Going to a bar can get old, especially if you're years past the drinking age and no one seems to card you anymore.

Same people, same drink, blah blah blah.

Sometimes you just want to jazz it up a bit, you know? Here are a few ideas on how to break out of a night-life rut.

300 Dallas is probably the closest thing to a chic bowling alley in town. Giant flat-screens above the lanes play music videos and sports. Waiters bring you margaritas, martinis, burgers and pizza. There's also a private room called Club 300, which will soon offer bottle service. Bottle service in a bowling alley? At 300 Dallas, where even the bowling shoes are cute, it kind of works.

BEN TORRES/Al Dia

Zee Lopez bowls at 300 Dallas. In the foreground are two virgin margaritas.

Tip: Order the sliders, called "2-Bites" on the menu.

Details: $5 or $7 a game after 5 p.m.; $4.50 shoe rental. 3805 Belt Line Road, Addison. 972-620-7700, 300dallas.com.

The Girls Room, a women's dance and yoga center on Lower Greenville, rents out its studio for one- or two-hour private parties. In the first hour, you learn how to walk and dance sexily around the pole and one or two tricks. The optional second hour can be for noshing, sipping or taking pictures. Be prepared to sweat or, if you prefer, glisten.

Tip: Believe in yourself. Anyone, of any size, can pole dance, owner Karyn Pentecost says.

Details: $350 to $550, depending on the size of the group. A second hour is an extra $150. 1921 ½ Greenville Ave., Studio B. 214-735-3233, thegirlsroom.us.

Have you longed to play Hungry Hungry Hippos with a cocktail resting at your side? Now you can with Play Date, a new night that launched Aug. 9 in Dallas.

Play Date combines old- school board games and a bar atmosphere.

The event, which started in Atlanta more than a year ago, lets patrons play old-school board games in a comfortable bar atmosphere. Dallas games include Atari, Yahtzee, Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots and more.

Tip: Leave your hypercompetitive side at home.

Details: 8 p.m. at the Loft's Studio Bar & Grill, 1135 S. Lamar St. $10. playdatedallas.com.

The Trinity Railway Express leaves downtown Dallas about every 30 minutes during the weekday rush hour. The last train returns from Fort Worth at 10:30 p.m., which is ample time to hit up a few Cowtown restaurants or bars. May we recommend Embargo on Eighth Street for a mojito?

Tip: The return trip made us sleepy. Might not want to make late-night plans you can't break.

Details: $5 for a round-trip ticket, which can be purchased at the outdoor DART machines. Trains leave Dallas from Union Station, 401 S. Houston St. trinityrailwayexpress.org.

The DJs of the Party recently threw a '90s roller-skating jam at Red Bird Skate Land in Duncanville, reminding me and everyone else there how fun it is to whiz around in a circle on plastic wheels. Did you know kids perform choreographed dances now? Most local rinks close at 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Tip: Don't drink beforehand.

Details: White Rock Skate Center, 10055 Shoreview Road in Dallas, 214-341-6660; Red Bird Skate Land, 1206 N. Duncanville Road, 972-298-7400; Interskate, 1408 S. Business Highway 121 in Lewisville, 972-221-4666.