The economics of bowling kingpin Lucky Strike are pretty solid
Food and drinks make up 37% of Lucky Strike’s revenue. Premium options like birria and bao buns could bolster it even further.
Lucky Strike Entertainment, which is the world’s largest operator of bowling alleys and changed its name from Bowlero in December, wants you to know that there’s a lot more to the business than people paying to knock down pins. Judging by its latest quarterly report, it’s got a point: the company’s basically a fast-casual restaurant, too.
Bowling for... buns?
According to the company’s CFO, Bobby Lavan, who spoke to The Wall Street Journal, its focus on premium gastronomy offerings (think bao buns and beef birria tacos) means that food now brings in more money than alcohol at Lucky Strike.
When discussing how its winter rebrand repositions the company as “a versatile entertainment platform” in the December announcement, recent acquisitions like the Raging Waves waterpark and other family parks stole a lot of focus. However, there’s no denying that the simple task of keeping people fed and watered while they bowl has become a big contributor to the company’s top and bottom lines.
In the most recent quarter, Lucky Strike Entertainment took ~$111 million in food and beverage sales, as first dates downed mid-game cocktails and gaggles of work friends tucked into office party finger food like Buffalo wings and Bavarian pretzels. The markups — maybe predictably, if you’re not a huge fan of the lane-based fare — are also not to be sniffed at, with direct food and beverage costs coming in at just $23.2 million. Those are cinema-level margins.
Despite its burgeoning culinary prowess, the company’s revenue in Q2 of its 2025 fiscal year fell 1.8% overall, though shares are still up almost 10% so far this year.
