and without having to get dressed up. The Chatham Bowl was an afterthought, but we decided after a year of living in the area, it was time to check it out.
On a friday night at 7pm, we were the only people in the tavern except for the owner/​bartender. We sat down in a simple booth in the bar decorated with football and baseball pennants, hats, and other memorabilia hung all over the place and tiny blue lights on the ceiling. There is a pool table too, along with Lottery games and Quickdraw.
Our view at our «window» was the bustling bowling alley on the other side of the wall. Families, friends, leagues of bowlers all tried their best to impress. They all seemed to be having a very good time and were definitely right at home.
The owner waited on us and was extremely friendly. He took our orders promptly and we asked him about the bowling alley. He told us that Saturday was a great night to come and bowl, since you can bowl 7pm-​11pm for $ 15 a person. Not a bad deal at all… He also told us that they do cosmic bowling… woo hoo!
We each ordered the Angus Burger Special, which is a generous ¹⁄₃ pound burger with lettuce, tomato, onion and fries for an extremely reasonable $ 5.95. We also tried the onion rings, which was a generous helping for $ 2.95. To wash it all down, I had an Amstel Light and J. had a Coors Light. All said and done, with tip, it came to $ 24 and change.
We felt very relaxed and the owner made us feel very welcome. We are sure to return to try the pizza and this time to bowl too! One thing to watch for… the crater sized potholes that make up the parking lot — go slow! Still, totally worth the trip.