SAN ANTONIO – Texans now have the option to kickoff the holiday weekend at businesses including bars, bingo halls, skating rinks and bowling alleys.
Under the Governor’s Strike Force to Open Texas, entertainment venues that offer rental equipment must take cleaning a step further.
The Rim’s Bowl & Barrel was prepared to receive customers as of Friday morning. Inside, sanitation supplies for employees and customers outnumber the number of bowling lanes available.
“We will have sanitizer on every single table,” Kevin Steele said. Steele is the area director for FreeRange Concepts, which operates Bowl & Barrel. “When (customers) come in, (they) will be able to sanitize after every throw down the lane.”
The boutique-style bowling alley will only make use of every other bowling lane to ensure social distancing between groups. Each table will have its own hand sanitizer bottle and a designated ball-return that includes a limited amount of balls.
“We have minimized to eight balls per lane,” Steele said. “Every ball has a different size, (and) if you want a different ball when you're here, all you have to do is ask a staff member. We'd be happy to get that for you.”
Bowling balls will be carefully cleaned with DD5000 disinfectant.
“Every single ball is sanitized before and after each guest leaves by one of our staff members to include the finger holes,” Steele said. “Every lane, every table (and) every chair will be wiped down (and) sanitized before and after each guest leaves.”
Steele added that while the process to clean rental shoes remains the same, their rotation will be reduced. After sanitation, rental shoes will be out of commission for an hour to allow the disinfectant to do its job.
To celebrate their reopening during COVID-19, Bowl & Barrel is offering specials for customers.
“Kids can come bowl, have lunch and get a drink for $10,” Steele said.
The offer is available seven days a week from open to 4 p.m. There’s also a surprise for those celebrating a birthday.
“We’re inviting those who had a quarantine birthday to have a belated celebration with us with free bowling,” Steele said.
The birthday special includes a free hour of bowling and adults are asked to bring the ID as proof.
Doors at Bowl & Barrel open daily at 11 a.m.