Back Alley

Thanks to my co-​worker who mentioned it in passing. All these years we’ve been going up & down 395, we were delighted to discover this uncanny restaurant inside a bowling alley. Service was excellent. Prime rib served only Th, Fr, Sa was cooked to perfection. My family likes it medium rare. The flat iron steak was flavorful. The chef knows their meat. Desserts were very good. The owner even gave us 4 fresh eggs «to go» so that we can have our leftover steak & eggs for a hearty breakfast before we head up to the Mammoth slopes for skiing. Friendly atmosphere. Only improvement would be the soup of the day, clam chowder, a bit salty despite having tons of clams in it. We’ll be coming back for sure!

Keep in mind, this is a bowling alley so even though you can get prime rib, you’re still in a bowling alley. The good thing is that they have the restaurant in a separate area away from the bowling so it’s not real noisy. We had read the reviews and just gotten into town and wanted to try out the prime rib. The service was excellent, unlike some reviews, we didn’t experience a lack of service because we weren’t locals. I like the fact that the locals frequent this place, says a lot. I think our server was the manager, very friendly and helpful. Our prime rib was huge, it was a little tough that night but flavorful, the au jus was great too! Generous salad, missing croutons though, my personal preference:) The icing on the cake was the carrot cake… YUM!!! We will definitely make this our first stop next time in town.

I need to start off with how friendly ALL of the staff is! Honestly, all of them are so kind and that’s kind of hard to say about a business.
The food is pretty good and very consistent, which is great when you have a toddler who is extremely picky about his food! My husband and I usually get him the quesadilla, pretty good but the salsa that comes with it is AMAZING! I usually get the chicken salad and the size of that salad is perfect and you get a god amount of chicken for the price! My husband loves the burgers and the fries are really good! You can also get fish, lobster, steak, and soups though, which is impressive considering it is, after all, a bowling alley!
The bowling is great, good prices and it’s bright and not overly noisy, even though they have a bunch of TVs up broadcasting sports. They always have the football on on Monday’s, which we LOVE! They have ramps that my toddler loves and light weight balls for the little guys. It’s a really comfortable place for a family to enjoy!
Overall, my husband and I really love this place!

We were referred to the ‘bowling alley’ for Dinner on Christmas Eve by the Creekside Staff and the gal at Giggle Springs Market. Normally I wouldn’t be persuaded to have a special Christmas Eve dinner at the bowling alley, but when you’re in a small town it’s best to listen to the locals. We had a fantastic Prime Rib dinner with excellent service by Joe. It was warm and cozy and friendly and Tom (owner) stopped at our table to wish us a Merry Christmas and offered Pumpkin Pie on the house. Best Prime Rib and Best Xmas Eve EVER! Thank You. We will see you again soon!

Who would think you could find great food in a bowling alley!!! Steaks are the best, and I had the 14oz lobster tail. Fantastic! Full bar, great prices, and a bowling alley across the way to work off the meal! Highly recommend

We had to wait awhile for someone to greet and seat us but after we were seated our server was amazing and went above and beyond to make sure we were happy. Everything we ordered was absolutely delicious and cooked to perfection. Great deals on beer! The ½ pitchure pours 3 beers and is only $ 2 more than one beer.
Potatoe skins and the Onion rings are a must!

Best place in town to eat! This place serves everything from hamburgers to steak and lobster. All soups are made from scratch. My favorites are the salmon and Ahi.

A.k.a a bowling alley you can rarely actually bowl at. They have league almost every night including Friday Night! So if you want to bowl take work off during the week so you can bowl at 1 pm. Let’s be real too the food is «ok»

Went there once on a Friday night, almost full house. BF ordered a steak with shrimp special. The shrimp just like deep fried from frozen box, steak not good either. Had to wait over 30 mins for food & both dishes were cold！Told waitress but no help, won’t go back!

Across from the hotel, all games on NFL Sunday, beer, and the best food in Bishop. I didn’t participate in the bowling but that’s also an option.
It’s odd that the best food is at the bowling alley but I’m not joking. You can order steak and lobster from the same attendant who gives you your bowling sneakers. It’s great. They have a dedicated restaurant section or a bar area, whichever you prefer. I went for lunch and got a domestic ½ pitcher for $ 5.50 and a pretty decent sandwich. I went back later in the trip for dinner and had the grilled chicken with rice that was also really good. The bartenders were nice, the food was fair priced, and overall I had a memorable time. Coming back next time I pass through.

The place is really good i come here almost every other Wednesday with my dad for spaghetti nigt. Or sometimes o n other days like thursday to eat prime rib. Staff is really nice and frindly. All ways trying pull off good jokes espically the owners that are really friendly

The food is delicious and priced fairly. The bartender TOM is awesome. He is professional and a superior bartender. I highly recommend the food and drinks at The Back Alley.

