Lunch Adventure Ten Pin Alley

Sometimes we find ourselves in odd places where fresh fruit isn’t available, and situational constraints require creative action to avoid eating out of a vending machine. Other times we just need to escape the stuffy confines of traditional restaurant dining, so we embark on Lunch Adventures.

Why you’re really there: Knocking down some frames on a rainy day when relatives and their offspring are in town is a pleasant enough way to kill a few hours.

You won’t find this in most restaurants: Like a multilevel video game or the conclusion to Kill Bill Vol. 1 with fewer severed body parts, the interior space at Ten Pin Alley (6285 Nesbitt Road, Fitchburg, 608-845-1010) continues to unfold in a series of unanticipated dimensional aspects. When first entering, one hopes for little other than Fritos with a Budweiser and a few frames. But the extensive bowling alley, which turns out to have a video arcade adjunct, also has a bar with New Glarus on tap. A look at the menu suggests a well-equipped kitchen somewhere on the premises, and an exploratory walk reveals an initially hidden room of tremendous square footage, which is filled with many tables for dining, as well as yet another gigantic bar. There is also a video poker area, a DJ booth, and a balcony with two pool tables, which has glass doors leading to an exterior patio deck overlooking a pond.

Delightful discovery: Sampling from the baffling, many-paged menu brought a specialty burger, 10-inch cheese and pepperoni pizzas (blessed with mild and crisp crusts), an acceptable yogurt sauce-topped gyro, and a cheese steak sandwich to the table. Those selections fought for attention through a thicket of competition: crinkle-cut fries, cheese curds, mini corn dogs, chicken wings, cream cheese poppers, beer-battered shrimp, a “traditional buffet” with prime rib or lasagna (with choice of veggies and one of a slew of potato dishes), and Reuben burgers. After all of that nothing should be surprising, but finding a Choco Taco frozen confection feels like hitting the jackpot.

Signature selection: The Flaming Planet Southwest Burger with corn salsa, a huge pile of crispy fried onions, and a slab of pepper jack cheese melted over the top is the thing here; the corn salsa is even for sale. But the surprisingly good “Black & Bleu” rule-breakin’ cheese steak sandwich with crisp-edged beef smothered in molten bleu and Monterey Jack took first place.

Chance of a return visit: As likely as the chance of a return visit from your relatives, who like to stay at the Country Inn (6275 Nesbitt Road, 608-270-1900) next door.