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Grand Central Restaurant and Bowling Lounge
Rating Details »
Neighborhoods: Southeast Portland, Central Eastside
839 SE Morrison St
Portland, OR 97214
(503) 236-2695
839 SE Morrison St
Portland, OR 97214
(503) 236-2695
Thanksgiving Eve! Nov. 25 2009
Come dress in your 80's outfits. Look in your closet and have fun with us and DJ Clint Kuper, 90's- Current , and mainly 80's sound!
Announced 2 days ago- Hours:
Mon-Tue. 11:30 p.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Wed. 11:30 p.m. - 1:00 a.m.
Thu-Fri. 11:30 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.
Sat. 11:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.
Sun. 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 a.m.
- Good for Kids:
- No
55 reviews for Grand Central Restaurant and Bowling Lounge
I took away your stars due to following issues from your part:
* I asked one of the servers where should I sit around the upstairs lounge and she said, "Anywhere is fine." After my friends and I got comfortable sat at one of the couches area, the guy who seemed to be the manager came and told us to move. He said they will have a big Widmer's party and they need to put an ice machine or sculpture or whatever. What's funny is that, the party didn't start until 9 pm and when he told us to move, it was only closed to 6 pm.
* We moved and got our happy hour food. On the happy hour menu, the nachos doesn't come with chicken, but when it came it has chicken on it and we got charged the Chicken Nachos price for $6.95 instead of $4.95. We didn't complain to the server because we just want to eat our food and leave.
* The food quality weren't as good as last year and it's not really a happy HH anymore.
* When we left about 7 or so, there's still no ice machine or sculpture at the area that we originally sat.
* Sorry, no more return to your casa, Grand Central Bowl.
2 Previous Reviews: Show all »
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11/15/2008
Grand Central Bowl,
I adore your happy hour. Those spicy tuna rolls are pretty good and the fried… Read more »
Comment from Dale A. of
Grand Central Restaurant and Bowling Lounge
11/20/2009
I am truly sorry that your experience was not as you planned…
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I've been here a couple times prior to my latest visit. The very first time I was with a small group of friends who wanted to bowl. We were in the neighborhood, so sure, why not. We walk up to the counter and inquired for an open lane. AWESOME ONE LANE OPEN LETS DO IT! Nope, got turned down for no reason whatsoever. Mind you there was still over an hour left before the facility closed. Moved up stairs to chill and play pool, brushed the experience off.
Second visit was spent entirely upstairs playing pool and watching our friends bowl downstairs. The atmosphere is akin to what you'd expect in downtown nightclubs. Music is blaring, TVs on loop-backs of wannabe trendy scenes. Service was quick and friendly, but prices are on the steep end. Not really a chill place to be on the weekends.
My most recent visit was horrible. Again we were with a small group of people on a Friday night and wanted to hang in the lounge and play pool. Lo and behold there was a pilot nightclub there. "The Loft" now occupies the entire top floor for dancing and flashing lights. Okay, well, maybe we can deal and play pool. Nope, a giant group of men and women around their thirties pretending to be hipsters occupied both tables. ICK!
Granted we walked unsuspectingly into what we thought was a lounge, the entire feel for the place feels more off than before. Obviously this place is a niche considering there is nothing like it in Portland, but comon...this is a horrible spin on cosmic bowling. The marriage of bowling and nightclub at Grand Central should end in a hideous divorce!
I was at Grand Central to celebrate a friend's birthday on Friday night, and our crew really had a blast! We started the night in the upstairs "Loft" lounge, with several members of our group sharing colorful fishbowl-sized cocktails accesorized with multiple 3-foot straws. I stuck with pinot grigio myself, a steal at $5.50 per glass. Table service in the Loft was seriously lacking, so we ended up going straight up to the bar for speedy service. Only one member of our party ordered food, a decent Canadian bacon & pineapple pizza.
Downstairs in the bowling alley, the area is hip, clean, and comfortable. Giant screens above the lanes played music videos ranging from Salt N Pepa to Kid Rock to Lady Gaga. Super-quick ball return, and the bowling shoes weren't too sketchy! Grand Central is a great place for a group event, and I'd recommend it to my Portland folk.