Went to bishop for the first time, and heard great things about this place (the food) so we stopped by on a Sunday night… We were seated quickly, but after that, the service was a bit slow and at one point i started wondering if they had forgotten about us, but i waited patiently as i only saw one server out in the dining room. Eventually our order was taken, and once our food came out, everything was so worth the wait!
I had the fried chicken dinner, and it was delicious! The meal comes with a salad, 3 pieces of chicken, baked potato, asparagus, and watermelon wedge. a whole lot of food! The chicken was perfectly fried and juicy, without your typical greasy taste, it has a great sweet flavor, perhaps it is marinated in honey, not sure, but it was amazing. The sides were fresh and i really loved the salad, nice and crisp, and most importantly everything was Hot! (not warm)& made to order. I would definitely recommend eating here, now im back in Los Angeles and still thinking about that chicken!
I have seen some posts here about discrimination at this place, which is dissapointing and i can only vouch for myself and say that I didn’t experience any of that during my visit. I know as an «outsider» coming into a small town i did experience a lot of staring and glances lol, but then again i didnt see many people with nose piercings and red hair, i just think if you are not a local, there will be some looks, nothing more in my experience.

Fun bowling, full bar, but best of all crispy fries! seriously their fries =so good
I am not the best bowler but had fun glad it wasn’t dark dingy or depressing smoky like some I’ve been to.
Thnx for a fun day!

When the front desk attendant at our hotel told us that the best place to get a steak in town was the bowling alley, I thought he was crazy. But, it turns out he was right! We went on a Tuesday night and it was packed! Every table was filled from the time we went in until we left. This restaurant is indeed inside of the local bowling alley, but we had an excellent meal.
My mom and I both ordered steaks. They came with salad, a baked potato and a slice of watermelon (my two year old loved that). My mom’s was perfectly rare (just how she likes it), but mine came out medium well so the waitress happily took it back and got me a perfect medium rare steak. They gave us a free piece of chocolate cake which was also delicious!

I know it’s a bowling alley and I know it’s in Bishop.
But I will tell you if you want a great meal at a great price then I suggest this place.

After seeing the array of eateries on 395, I asked the hotel clerk if any local taverns served food. He recommended the Back Alley — «best food in town and full bar». Good enough information for us. Strolled through the parking lot as another few parties approached. I took that as a good sign.
It was great. The dining room, situated just off a sizable bowling hall, had a comfortable array of families, couples, bikers, and tourists. The menu had something for everyone — smaller bar bites, sandwiches, burgers, steaks and seafood. I really wanted one of the steaks, which looked good on the the menu and on other plates, but my wife convinced me to «keep it light» having had no exercise and driving all day. The grilled swordfish and pilaf were perfect (and so well priced), while my wife devoured a really juicy burger (I had to be a vicarious carnivore this night). The Caesar Salad may be the best I’ve had all year. It was all expertly served by Patty. With a Mammoth IPA and a Maker’s Mark, we could not have found anything better.

The rating should be in the minus category, but there is no way it can be done.
We stayed next door at the La Quinta Inn for 2 nights with a group of young adults and wanted to have some fun, food, drinks, and to bowl. Your employees prevented us from having that. We were treated very rude and impolite and refused us service. We left without causing any trouble. Your employees need to have diversity and sensitivity training.

Stayed next door at the Creekside Inn/​Best Western and they recommended this place among a few others. We were expecting burgers and dogs at a bowling alley.
The bowling alley had its own more casual eating options.
We had a superb dinner of Fried Chicken. SO SO very crisp and juicy. Better than KFC. Had a baker, salad and Tanguay Martini.
Other diners next to us were raving about the Prime Rib. They have a well thought out menu of speciality items (including Surf and Turf) along with sandwiches and salads.
Not only was the food good but it was alive with locals out to enjoy themselves.
Our excellent waitress Helen made our dinner even more enjoyable with perfect service and suggestions. Sorry to miss her recommendation of Lemon Cheesecake. Perhaps next time for dinner.
Good job Helen we will be back. You are a real asset to the restaurant.

Prix raisonnables, bonne ambiance et équipe sympa. Les locaux y viennent boire un coup.

Minus 1 star for the blonde owner previously mentioned in other reviews. She looks like she really doesn’t want to be there, and does play favorites with the locals, offering preferential seating, and service. That being said, even her bad attitude would not keep us from returning, because the food fricking rocked!
I found this hidden (and I do mean hidden– it’s way off the street, in a bowling alley) gem of a restaurant on Unilocal,and once again, Unilocal didn’t steer me wrong. As a plus, it was right across the street from our hotel, so a few extra adult libations could be consumed. My husband and I shared the $ 15 prime rib special. It came with a salad, baked potato, and vegetables. We also added a shrimp basket for $ 6. The size of that perfectly cooked had to have been 16oz. It was by far the best prime rib that I have had out at a restaurant in ages!
Our server was very good, and very attentive. I would be willing to bet that we were the only tourists in the place.