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Asbury Lanes

4.5 star rating
based on 15 reviews

Categories: Bowling, Dive Bars, Music Venues

209 4th Avenue
Asbury Park, NJ 07712
(732) 776-6160
Good for Kids:
No

15 reviews for Asbury Lanes

Review Highlights   

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"…bowl and listen to great bands play on a stage right over the bowling alley…" (in 5 reviews)
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"The stage is set up right in the middle of the lanes." (in 4 reviews)
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"Great Place to watch shows, bowl and have fun." (in 5 reviews)
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Photo of Andy L.

 

61

142

Andy L.

Brooklyn, NY

5 star rating
3/18/2009

This place is my favorite bowling alley in New Jersey, which is kinda like dating the prettiest girl in an ugly town; not that big of a deal since everything else around you is so goddamn awful.

I'm a little too cool for bowling so I didn't bowl when I was at Asbury Lanes, but if I were to bowl this is the kind of place I'd like to do it in. The place has a very old school feel to it without all the fancy monitors with your scores on it. The only good thing about fancy monitors is you can give yourself bowling names like "Cuntballs" and "Shitbird" so children are forced to look at it while they're trying to have a good time.

Obviously, the most important part of any bowling alley is the bar and the one at Asbury Lanes does not disappoint. I'm very skeptical about bars that try too hard to be rockabilly bars as I'm not 17 years old anymore, but it was impossible to hate Asbury Lanes. $2.00 PBR's didn't hurt either.

AL is a great place to see a show. The sound is horrible and the stage is built on two of those gutter bumpers, but if I wanted to see a show with good sound I wouldn't go to a bowling alley. Last year, at a Scott H. Biram show, SHB kept encouraging kids to bowl and then yelling at them for interrupting his show everytime they got a strike. Dumb shit like that only happens in New Jersey. It'd be a great place to see a band like Murphy's Law or some other band that you don't care how they sound, you just go to dance and have fun.

Good job, New Jersey. Now if you could just do something about all that horrible smell when it's low tide on the Jersey Shore.

People thought this was:

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Photo of Kristina V.

 

3

9

Kristina V.

Scotch Plains, NJ

4 star rating
10/23/2009

Great Place to watch shows, bowl and have fun!! I miss it, it's a little far to drive. I wish there was a place like this around my house

People thought this was:

  • Useful (2)
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Photo of Caroline P.

 

28

92

Caroline P.

Perth Amboy, NJ

5 star rating
9/17/2009

This is my favorite spot to hang out.  I have seen Mad Sin, Southern Culture on the Skids, Koffin Kats, Dick Dale, Sasquatch, Big Sandy, Legendary Shack Shakers, Chop Tops and many more.  Its a really fun place with great art, cool people, a cool tiki bar with cheap booze and as you can see, great music. Oh, and bowling and a snack bar with delicious tater tots and chicken nuggets shaped like dinosaurs.

Photo of Marcel P.

 

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14

Marcel P.

New York, NY

5 star rating
9/7/2009

A whole lot of fun!  Finally, a place in Jersey that is not consumed by patrons that spend their free time pumping fists!  Great music, quirky vibe, and friendly staff.  Asbury Park- a haven of bicycle riders, rockabilly hipsters, and tattoo bearing dorks.  Is this Asbury Park, NJ or Portland, OR?

Photo of Joseph W.

Elite '09

264

273

Joseph W.

Los Angeles, CA

4 star rating
12/22/2008

This place reminds me of my hardcore youth in NJ/NYC but with a little dash of LA thrown-in for good measure.  Most of the shows I went to growing up were in basements and knights of colombus and vfw halls, but the added touch of a bar with $2 PBR's makes my heart soar.

The bowling isn't state-of-the-art, the place isn't the cleanest ever, and the sound is horrible, but coming here the other night made me really pissed I didn't know this place existed because I would have been coming here for years.

