They’re bowled over by the food at Rocket Alley in Arlington

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, February 8, 2022

ARLINGTON — Searching for a good restaurant? May I suggest: A bowling alley.

Rocket Alley in Arlington is the kind of place you’d see on “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” with a “Cheers”-type atmosphere. It’s one of the few bowling alleys where reviewers gush about the food first, the lanes second. No blue raspberry Slurpees or microwaved pizza here.

Rocket Alley’s menu features more than a dozen burger options, from a standard $14 cheeseburger to an $18 elk patty. You can also substitute any beef burger with chicken or a blackbean patty.

Owner Steve Saunders’ award-winning Western BBQ burger ($16) has thinly shaved ham (Rocket Alley cuts its own deli meats), Swiss cheese, spicy barbecue sauce, mayo and the real treat: a cascade of crispy deep-fried onions spilling out of a bun that simply cannot contain their existence. You will happily find crunchy onion bits in every cranny of your fry pile. And you will need napkins. Maybe a hose.

I first heard about Rocket Alley from a woman who owns a nearby antique store. She recommended her favorites: the house-made clam chowder ($6 cup, $8 bowl) and Saunders’ take on an Italian grinder ($16): grilled honey ham, pepperoni, bacon, provolone and spicy basil mayo on a toasted French roll. The grinder was too big for one sitting, the woman cautioned. Bring a friend to split it or enjoy the leftovers. If I see her again, I’ll mention that Rocket Alley now offers a half option for $11.

The downtown Arlington bowling alley is also a safe space for people who like pineapple on pizza.

Saunders has owned Rocket Alley since 2009. He knows many of his customers by name, along with their favorite orders.

“Hello, Jordan!” Saunders greeted a regular around lunchtime recently. “Pizza today?”

“Uh, no,” the man named Jordan said pleasantly.

Saunders guessed again. “BLT?”

“Thinking about it,” he replied, laughing.

At one point, Saunders greeted several regulars who entered behind him. By name. A few seemed spooked.

“You can tell by the footsteps,” Saunders explained.

I laughed nervously, believing him until he pointed to a small mirror on the wall in front of him.

You’ll find a variety of people here: Contractors on a rainy afternoon. Couples. Potential couples on their first date. Local welders. The “Edward Jones guys.” Employees from the dog grooming place across North Olympic Avenue.

And on weekdays, they get hit with fry-seeking teenagers right when school lets out.

Not to worry: “We’re pretty tight-thumbed on how crazy things get here,” Saunders said.

The bowling alley itself serves up nostalgia, having originally opened in the 1950s as Melady Lanes (pronounced Melody or M’lady, depending on who you are). It still has the same wooden lanes, chairs and even ashtrays in the seating area, now relics in the no-smoking facility.

Marysville resident Bill Martin has been coming to Rocket Alley “since two owners before Steve,” when it was still Melady Lanes. He even helped replace the pin spots at Melady when he was 14. Martin, now 58, was eating chili with house-fried tortilla chips and salsa when I met him. He said the nachos were “phenomenal” and that everyone loved the grinder.

“This is a regular place where my family comes around,” Martin added.

The place was packed at lunchtime. It always is. Saunders wants to add more seating, but he can’t bear the thought of ripping into the bowling alley to do so. On the smaller side, Rocket Alley houses six bowling lanes and no digital screens but plenty of TVs in the dining and bar area to watch your favorite team.

Saunders has always loved cooking. He enjoys going home, even after a long day at Rocket Alley, and creating new dishes in his kitchen. A friend of his likes to say, “He could take gravel and make a hell of a meal out of it.”

Saunders has been cooking since he was four.

“I was a foster kid,” he said. “I found a lot of times that you just had to get in there and make it yourself if you wanted to eat.”

Now 61, Saunders calls himself a “professional, self-taught line cook.”

The name Rocket Alley, by the way, came from a nickname Saunders got years ago by a buddy on a skiing trip in Vail, Colorado. They’d been kicking back after a day on the slopes.

“You’re like the rocket man,” Saunders imitated his friend. “Because you just go SHOOOOO down the slopes.”

If you go:

Rocket Alley is open for lunch and dinner at 11 a.m. on weekdays, except for Mondays, and for breakfast, lunch and dinner at 8 a.m. on weekends.

Address: 420 N Olympic Ave., Arlington, WA 98223

Phone: 360-435-8600

Want to share your own unassuming and unexpectedly delicious eatery? Contact reporter Taylor Goebel at 425-339-3046 or taylor.goebel@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @TaylorGoebel.