There’s more than bowling at Gravel Pit Lanes, 1078 Mill Creek Drive: People can also watch free movies, compete in billiards tournaments, play chess and dance various nights of the week.
Since Gravel Pit Lanes opened The Alley Sports Pub and Grill about three months ago, it began to show free double feature films there on Tuesday evenings.
“People can drink a beer and watch a great movie,” manager Shane Bartosh said. “People socialize about the movie – you don’t have to be super-quiet.”
Tuesday’s June 21 double feature includes two classic horror films: “Alien” at 8 p.m., followed by “Jaws” starting around 10 p.m.
“I’m trying to pick good, classic movies that people have seen before and want to see again, or perhaps never caught,” Bartosh said.
“Alien” is a 1979 British-American science-fiction horror film starring Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt and Tom Skerritt. The film received an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
“Jaws” is a 1975 American thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg, about a giant man-eating great white shark that attacks beachgoers in a fictional New England resort town.
Bartosh said he pairs together films that relate to each other in some way. For example, “Blazing Saddles” and “Spaceballs” – both Mel Brooks films – were shown in one of the double features. Two Harrison Ford movies, “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Star Wars,” were screened together on another evening.
Other upcoming double features include “Caddyshack” and “Airplane!” on June 28; “300” and “Sin City” on July 5; and “Ghostbusters” and “Ghostbusters 2” on July 12.
The pub serves more than 50 kinds of beers, 20 of which are on tap. All but two are Utah beers, including microbrews from Moab and Wasatch breweries, and Squatters Pubs and Beers. The pub also offers 30 syrup flavors for people who wish to create their own beer. For example, add cinnamon and brown sugar syrup to a porter and it will taste like a cinnamon roll, Bartosh said.
The Alley Sports Pub and Grill also serves burgers, pizza, macaroni poppers, and “bratchos” – a concoction made up of beer cheese, chips, bratwurst, banana peppers, onions and tomatoes.
“It’s really good,” Bartosh said.
In addition to Tuesdays’ socializing and movie-watching, there are dance lessons followed by open dancing afterward on Wednesdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m. Cindy Montague teaches country line dance, two-step and swing.
“It’s a great place; a fun place,” said Montague, who approached Gravel Pit about adding country dance lessons to its activities.
“There’s no real venue for country dancing in Moab,” Montague said.
“It’s going to be awesome,” she added. “They’ve renovated the bar area. It’s beautiful. There’s so much room for dancing.”
A live country music band will perform on Fridays, Bartosh said.
Also on Fridays, for $20, bowlers can participate in Monte Carlo Night for the chance to win money by throwing strikes and knocking the pins down in a certain way.
Every Saturday there’s a nine ball, double elimination pool tournament at 7 p.m. Cost is $10.
And every Monday at 7 p.m., the chess club meets. There are plenty of boards, so there’s no need to bring your own. Anyone who can beat the pub’s bartender Karsten “Fisher” Hansen is entitled to a free beverage or appetizer.
What: Double feature night
Where: Gravel Pit Lanes, 1078 Mill Creek Drive
When: Every Tuesday, 8 p.m. and 10-ish p.m.
Cost: Free
Information: 435-259-4748
Free movies every Tuesday at Gravel Pit Lanes’ new pub and grill
I’m trying to pick good, classic movies that people have seen before and want to see again, or perhaps never caught.
