La Quille

Bastille / Oberkampf - 11eme, Paris –

As the name implies, La Quille (“The Pin”) is a classic bowling alley and pool hall, though seasoned bowlers might be really confused when they first walk in the door.

That’s because bowling here is all Duckpin, which means the bowling balls only weigh a couple pounds, the lanes (a whopping six) are quite a bit shorter, and the pins themselves are two-thirds regular size.

This “bowling-lite“ attracts a few families with kids during the day, but the venue is still a drinking den at heart, and the seven full-sized American pool tables upstairs – a tough find in Paris – attract lots of savvy expats and groups of dudes who routinely sink more pints than they do 8 balls.

The scene is fairly subdued, but the families are usually gone by 7pm, making it a good spot to kick off a night with some feisty regulars, lob a few mini-strikes, or just chill at one the tables on the second level.

A bar near the entrance pays tribute to Blues greats like BB King, Robert Johnson, and the Blues Brothers, while the owner – yes, that ZZ Top-style guy with the long white hair – is always ready and willing to argue politics or wine with any newcomer who walks in.

Some might scoff at the alley, but pool sharks are known to hustle up a few extra Euros here, probably because both the pastimes offered at La Quille are the sort everybody thinks they play better when drunk.