Photos: San Mateo bowling alley reopens its doors after
yearlong closure
SAN MATEO, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 17: Linda Moore, 67, of Belmont, center, talks with her friend Jane Mourgos, 63, of San Mateo as they bowl on Wednesday, March 17, 2021, at Bel Mateo Bowl in San Mateo, Calif. As the San Mateo County enters the orange tier, the bowling alley reopened today drawing about 60 mostly familiar faces in just the first two hours. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
As San Mateo County enters the orange tier, Bel Mateo Bowl reopened Wednesday — drawing about 60 mostly familiar faces in just the first two hours of opening. Enthusiastic customers waited in line before the doors opened at noon, welcoming bowlers back after a yearlong closure.
Customers wait in line to get in at Bel Mateo Bowl as it reopens at noon Wednesday, March 17, 2021, in San Mateo. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
Mike Leong, owner of Bel Mateo Bowl in San Mateo, has spent the past several months working to get his business ready for reopening.
It now “looks like a hospital,” he said, with Plexiglas separating every bowling lane, air purifiers every six lanes, a fog sanitizer unit and other precautions.
Customers wait in line near a fog sanitizer unit at the bowling alley. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) Customers’ temperature are checked as they enter Bel Mateo Bowl. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) Rex Sims sanitizes seats at the facility. Some of the upgrades include Plexiglas separating every bowling lane and air purifiers every six lanes. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
In the year since the bowling alley closed, Leong lost his brother to COVID-19. He and about 20 staff members also were on unemployment.
“I can’t begin to tell you the amount of anguish and mental health issues I went though not being able to do what we normally do here,” he said. “I had to make sure we were ready to go for our community.”
Bel Mateo Bowl owner Mike Leong, center, bumps elbows with customer, Linda Moore, 67, of Belmont. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) Front desk staff Kim Chester picks a pair of bowling shoes for a customer.(Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) Linda Moore, 67, of Belmont, center, bowls Wednesday. About 60 enthusiastic customers — most of them familiar faces — came into the alley in the first two hours after it reopened. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) Jesse Lares, 79, of Redwood City, center, talks with friend Cassandra Smith, 63, of San Mateo. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group)
