Blue Collar Eats - Oak Forest Bowl & The Park

Have you stopped in at Oak Forest Bowl located on 152nd and Cicero in Oak Forest? This place has been here for over 60 years and it’s the gift that keeps on giving! There are multiple things to do here, bowling is not your only option. They have “the Park” which “includes full service bar, food menu, two volleyball courts, bean bag courts, fire pit , plenty of tables for guest to enjoy their food & drinks while dining outdoors.” (oakforestbowl.com). They have leagues for volleyball and of course, leagues for bowling. They even have birthday party specials, an arcade room and slot machines as well.

This year Oak Forest Bowl will be the hub for the 13th Annual Oak Forest Fleadh’s 5K. Registration is still open if you’d like to participate. This is where the runners will meet pre and post race. The Fleadh is about “family, fitness, and fun” and the theme is “Fleadh Around Town!”

One of the most underrated thing about Oak Forest Bowl is their food. One may not think that their food is high quality and delicious because it’s a bowling alley, but believe us, our hungry plumber, Kevin, Kim and Keith devoured the food they serve. This place is underrated, and we’re here to show you why.

“And now, let me get this straight, you guys serve breakfast here?” Kevin was shocked to find out that Oak Forest Bowl serves breakfast all day long, you can’t find that at many places. Keith, the owner, had the perfect response. “Yeah, we do, we have senior leagues in the mornings, we open 9am every day. Even the days we don’t have senior leagues, we are still open at that time, so we started doing breakfast and it became pretty popular and we actually offer it during all hours of our operation. Sometimes you’re bowling and it’s 8pm, and you want an omelette or skillet, we can help you out. It’s to give everybody choices, we do have a lot of regular bowlers as well, and we try to make a pretty wide variety on the menu, because if you’re here every week you don’t want to eat the same hamburger or a hot dog.”

The pizzas they have are handmade. Keith explains that they make their own dough, and use their own homemade sauce and a homemade cheese blend. “We take pride in it, we feel like we took the steps up and got positive reviews, and why stop there, we try to go all out.”

Kevin ordered the Italian Beef Pizza, and he was amazed with how great it tasted. “This is good beef, I can tell this is good quality beef.” Keith explains how they go to a pizza convention in Las Vegas, The International Pizza Expo. After going there that’s when they decided to go full force with the pizza and the different unique creations not usually known, but taste so great together.

Kim Malecky-Iles is the Executive Director at the Oak Forest Chamber and she joined Kevin and Keith in trying the food. Kim is Kevin’s favorite co-host, they love sharing ideas about supporting local businesses like Oak Forest Bowl over some delicious food.

Kim was amazed with the cheese sticks, “if you are a cheese stick fan, this is where you want to go. It’s not all batter, it’s really good!” Kevin even agreed with her after trying the cheese stick that it is definitely a good cheese stick. “So much cheese, mozzarella, so good. So flavorful, it melts in your mouth. Fresh, gooey, and just amazing.” Kevin explained that the cheese sticks were “a mouthful”. Kim and Kevin both recommend you try these. Keith agrees, you should also try them, but he’s a little biased! “Can you see why these cheese sticks are one of my favorite things on the menu? We make quite a bit of these, we didn’t realize we would sell so many, which is a good problem to have!”

The chicken tenders that Kim and Kevin tried were also great quality. Kevin said they were calling his name and he was so glad he tried them. Kim tried the Buffalo while Kevin tried the garlic parmesan. Kim explained, “not too spicy, crunchy, and triple the size of where you normally get tenders.”

When everyone was done eating, they all agreed that this is a great spot for the 13th Annual Fleadh 5k hub because the food and the atmosphere are great.

We can’t wait for the Fleadh, which is March 5th, 2022. If you’d still like to register to be in the parade or the 5K, registration is open.

Register for the 5k: www.raceroster.com/55632

Register for the Family Parade:
http://www.oak-forest.org/formcenter/oak-forest-3/13th-annual-oak-forest-fleadh-2022-famil-91

We will be hiding a $1000 golden ticket again this year along the route of the parade, will you be the lucky one to find it? Keep your eyes open!