Sea Bowl, iconic bowling alley in Pacifica, will close in May
Sea Bowl Entertainment Center, an iconic Bay Area bowling alley that for decades served not only as a local institution but an aesthetic landmark off Highway 1, is closing in May for good.
With billiards, an arcade, and an old-school restaurant and bar, the retro entertainment center has served as a leisure space for Bay Area bowlers since it first opened in 1958. The closure was announced in a letter sent to patrons by David Szeto, the bowling alley’s owner, according to a copy of the letter posted on social media. Szeto wrote that Sea Bowl will close on May 31. He did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
“After 60 years of doing business here in Pacifica, we have made the difficult decision to retire and close our family business,” he wrote in the statement. “It is with mixed emotions that we announce this decision, but we feel that it is time to start a new chapter in our lives.”
The alley had long been one of the last remaining affordable — and operating — bowling alleys at a time when bowling participation had declined considerably, but was starting to pick back up, especially in places sporting “pricey cocktails” and “better technology,” Bloomberg reported.
At glitzier San Francisco alleys like Presidio Bowl, bowlers can pay up to $100 for just an hour at one lane. At Sea Bowl, where people could pay $40 for an hour at a lane, prices seemed to be somewhat of a vestige of the past, not unlike the similarly beloved Albany Bowl, which closed in 2020 after a 71-year tenure.
Reach Annie Vainshtein: avainshtein@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @annievain
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