Now Open: Pins & Needles, a `70s-Style Lounge and Bar at Mahall's in Lakewood

Since taking over operations at Mahall’s (13200 Madison Ave., 216-521-3280), the hip bowling alley, music venue, restaurant and bar in Lakewood, Cory Hajde has been making numerous but measured improvements to all aspects of the multi-faceted business. That’s no small job when you’re dealing with a 100-year-old property that spans more than 20,000 square feet.

“One of the things we’ve been trying to do is to balance preservation with making use of underutilized spaces in the building, because there is quite a bit of it,” Hajde says.

One of the recent changes he and partner Dennis Tvrdik made involved relocating one of the smaller music venues, the former Locker Room, to a new area now dubbed the Apartment. That smaller spot joins the main music room when it comes to live music spaces at Mahall’s.

After the move, Hajde had some freed-up space with which to do as he pleased. The owners were tossing around a bunch of ideas and one suggested opening a `70s-era lounge that felt like stepping into a time capsule.

“I was fortunate to come up in a house where that was the music I listened to throughout my childhood – and that’s what my grandparent’s basement looked like,” Hajde explains. “I’ve always been a big supporter of bright, weird-colored everything and throwing it together and seeing what it looks like.”

There was nothing random or thoughtless in the planning and construction of Pins & Needles, however. The intimate bar and lounge does indeed look ripped from 1970s suburbia, right down to the wood paneling, cushy furniture, and even the glassware. There’s room for about 35 guests in the retro-chic lounge and bar. When it comes to the beverages, those, too, were worm-holed straight from another era.

“We did a little bit of research to find out what some of the best-selling beers and cocktails were from that era,” adds Hajde. “We took mainstays like Painkillers, Mai Tais, Blue Hawaiians and Golden Cadillacs. And of course White Russians, because we’re a bowling alley and we have to do that.”

But unlike most of the versions whipped up 50 years ago, these cocktails are made with fresh-squeezed juices, handmade mixers and other top-quality ingredients. While there, guests can also order food from the restaurant.

Pins & Needles is open Thursdays through Sundays for now, but look for additional days to be added in the future.