Fun & Games

The Painted Duck brings back classic games, food to the Westside

By Grace Huseth

Duckpin bowling and vintage pub games are just two of the highlights of Justin Amick and William Stallworth’s latest business, The Painted Duck, located in the Stockyards development on the fast-growing Westside.

The Painted Duck comes three years after the opening of The Painted Pin in Buckhead, which has since garnered numerous “best of awards” for its mix of games, food and social atmosphere.

This new boutique game venue includes 16 duckpin bowling lanes, Belgian feather bowling lanes, indoor horseshoe pits, knuckleball, toad in the hole, shuffleboard courts, basketball free throw, air hockey, snookball and more.

If you come hungry, Chef Thomas Collins is serving up cuisine he has dubbed “backyard barfare” with shareable small plates, dips, sliders, sandwiches, salads and skewered wood fired meats and proteins called “quills.” Trip Sandifer heads up the beverage program, which focuses on signature and classic cocktails, artisanal wines by the glass and local and craft beer.

“We are the first boutique in the country, that we are aware of, to bring back this variation on traditional ten pin bowling,” said Amick. “In duckpin bowling, the lanes are the exact same size and the same fundamental principles of bowling rules apply, but the difference is smaller balls, smaller pins and three rolls per frame instead of two. It’s much more of a precision game. I’d say traditional bowling is more of a power game; duckpin bowling requires more finesse.”

The Painted Duck is part of Stockyard’s adaptive reuse of old warehouses on Brady Avenue dating back to the early 1900s. The basement space, which Amick describes as “cavernous ruins meets hunting lodge,” pays homage to the historical building with original stone granite and brick throughout.

The centerpiece of the design is a 50-foot mural by one of Amick’s favorite artists, Todd Murphy, which features hundreds of migrating ducks. “As they fly to the gaming courtyard, the ducks become more three dimensional and abstract,” Amick said. “They eventually fly off the canvas and convert to taxidermy – like ducks flying overhead. It’s a theatrical backdrop complete with red curtains as if the pins are on stage.

Amick said there is a secret attraction in The Painted Duck the public doesn’t know about. “In a way it’s the final game in his collection, one of mystery requiring some sleuth work,” he said. “We want it to be that fun, hidden element you either have to organically know or inquire about.”

The Painted Duck is located at 976 Brady Avenue. For more information, visit thepaintedduckatl.com.