I kept giving this place chance after chance and finally just gave up. The food, beer, service, and cocktail list are all so-so. The manager is some tool that rocks his sunglasses turned eyeglasses all day and has no idea what service is about. 45 year old hipster owners of restaurants will turn me away almost immediately.
Go for the bowling not the restaurant.
Comment from Dale A. of
Grand Central Restaurant and Bowling Lounge
11/10/2009
Kellex, We assure you that we pride ourselves on our food…
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I had my birthday there this weekend and we had a blast! We didn't know there was a dj and a dance floor so we were pleasantly surpirsed. All in all, our service was great, thanks Stephanie! And Nichole who set us up was awesome too. Thanks for making my 40th the greatest!!
Comment from Dale A. of
Grand Central Restaurant and Bowling Lounge
11/10/2009
Tracey... Thank you. I am very happy that you enjoyed…
More »
It's change a lot since I grew up. Used to be a 20+ lane, now four. It's hard to imagine. The new look is that - NEW, but it took away the fun of being a bowling alley, enjoyed by family and kids.
The bar upstairs is catered to the sport bar fans. Very spacious, more so then the bowling lanes.
I feel like I'm in a tomb rather than free and informal when bowling.
I was here recently for a night of bowling and fun! It was such a great atmosphere! Very cool and hip place to spend a weekend night! I really enjoyed the seating areas we had while we were bowling. My favorite though was the bar area. I would go back just to have drinks:)
Bowling tipsy is so much fun!
The waitress goes over to your lane to serve you!
It has a lounge feel which reminds me of Lucky Strike in Los Angeles.
The drinks are good (fave bartender there Aaron) and I love the modern clean atmosphere.
I love hanging at the sofas drinking watching the retro music videos.
You can go upstairs where the pool tables are if you feel like shooting pool.
The also have a great Happy Hour Menu!
I have been to this place a couple of times and I always enjoy the bowling, mainly because I go there to bowl. I like the atmosphere, but if you are looking for a non upscale bowling night that is not pricey don't go here. I just attended for the first time on Saturday and lanes are $42 an hour. I'm writing today not because of the bowling, but because of the dj experience I just had. On the website it misleads you by stating that they have a weekend dj playing 80s,90s, and.... After our bowling experience tonight we went upstairs expecting what the website said and got the wackest 90's techno experience I have heard in a long time. After talking with a person on staff apparently this is because this is a "30's crowd" and they don't want to compete with their other businesses (Barracuda, etc.). As someone who is 29 I still say it is unacceptable. When we left after an hour of listening to that nonsense people were basically jokingly ballroom dancing because the music was wack. So long story short, this is a fun establishment for bowling, the food is great, but don't go upstairs for the nightclub. Go upstairs to drink or play pool.
I don't think I'm saying anything groundbreaking or new here, but this place is just not worth it. Everything, from bowling to food to drinks, is overpriced. And it seems like the crowd there is just a bunch of overgrown frat boys, dudebros, and steroid-abusers, and their female counterparts.
If you love to hit the clubs downtown every weekend, if you're a young investment banker, if you still spike your hair or have blond tips frosted through, or if you're the type of woman who enjoys these type of men - then you will love it.
Otherwise, stay away. It's not really a cool enough concept to warrant putting up with the prices and the people.
The only reason I can honestly give for saying that "tolerate-hate" this place as opposed to just "hate-hate" is that I got to go bowling there for free. Gratis. And as an election-season fundraiser for a fantastic organization (The Future PAC, whose website: http://thefuturepac.com/, seems to currently be down, but hopefully be back soon), nonetheless.
Having said that, I have no idea what a game of bowling would cost at this place, and I am rather sure that wouldn't want to. Nor would I honestly never come here of my own free will. I am pretty sure my hippy cred with be instantaneously revoked... and I kind of like my hippy cred. It allows me to skip showers and eat strange foods.
...but I got hammered off free beer with a bunch of politicians, at Grand Central Bowl, so that must count for something.
But I have to stay that if the phrase, "fuck it Dude, let's go bowling" doesn't seem applicable to bowling alley... well, it's not a bowling alley in my book.
