By Mary O’KEEFE

Montrose Bowl at 2334 Honolulu Ave. has been in Montrose since 1940 and it has not gone unnoticed by CV Weekly readers that there has been construction occurring at the historic location. The bowling alley was purchased and is being refurbished and remodeled; however, take heart! The new owners respect the building’s past and will continue to host those who love to bowl by mixing the old and the new.

“We bought the [property] early on during COVID,” said Tzvi Ratner-Stauber, owner of the Montrose Bowl property.

Ratner-Stauber is part of a longtime California family that has been doing business in the San Fernando Valley since 1910. So not only does he and his family know history they
also respect it.

“We have a great appreciation for LA history,” he said. “I grew up going to Montrose Bowl.”

He and his friends had birthday parties at the bowling alley and he has many fond memories of the time spent there. When he heard the business was for sale he was concerned that a developer might come in and turn it into another type of business, so the family purchased it.

“[Our family] loves Honolulu Avenue [but] we knew this was outside our comfort zone. This could be a passion project and not just [approached] from a landlord’s standpoint,” he said.

And he thought bringing the building back to its glory would be “a lot of fun.”

Of course part of that fun is dealing with City of Glendale permitting which, as CVW has often reported is not always easy; however, the work on the building does appear to be moving forward … at least as of this week.

Robert Grigoryan, who will be hosting the new restaurant inside the bowling alley, said they have been working with the City and hopes they will be ready to open this fall despite a lot of work that had to be done to the interior of the building.

“There may have been some updates in the 1980s/’90, but nothing since then,” Grigoryan said. “We had to replace everything.”

That included all the plumbing, electrical and walls. The interior is pretty much gone except for the very protected area that houses the bowling alley and ball machines. Except for the needed modernization of equipment everything else will be left to its historic past. The flooring is being repaired in places but will be pretty much the same. The scoring equipment is being replaced “so it actually works.”

To say both Ratner-Stauber and Grigoryan respect the history of the bowling alley is an understatement.

“I came here when I was a kid,” Grigoryan said.

He is a graduate of Glendale High School and spent many happy birthdays, both his and his friends’, bowling at Montrose Bowl.

“The theme of the bowling alley will stay the same,” he assured.

Grigoryan plans to open a vegan restaurant, something that he felt was lacking in Montrose; however, there is still talk about how to add non-vegan pizza to the menu. They know a lot of kids will come to the bowling alley and may want a traditional pizza.

The Montrose restaurant inside the bowling alley will be similar to Grigoryan’s restaurant Never Caged in Los Angeles. He has seen people who were not familiar with a vegan menu pleasantly surprised at his restaurant’s fare.

“Now people are more conscious of vegan dining,” Ratner-Stauber said.

The idea to purchase the property and keep Montrose Bowl was not an easy one but “after a lot of deliberation” they decided to renovate and keep the “real vintage” style of the property, Ratner-Stauber said.

“It is going to be exactly like it [has been] with eight lanes and handwritten scoring but with a new sound system,” he said.

The exterior will remain the same and, although there will still be bowling, the focus will be on the restaurant.

“Before it was the restaurant that complemented the bowling. Now it will be the  bowling that complements the restaurant,” he said.

They are hoping for a fall opening – if all permitting and inspections go well. The one thing that will change will be the hours of operation. They plan on being open Mondays through Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.

For information on the history of Montrose Bowl, visit www.cvweekly.com and search Montrose Bowl by Mike Lawler.