When Strike opened a few months ago, it pitched itself as upscale bowling alley plus trendy lounge. The owners wanted you to expect beautiful people, expensive cocktails, fine dining, and, uh…bowling. Odd, huh?

I was intrigued, and on Wednesday night, I finally made it over to bowl a couple games and have drinks with friends. None of us were particularly good – only one of us broke 100 points – but we still had a lot of fun.

It’s definitely more upscale than most bowling alleys, but it’s still more sports bar than trendy lounge. The walls are covered with sports games on projection TVs, the food and drinks are standard bar fare, and the arcade games and pool tables bring to mind Dave and Buster’s.

One surprise was the number of office parties. When we arrived at 9pm, there were no less than six different events in full swing, held by valley companies like Cisco, SugarCRM, and Maxim (no, not the magazine). Naturally, there were way more guys than girls, but it was Cupertino, so no one noticed. :P

All in all, it was fun, but I doubt I’ll be back. Bowling just isn’t the same without the cheap lanes, cheap beer, grungy rental shoes, and old guys in matching bowling team shirts.