It's a favorite haunt of local musician and artist types, and the sort of place where you can generally count on running into someone you know, for better or worse. Nowhere is that alterna-vibe more evident than in the fashionably scuzzy confines of the Garden Bowl. Bizarre '50s table lamps, patterned Formica dinette tables, a junky overstuffed couch, and a sprayed-silver lawn version of Michelangelo's David conspire to create Martha Stewart's worst decorative nightmare. Above the lanes themselves, listlessly twirling disco balls refract black light off the dusty, bile-colored ceiling tiles. A limited selection of cheap eats.
Patrons behave accordingly.
Probably, but it still seems to work. By appearances, the Garden Bowl is a fun, casual first-date place for many. 4140 Woodward Avenue, Detroit. A couple, serving only as moving wallpaper. On the weekends, sorely limited on-street spaces.