I'll admit it very openly - I'm not much of a social butterfly these days.
Quite sad to say, I'm much more likely to be found curled up on the sofa with a cuppa, catching up on the latest Heisenberg shenanigans (and yes, I did just use "shenanigans" in a sentence!).
Obviously then, when I found myself invited to the launch night of Roxy Lanes in Leeds there's no way I was saying 'No'.
And for this reason, my Thursday evening this week became a very un-typical kind of night for me.
Un-typical in that it became rather fantastic indeed.
Roxy Lanes is a brand new, shiny bar situated on the first floor of the Pinnacle buildings on Bond Street, and it comes complete with an amazing restaurant and, of course - hence the name - a four lane, adult only bowling alley.
No sneakily putting those bumpers up in here - oh no - this is "proper" bowling!
Walking into Roxy Lanes, you're immediately greeted with a real open space, with decor that isn't perfectly polished or refined but is quite laid back, welcoming and very 'on-trend'.
The bar is exceptionally well stocked with bottle after fancy shaped bottle of spirits, many of which I've never even heard of before.
I really loved how fantastically smart the bar staff looked too - it added a touch of class and elegance to the evening.
They were all really helpful, polite and not a grumble in sight, even when we reeled off our eight-ingredients-each list of four cocktails.
Now that's professionalism.
Speaking of the cocktails I had a little nose around and they all looked great and the ones I sampled tasted just as fab too - with some pretty fantastic names to match.
I also found the table waiter service on hand a fantastic little touch - quite an unexpected touch really - but totally brilliant.
I did make one major school-girl error in my haste to find a chair though I must confess, and that was plonking myself down about as far away from the restaurant area as humanly possible - absolutely not purposefully in the slightest because it meant that I missed out on a lot of the amazing looking food being brought around to sample.
Yet although my experience of the food was minimal, what I did get my mitts on was bloody beautiful.
Real traditional "diner-style" food - fresh dough pizzas, burgers, chips...
Oh those chips....
W o w
I'd certainly recommend the chips to anyone and everyone.
And I'm sure someone mentioned cheesecake too...hmmm...that's certainly something for next time...
Next, after a little more drink consumption, it was time for the bowling to begin.
And what a stylish way to bowl.
The four lanes of Roxy Lanes were brought all the way to Leeds from the USA to ensure that the overall stateside retro feel was as authentic as possible.
And then there were Leeds based bands Sunshine Underground and The Pigeon Detectives in the building on hand to officially open the lanes and then partake in lots and lots of bowling...which was naturally accompanied by lots and lots of male competitiveness as they battled it out all night.
I actually surprised myself when it was my turn to hit the lanes because I'm usually so rubbish at bowling, but, on went the shoes and out came that well oiled arm swing.
I wasn't as bad as usual actually and I really enjoyed myself.
And let's not leave out just how much love I have for the bowling balls themselves:
Amazing
All in all, I think Roxy Lanes is just fab.
A brilliant place to go out with friends, the other half, work colleagues - anyone really - to enjoy a drink and a laugh, all with the added fun element that the bowling brings.
Owner of Roxy Lanes, Matt Jones of Jones Bar Group added:
"We’ve seen huge success with sister bar Roxy Ball Room...because of the infectious atmosphere it creates. We’re confident we’ll see the same with Roxy Lanes.”
And I 100% agree.
Roxy Lanes will be open seven days a week from 12 noon to 1am, with food being served 12 til 9pm.
And fantastically, Roxy Lanes will have it's grand opening TOMORROW - Saturday 17th May.
You really don't want to miss out
*The majority of photographs are my own, some kindly lent to me by Roxy Lanes & their photographer
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