Description

Totem Bowl opened in 1958 with 16 lanes midway between Kirkland and Redmond on Northeast 70th Street, which is also known as the Old Redmond Road, in what is best known these days as the Bridle Trails neighborhood. Sometime during the ’70s, the bowling alley was expanded to 32 lanes to better accommodate the number of bowlers. For the first 40 years, the interior and exterior were decorated with mid-century Native American caricatures, and the lounge was named after Kaw-Liga, the cigar store Indian from an old country song. In 1997, the aging alley got a makeover, losing the Native American decor in favor of a modern theme and name that played off the region’s tech industries, but to many, it was always known simply as Totem Bowl.