Brunswick Zone-Carolier
Categories: Active Life Bowling Nightlife Bars Sports Bars Bowling, Sports Bars [Edit]
790 US Hwy 1North Brunswick, NJ 08902
(732) 846-2424
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Has TV:
- Yes
11 reviews for Brunswick Zone-Carolier
11 reviews in English
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Review from Nadia B.
12/29/2011
My husband makes us travel 30 minutes to this location even though we have two
Alleys 10 minutes away! There is a lot of room and always availability (despite how busy it gets... We've only waited 30 minutes at most which is good when you see how clean this place and crowd is). Plus, they have an organized system and good music to watch/listen.
They have cosmic bowling as well with different glow in the dark and a small snack area with decent food.
I have to say maybe there needs to be more bowling balls... we can't always find the weights we need...And it is pretty much the standard ones so ordering a few more cannot hurt the business, only add convenience for the loyal patrons (aka me and Mr. B)! -
Review from Diana A.
2/22/2012
Probably the largest bowling alley in New Jersey. Famous for hosting the Professional Bowling Association's U.S. Open in February/March, which is an interesting event if you're into that sort of thing. You can purchase tickets and appear live on ESPN during the televised Sunday final round.
As others have noted, seating for bowlers is very strange and uncomfortable - not at all conducive to large groups, unfortunately. It's also not the cheapest bowling alley around, but that said, they take pretty good care of it. I've had minimal mechanical problems with the lane or ball return during bowling excursions. And if you've bowled in old bowling alleys around the state, you know just how prevalent such issues can be!
Sign up for coupons on their website and you'll be alright. -
Review from Niyant S.
2/12/2012
I may be the first person reviewing this place who had a bad experience (although, there are only like 9 other reveiws), but our experience here was enough for me to leave saying it will be a long time before I come back to Brunswick Zone.
First of all, I honestly don't think a bowling alley with this many lanes should be having wait times, especially when you can see open lanes everywhere! Talk about mismanagement...
After waiting, we were given lane 12 to bowl on. When we got there, we looked around confused because there was nowhere to sit! There was a bench behind lanes 11 and 13, but directly behind our lane was the stairs...and then we realized, we were supposed to sit and leave all of our stuff at a bench back up the stairs, a good 20 feet back from the lane! This seemed ridiculous to us, considering that many of us have valuable items and want to have them close by. So, essentially, our group had to be split up, some people up by the lane bowling, and the others back at the bench by our belongings!
We were not happy with this, but figured the groups at lane 11 or 13 would finish soon and we could grab one of those benches... not to mention, between lanes 13 and 14, there was another bench set back a little but still close to the lanes, so the people from 13 could have just sat there...Also, the people at lane 11 had like 20 people, and entirely filled up the bowling ball holder with all their balls, leaving us very little room. Then, they started using the balls that we had picked out! I mean seriously, this place needs to really think about restructuring their whole layout. It seems they crammed as many lanes into the place as possible without caring about how awkward it makes the groups there. Plus, if you have a larger group (we were only 4 people), you can pretty much bully out smaller groups with less people...not really fair IMO.
So, finally after an hour, the people at lane 13 left, and so we moved our stuff there and used the bench behind it. Then, 5 minutes later, a new group showed up to bowl there, and wanted to use the bench. Meanwhile, like I said before, there was a bench set back a little bit between lanes 13 and 14 where they could have easily sat at, but I guess their fat @$$es couldn't handle it. So they went and complained, and some douchey looking employ told us we have to sit at the bench back behind the stairs because thats where the people at lanes 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 had to sit. Somehow, the genius that designed this place decided those at even numbered lanes couldn't actually hang out by their lanes, but had to go 20 feet back and up the stairs...pretty ridiculous. But of course, looking at those other even numbered lanes, I didn't see one group that was sitting back where we were told to sit, so for some reason we had to sit back there while everyone else was up by their lanes...
I'll admit, its probably hard to understand the layout of the place from my review, but thats how retarted it is. We were so pissed at the whole thing, that we decided to get a refund on our last game and just leave...needless to say our night was ruined thanks to these idiots at Brunswick Zone. -
Review from Jenny S.