People thought this was:

  • Useful (1)
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Photo of Roxie H.

 

219

239

Roxie H.

Brooklyn, NY

5 star rating
12/4/2008

A few years ago this place changed to 21+ which was very disappointing to me but the times I did spend there were awesome! How cool is it to be able to bowl and listen to great bands play on a stage right over the bowling alley!? Saw Against Me! and the Soviettes there, what a great show... and a great place.

People thought this was:

  • Useful (3)
  • Funny (3)
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Photo of Suge K.

 

370

307

Suge K.

San Francisco, CA

1 star rating
4/12/2006

***Updated 1/3/2007****
Fucking shithole run by a bunch of shitty people. Used to be a cool place and then they fucked over everyone who mattered. Don't support these assholes.

People thought this was:

  • Useful (2)
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Photo of Rebecca L.

Elite '09

22

236

Rebecca L.

Brooklyn, NY

5 star rating
1/20/2008

Asbury Lanes is great!
I hadn't bowled in 9 years and we ended up staying for over 4 hours.  It was 10 bucks for unlimited bowling, shoes included.  Five bucks cover to hear some great noteable DJs spin soul 45s all night.  The photo booth is 3 bucks and slightly temperamental (also blinding).
One of the owners of Crybaby gallery owns this place (I believe) and she is really a nice lady. The girl behind the counter wasn't so nice.  Regardless, a great way to spend a weekend night.
They also have food and a bar--didn't try out either.

If you are looking for a place to throw a large birthday party, Asbury Lanes would be awesome...as long as you invite me.

ps: 18 to enter!

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Photo of Tom D.

 

107

65

Tom D.

Chatham, NJ

4 star rating
6/2/2007

Cool place...saw Dick Dale there last night and he rocked.

tiny venue, about 20 bowling lanes and the stage is set up right over the 5 lanes in the middle of the alley.  The place is hot and humid, the beer is cheap ($2 PBR), the crowd has lots of ink, and the decor is right out of the Jetsons.  Not the Asbury Park I remember as a kid, or maybe I just didn't go here.

Worth the trip to hear local music.  The crowd is friendly, you'll have fun.

People thought this was:

  • Cool (1)
Photo of Chelsea V.

 

5

27

Chelsea V.

Rutherford, NJ

5 star rating
9/3/2006

Bowl while watching local bands play their shit.  What an awesome place.  The stage is set up right in the middle of the lanes!

When I went this past Saturday, I paid ten dollars for unlimited bowling.  We got a lane right next to the stage and bowled for the next four hours.

Asbury Lanes looks just like a classic bowling alley and has the coolest decor of any bowling alley I have ever been in.  Cheap food (vegetarian offerings!), cheap bowling, and shows.  I can't wait to go back.  Plus, it's a short walk away from the boardwalk!

Photo of Heather T.

 

4

28

Heather T.

Princeton, NJ

5 star rating
4/15/2008

Best Place Ever! There are rumors that the lanes might get taken by eminent domain, go now and enjoy the best damn bowling alley/bar/music venue ever!

People thought this was:

  • Useful (1)
Photo of Sleazeme P.

 

19

41

Sleazeme P.

New York, NY

5 star rating
3/21/2006

the ventures rocked this venue up to high heavens.

punk, drunk and roll, is all i have to say about this place. $2 PBRs, hot chicks with tattoos serving your beer, and bowling to Social D on the the sound system.

People thought this was:

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Photo of Katie F.

 

0

7

Katie F.

New York, NY

5 star rating
11/22/2008

I recommend the hula hoops!

Photo of Tim C.

 

2

20

Tim C.

Red Bank, NJ

4 star rating
8/20/2008

Asbury Lanes is an outstanding spot to visit in Asbury Park.  The wife and I like to bowl with our children, but the venue is great for a weekend or weeknight escape from the kids to catch an act and enjoy the atmosphere.  Stop by and bowl at the City by the Sea!!

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