Masked visitors wait in line for their final plate of the famed Dart Bowl Cafe enchiladas as they watch games unfold beside them. Senior Alexa Fannin grew up on the dish, dining in the cafe nearly every week. ““It was more than just eating,” she said. “It was like connecting with the family again.”
‘As I was born [my grandpa] was like, “Alexa, try these enchiladas!”’
July 31, 2020
Alexa Fannin can’t remember a time she hadn’t been dining in the Dart Bowl Cafe with her grandfather.
“Even before I was born, my grandpa went to Dart Bowl,” she said. “He knew the owners of the cafe really personally, kind of like family friends, and as soon as I was born he was like, ‘Alexa, try these enchiladas!’”
From that moment on, the pair had gone back almost every week, with Fannin growing up on the Tex Mex
I think that just because it’s closing, you shouldn’t close the memories. They’re too good; they’re something that I will always think about. — Alexa Fannin
“It was more than just eating,” she said. “It was like connecting with the family again. It was more than just, ya know, pay me and go bowl. It was connections.”
After graduating this year from McCallum, Fannin can still recall the days of her post-freshman year Dart Bowl celebrations and after school memories — times that she and her friends still cherish today.
As soon as she heard they were closing, she called her grandfather.
“Unfortunately I couldn’t make it, but he did get to have his last plate of enchiladas” she said with a smile. “I think that just because it’s closing, you shouldn’t close the memories. They’re too good; they’re something that I will always think about.”
“It was so much more than just a bowling alley.”