New York, NY
1/17/2012
This is your standard bowling alley, nothing special really but I enjoy bowling so it was cool. I went on a Friday.. it gets pretty packed after 12, and it is a much older crowd. I didn't see a lot of young people. The drinks are cheap as dirt, can't beat that. There's a few arcade games but some of them are out of order so be careful putting your money in there before you check it out. Bathrooms are clean. 5.50 per game, 4.50 for shoes. Overall had a good time with good friends.
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Review from Amanda C.
3/22/2011
Largest bowling alley I have ever been to. Its huge.
Decent prices, no wait for lanes on a Friday, cheap beer. -
Review from Rocco B.
San Francisco, CA
1/27/2007
You know why they have such nice bowling alleys in New Jersey? Cause you can't hang around in front of a convenience store forever.
I think this is the place where they hold the world series of bowling. It's a big ass bowling alley, that's overall one of the nicest I've been to.
Plus I got to watch my drunk Chinese friend Andy sing a Meatloaf song and clear out the bar at Karaoke. And once a skanky Puerto Rican lady decided to hit on my dad which was amusing. -
Review from alan l.
my bowling team from brooklyn took a field trip to the b-zone for the 68th annual pba us open, and it was about as awesome as being at a live espn bowling match could ever be (i mean that in a good way).
the lanes themselves are never-ending, and while a tad outdated, everything is clean and well maintained. the enclosed bar area is spacious and the drinks cheap.
i had the pleasure of dealing with the manager of the b-zone who was completely accommodating and professional, and referred to us as his "new york city crew" all day.
depending on how our bowling scores improve, we may just be back here next year.....competing.Listed in: Bucket List., Bowling
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Review from Dimitrios D.
New York, NY
6/5/2011
It's huge and good for what it is. Nice location in eastern-central NJ.
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Review from Irene F.
11/26/2007
Yay cosmic bowling! Hip hip hooray! As Rocco pointed out, this place is huge. There's a big bar that hides karaoke and a few pool tables, and the usual bowling alley food and whatnot. It's not too expensive, and stays open til 2 am.
A nice change from sitting at TGIF's/Applebees/Chillis. -
Review from Eugene L.
Livingston, NJ
2/27/2011
this is the best bowling alley in the state of NJ. there are 82 lanes, which makes the largest bowling alley i've been in. it's looks nice inside. the lane conditions are excellent - the lanes are always freshly oiled and lanes 49-82 are especially good. the house pattern allows for generous scoring, especially for mediocre bowlers that hook the ball - this is a huge ego booster. on top of that, the staff here are pretty good. pro shop is pretty good too. and they have arcade games.
currently, they have $1 game specials on Mon and Wed nights from 9-12.. you can't beat that. you can also get coupons sent to your email by signing up for the brunswick bonus zone. -
Review from Amanda S.
Los Angeles, CA
7/19/2011
I went here the other day and the alley itself is nice (though crowded) & clean, I would say the prices are average. However, the staff were incredibly stingy.
First of all, before my friends and I went to the alley, we printed out coupons for buy one game get one game free (we signed up for their Bonus Zone or whatever) and the people at the table wouldn't take them because they were "too recent". What the heck? Who doesn't accept a coupon because we printed it out that day?
Then, I tried to not rent bowling shoes, because they cost like 5.50 per pair, and I did not really see the point of wearing them. They actually shut off our game because I was not wearing bowling shoes, so I ended up having to pay the same price as the game to rent a stupid pair of shoes.
I am definitely buying a cheap pair of bowling shoes from the thrift shop if that's the way it will be.
Another annoying thing they have is that if you step over the line of bowling (I stepped over it accidentally, I am an amateur bowler) it will start flashing red and give you an "F" sign on the screen. I was kind of freaked out by that.
Overall I hate the staff of this place and I might go back there if I have to, but I likely will just go to another bowling alley.
P.S. I say it is bad for kids only because they have really skanky pop videos playing on the TVs.
