24 June 6th-June 12th, 2024 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | Play Time Why Lane Park is an exciting new addition to Old Town Scottsdale. BY CASSIE HEPLER W hen the sun sets and the stores and museums have closed, there’s not a ton to do in Old Town Scottsdale besides drink. But a new spot is offering an alternative. From the team behind LumberjAxes comes Lane Park, an 8,000-square-foot gaming facility that opened in late May. It just may be the U.S.’s first indoor ice curling bar. Joe Busone, Lane Park’s partner and head of development, went to college at Arizona State University, but “I didn’t like the heat and being so far from the East Coast, so I moved to Boston, worked in finance and hated it, then I moved to Vegas and met (business partner/founder and managing partner of Lane Park Hospitality) Angelo DiNardo and we worked our way up through the MGM system,” he says. “We met back up in 2017 with the LumberjAxes concept in Tempe, the first axe-throwing place in the Valley at the time. We opened up in just a ware- house with nothing — wood on the walls, axes, bring your own beer and food and then we kept up-leveling with a bar, kitchen — then opened one in Westgate. (Lane Park) is the next level up with games and a luxury atmosphere.” The ice curling idea started flowing when their partner who started the first LumberjAxes in Pittsburgh got the idea to put a tent outside with ice curling available. “If you’ve watched the Winter Olympics, ice curling is the sliding and sweeping of a granite stone to the scoring targets. We didn’t want people on the ice in a bar for safety reasons so it’s similar to if you were playing shuffleboard,” Busone says. “If you go to any of the ice rinks, they all have huge glycol gel chillers usually fenced in. We have a smaller version of that. Just the stones are getting on the ice here. We have what we call the lazy stick so you don’t have to get down on your knees if you don’t want to.” Lane Park also offers duckpin bowling, a variation on the traditional form of the sport. “We have smaller balls that fit in the palm of your hand and the pins are on strings. It’s the same as bowling with short- ened lanes — longer than Skee-Ball, but otherwise just like bowling,” Busone says. Busone calls Arizona home part time when he’s not traveling the world looking for new gaming ideas to bring to the U.S. A unique game he found for Lane Park is sapo, or Peruvian coin tossing. The object of this game is to get coins into the mouth of a metal frog, kind of like mini cornhole. “It’s a South American game I found in Peru that people play in bars while just hanging out, having a beer and keeping yourself occupied with friends,” he says. Another gem Busone unearthed is carrom, pronounced KAR-om, a tabletop game from India that mixes small-scale billiards with pucks on a square table. “Carrom is a 1,000-year-old game from India that is similar to billiards in the fact that you have black or white chips and you try to get them in pockets in the table. You finish with getting the centerpiece — the red chip — in. They are built into the lounge booths,” Busone he explains. If all of this sounds too complicated, don’t worry. The staff will be trained on each game and there will be printed instructions available. Lane Park hopes to add Subsoccer to its gaming attractions by this fall. It’s an under-the-table soccer ball game during which people can kick into goals built right into the seats. “We don’t have that yet as we’re waiting on approval to build out the patio after the summer but Subsoccer will have cables with glass tops and underneath, a little soccer ball and seats have nets. We’re going to have custom-built versions,” he says. “We have approval for the facade of the building. We’re just waiting on approval for the rest. We’ll have planter boxes and TVs out there and it will be indoor/outdoor with a sliding door.” Last, Lane Park has small tabletop games that can be brought to the table by your server will also be available, including mini cornhole, tic-tac-toe and more. “We have a bunch of analog games. We don’t want people on their phones,” Busone says. In addition to a full bar with fun signa- ture cocktails, Lane Park will also offer an impressive elevated food menu by celebrity Chef Matt Hearn. “He was a finalist on ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ with Gordon Ramsey, who started (with us) about a year ago when we opened up the Tempe Marketplace LumberjAxes and now spearheaded this menu,” Busone says. Busone describes the food as “bar favor- ites with a twist and more elevated,” Think cacio e pepe risotto balls, frybread tacos “with pizza dough that makes it flakier,” gourmet pizzas, spicy crab croquettes, a signature dessert charcuterie board and more with price points of $15 to $20. The craft cocktails will feature fresh-squeezed juices with price points of $15 to $19. Now that Lane Park is open, the team isn’t stopping the expansion plans. “The plan was always to get into Old Town — the goal was to find a spot there. It came about just piecing things together,” Busone says. “The next step is expansion, to prove this concept, look to open up a couple more locations, then start gearing toward new games at that point. I’ll be brainstorming and traveling, finding new things to bring back.” Lane Park is located at 7232 E. First St., Scottsdale. Games will range from $20 to $40, per person, per hour. Learn more at lanepark.games. Lane Park’s marquee attraction is curling. The venue also offers a selection of elevated bar favorites. (Photos by Lane Park and Jennifer Goldberg) ▼ Arts & Culture
