Lefty’s Alley and Eats hits all the pins of family fun

Accuweather is predicting a washed-out weekend in the Cape Region. Good thing Lefty’s Alley and Eats, the area’s newest entertainment venue, opens Friday, Dec. 16.

It’s been a little more than nine months since construction began on Lefty’s, and co-owner DJ Hill said he’s amazed how well things have come together.

During a tour with co-owner Chad Moore a week before the grand opening, Hill said it’s hard to believe how much work has been done in the past year. For Hill and Moore, Lefty’s represents a first foray into entertainment, but between the two, there is more than 40 years of hospitality experience.

Simply put, Hill said, there is no place like Lefty’s in the Cape Region, maybe not on all of the Delmarva Peninsula. Hill said the closest similar venues he’s aware of are in suburban Philadelphia or Washington, D.C.

Lefty’s Alley and Eats is a brand new, 35,000-square-foot building with 16 bowling lanes, a two-story laser-tag experience, an arcade with dozens of varied games and a restaurant with a menu that Hill said measures up to any restaurant in the Cape Region. Executive Chef Tom Kramer has created a menu for everyone, he said. There’s pizza and burgers, but customers will also find ratatouille, grilled pork loin and braised short ribs.

The food and beverage components are what separate Lefty’s and the area’s other entertainment offerings, said Hill.

Because the building sits back from Route 1, its size is not immediately obvious, but Moore said Lefty’s is one of the largest buildings built on Route 1 in years. The new Fresh Market, at Rehoboth Gateway, comes in at 24,000 square feet – but that’s 10,000 feet smaller than Lefty’s.

Entertainment Manager Todd DeMott, who has been in the business of laying out arcade venues for more than a decade, said Lefty’s has the most diverse collection of games he’s ever seen. There’s traditional skee ball, an 8-foot-tall Pac-Man, a claw machine with stuffed animals the size of a small child, the newest arcade games and more.

Usually, there’s a certain demographic a new place caters to, said DeMott, but Lefty’s really has games for everyone. The laser tag theme is Into the Depths, and, said Hill, the company that made it will not make another one like it. “It’s one-of-a-kind,” he said.

Lefty’s also features rooms for parties off the arcade and a special bar with its own entrance for private bowling parties.

The one unresolved issue is a new entrance and exit on Route 1, just south of Wawa, that would allow customers of Lefty’s and Wawa as well as other traffic to exit right, straight onto the highway. The new driveway is expected to provide relief for residents of Rolling Meadows, who share access to Wawa and all of Dartmouth Plaza. It is the one area Moore and Hill say they didn’t have complete control over. While it was expected to be ready for the opening, with three entities involved on the matter – Wawa, Lefty’s and property owner Delmarva Power – Hill and Moore said they just couldn’t get it done in time.

Hill said the contracts have now been finalized, but it’s a project that will have to wait until spring.

The Delaware Department of Transportation was ready to sign off on the project, but sometimes these things take longer than expected, said Moore. At this point, asphalt plants have been shut down, he said.

Lefty’s Alley and Eats is located at 36450 Plaza Drive in Lewes and open daily at 11 a.m. For more information on specials, party rentals and more, go to iloveleftys.com or call 302-864-6000.