The full story on changes at Wichita’s AJ’s restaurants, home of the ‘Superdome’ pizza
For more than three decades, AJ’s at Northrock Lanes has been a big draw for people who wanted to catch a football game and devour an oversized pizza.
But over the weekend, the bowling alley-adjacent restaurant — and its sister restaurant AJ’s Sports Grill at The Alley — closed as new owners took over.
Since then, there’s been much confusion about what’s next for the AJ’s restaurants as well as for Crummy’s Sports Bar, the restaurant attached to West Acres bowl. That bowling center also was acquired by New York-based Bowlero Corp. — the world’s largest bowling center owner — in a deal that closed this week.
Katie Warner, the vice president of marketing for Bowlero Corp., confirmed that all three restaurants are currently closed but all will reopen by the week that begins on July 4.
All three restaurants’ names will stay the same for the first 30 days they’re reopened under the new owners, but after that, they’ll change. AJ’s at Northrock will become The Northrock Bar and Grill, and AJ’s at The Alley will become The Alley Bar and Grill. Crummy’s also will get a new name after 30 days, but it hasn’t been settled upon yet.
Warner said that the company will update the menus at the restaurants but plans to continue serving AJ’s popular 29-inch “Superdome” pizzas. The recipe for the pizzas “will be changing slightly, but we are confident in the quality of this product and believe our customers will thoroughly enjoy it,” Warner said.
The hours for the restaurants will remain the same after they reopen, she said. Any changes to the hours after the first 30 days will be reflected on the bowlero.com website, where Wichita’s three newly acquired bowling alleys are already listed.
The majority of the restaurants’ current employees will stay on staff, Warner said.
Bowlers who frequent the three alleys won’t notice much difference, she said.
“We are not looking to make any significant changes to the bowling operations but are eager and excited to develop a strong relationship with the community and provide the highest quality bowling and entertainment experience to our guests,” Warner said.
Bowlero bought the three centers from Wichita’s Joma Bowling Co., owned by Frank and Cathy DeSocio. The deal closed on Monday.
Northrock Lanes at 3232 N. Rock Road opened in 1987 and has 48 lanes, an arcade, a banquet hall and a restaurant. The Alley Indoor Entertainment at the Plazzio development at 13th and Greenwich, which opened in 2004, has 32 lanes, an arcade, electric go-karts and a restaurant. West Acres, at 749 N. Ridge Road, open since the early 1960s, has 36 lanes.
The DeSocios and their Joma Bowling Co. still own the bowling alleys in Salina and Hutchinson, both of which have AJs Sports Grills attached. Those will not change.
This story was originally published June 28, 2022 at 10:27 AM.
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