Bocce Ball Court Near Me in Highland Park: Kiez Küche Beer Garden Lane

Kiez Küche & Beer Garden at 4939 York Blvd in Highland Park rents its bocce court to walk-ins only, Friday through Sunday, at $7.50 per person per hour with a maximum charge of $50 per group. There is no way to book the court ahead, so a bocce ball court near me search in northeast Los Angeles comes down to showing up early on a weekend afternoon, putting your name in with the staff and ordering a Kölsch while you wait.

Kiez opened in late October 2024, according to Time Out, which called it an indoor-outdoor biergarten and the sister to Wirtshaus and Rasselbock. Co-owners Bjoern Risse and Ben Yildirim came to Los Angeles from Germany about fifteen years ago and first ran a small place in Hollywood. Yildirim told The Occidental that Kiez means my block in northern German, and that is the mood they built: a neighborhood beer garden rather than a Bavarian theme hall.

The room is split in two. A heated front patio holds up to 60 guests and the indoor dining room seats 65, and the bocce lane sits with the outdoor crowd. Risse described it as a place where adults, children and dogs can come, and the kitchen backs that up with a kids menu and a separate dog menu, so expect strollers, leashes and a few birthday tables on any Saturday.

The house page spells out the system in plain terms. The court is open Friday through Sunday, it is first come at the host stand, and you pay by the hour per player. A foursome spends $30 for an hour; a group of eight hits the $50 cap, which makes the bigger party the better deal. If nobody is waiting when your hour ends, staff let you keep playing, but if another group is lined up, the game stops when the clock does.

That last rule matters for scoring. Kiez states that when time is up, whoever leads in points at that moment wins, so there is no finishing the frame or arguing for one more round. Groups who want a decisive result should agree on a short target, such as first to seven, before the first throw. Saturday from the 11am opening is the calmest stretch; Friday evenings fill fastest because the patio also hosts live music in October.

The written code is short and specific. Food stays off the court: drinks are fine on the lane, but plates go on the side rails at the east end, and you snack only when you are not throwing. Only the four or eight people in the current game stand on the sand, everyone else cheers from the sidelines, and throws are underhand only. The page puts it bluntly: this is bocce, not bowling, so be gentle.

Two more rules are worth knowing before you arrive with a big group. Balls are meant to stay in the lane, and the page jokes that unless the earth shakes, nothing should leave it. Players who ignore the code can be asked to step off the court or leave the venue. If you are new to the game, the same page links a short video tutorial, and the basic idea is simple: two teams roll toward a small white target ball and the closest balls score.

The menu reads like a Hamburg corner pub with California prices. A German soft pretzel with house-made sweet mustard costs $7.50, the traditional pork and veal bratwurst plate is $16.50 with two sides, and a Wiener schnitzel is $20.75. Currywurst at $14.50 and the homemade flammkuchen at $15.00 are the easiest things to share standing up, which suits the no-food-on-the-court rule. The goulash with spätzle is $18.00 for anyone settling in after the game.

Draft beer is the reason most groups stay a second hour. Reissdorf Kölsch is $8.50 for a regular pour, Weihenstephaner Helles is $9.50, and Paulaner Oktoberfest is $9 while it lasts. A four-pour beer flight costs $18, and Das Boot, a two-liter glass boot, is $34. Groups who order the Kranz, a ring of eleven Kölsch pours for $34, will want to finish it before they step back onto the lane rather than balancing it on the rail.

Honest advice: skip the apple strudel at $12.50 if the court is about to open up for you, because nothing slows a group down like a hot dessert arriving mid-frame. Kids under 12 get schnitzel fingers for $11.00 or a small käsespätzle for $9.00, and dogs get their own bratwurst for $5.00, which buys a lot of good behavior on a crowded patio.

This fall Kiez is running its second annual Oktoberfest every Friday and Saturday, with live music, a stein-holding contest and staff in dirndls and lederhosen; Time Out lists October 23, 24, 30 and 31 for the 2026 edition. Those nights are fun but bad for bocce, because the patio is packed and the court queue grows long. If the game is the main event, come Sunday from 11am instead, when the beer garden is mostly brunch tables.

Birthday groups have a perk: Time Out reported that bringing ten friends on your birthday earns a free half-liter boot of beer. For parties of 15 or more, Kiez handles bookings through its private events form rather than the regular reservation button, and full buyouts are possible. Regular table reservations cover 2 to 6 guests, are held for 15 minutes, and should be cancelled 24 hours ahead.

When the wait for the court passes 45 minutes, walk the block instead of standing around. Cafe de Leche at 5000 York Blvd, essentially across the street, opens every day from 7am to 5pm and is the coffee stop for a Sunday morning game. Donut Friend at 5107 York Blvd stays open until 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays, which makes it the late sweet stop after an evening session.

For a different kind of game, Highland Park Bowl at 5621 N. Figueroa St, a short drive west, has bowling lanes and opens at noon on Saturdays and Sundays. Pair the two for a long weekend afternoon: bocce and a Kölsch at Kiez first, then bowling and pizza on Figueroa once the beer garden turns into an Oktoberfest party.

Address: Kiez Küche & Beer Garden, 4939 York Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90042. Hours: Monday to Thursday 4pm to 10:30pm, Friday noon to midnight, Saturday 11am to midnight, Sunday 11am to 10:30pm. Bocce: Friday to Sunday only, walk-ins, $7.50 per person per hour, $50 maximum per group. Transit: the Metro A Line Highland Park station at Avenue 57 and Marmion Way is about a mile and a half away, so plan on a short bus, bike or rideshare from the train.