Koz's Minibowl

Milwaukee, with our German heritage and strong beer drinking culture, is a natural place to go bowling. At the height of bowling's popularity a century ago, Milwaukee was the world capitol of the sport.

History has left us with some unique places to visit. The modern 80 lane complexes are out in the suburbs. But the quaint, stinky, paraphernalia-plastered 4 lane gems are in basements and backrooms of corner bars in our neighborhoods. Even though I only live a few blocks away, I have yet to visit the Holler House, the oldest certified bowling alley in the country. Actually, my parents lived next door to it when I was a newborn, so I guess I probably have been in there a few times.



Anyways, we celebrated Mara's 5th birthday this weekend by taking her and her friends to Koz's Minibowl. If you've ever been there for a bachelor party, or a late night drunken romp through the southside, you'd probably never think of it as an appropriate place for a child's birthday party. But on an early Saturday afternoon it was perfect.





The balls are the size of grapefriuts, the lanes 17 feet long, and 15 year-old pinboys sit behind the lanes to manually reset the pins after each roll. Taxadermy abounds, including a huge lion head and hide ready to pounce from atop an antique ice chest.

Anyways, it's a great place to visit with friends. They're not listed, the address is 2078 S. 7th street.