This place is trying really hard to be hip, so hard that it fails. The staff is snooty & disinterested (which means the management is BAD). Noise for the sake of noise or to create hype is a waste. At least the bathrooms are clean
So, it's rainy, cold, and the Musk-A-Teers are going on Week 3 of Snow Days/Holiday Break...what'cha gonna do?! Go bowling! We did, and it was fun! It is a little pricey, but I am not a frequent bowler, so what do I know?? I think the last time I was in a bowling alley, I may have been in preadolescence & on an outing with the youth group associated with my Dad's lodge...Still, despite dropping the bowling ball once, and rolling it backward, I might add, I didn't do too shabbily!
The Big Man proved his mettle (who knew?!) and it seems one of the boys has quite a competitive streak. We did not order dinner, tho' we did have some calamari. It wasn't bad, but it was mighty fried. The boys loved it, I'd pass the next time 'round. The beer selection was extensive, and Stuart & I enjoyed some local suds. We bowled 2 games, spending all together with shoe rental, food, games, & beer, a grand total of $36.00. We figured out later that it is actually cheaper to pay by the game rather than by the hour.
It's not really my scene, but all of us had a great time, parking was easy, there were no obnoxious drunks, families were having fun...what's not to like? It's not seedy like some of the old bowling alleys I've seen. I am pretty sure we will go again as The Big Man has issued a challenge to another family of 5 for next Sunday...if you stop by, be sure & call attention to the woman who manages to get the ball rolling DOWN the lane, not rolling backward toward the lounge...
Came here for a friends birthday party and had a great time. I don't know much about bowling, but I would guess this is the most expensive place in PDX. But you get what you pay for - very nice interior, sort of Doug Firish / Henry's / Saucebox. Some people come here wanting nothing to do with the bowling, and it's possible thanks to a swank upper bar/lounge area. Didn't try any food, since I ate at Sparky's pizza next door before coming here.
The reason this place couldn't get five stars is the employees. Most of them didn't seem happy to be there. Maybe the owners / management can do a company event or rewards program to perk things up a little?
I just can't stop thinking about the wisdom that Krista imparted upon us:
"My parents love this place." So what does that mean exactly? Let me enlighten:
Think the Pearl goes bowling...in the burbs. Patrons have plenty of money to spend, so that's not even an element of consideration. They don't want any Eastside "grit," so they love the sterile, clean lines, the flat screens, the pseudo-elegance of dark wood, black linens, and rolled silverware. They appreciate the upscale Red Robin menu as it is a fancier version of an average evening out.
In fact, they would prefer to call this a bowling lounge to avoid alleys, which are dangerous by association.
Shoot, it is what it is: an upscale bowling alley. I'm not going to pretend like I was overly impressed, but there was nothing overly offensive either.
Stick a bowling alley on the end of Henry's and I think you've got the Westside equivalent.
Why fancypants, you've bought a bowling alley!
I haven't bowled here, but judging by the fact that the floors looked clean, I would guess that you will not find Donny, Walter, and The Dude at Grand Central Bowl. They might drink White Russians in the restaurant section, provided they could put their bill on Bunny's credit card. It's a pricey joint. The atmosphere makes it mostly worth it, but had I not snagged a 25% discount coupon, I probably wouldn't have made the trip. Unless I had a handi-capable sugar daddy. But I could do many things with one of those.
The menu is like when a little kid tells you what she wants to be when she grows up. "I'm gonna be an astronaut! And a mommy! And president! And a manicurist!" They have pizza and kung pao chicken and steak and nachos and sliders and sandwiches as big as your head and sushi. So my sleep-deprived and still-hungover brain thought that mixing up a pear and Gorgonzola salad with an ahi roll would be a good idea. Turns out, I can make wise choices even in this state! That salad was massive, doused but not swimming in vinaigrette and almond shavings, and excellent. The sushi was nothing remarkable, but at that point, settled into a plush booth and enjoying the show of sunlight and passing cars on Morrison and gabbing with the gals, I was quite the happy camper.
Our server turned out to be the ultimate fancypants of the experience. She was really nice, totally on top of the menu and her recommendations, and struck that graceful balance between friendly and non-intrusive. She'd probably be with our group if she wasn't working. That's how I roll. I adopt servers, coffee baristas, and cute dogs, take them bowling, call them names that end in pants, start these rambling reviews on long afternoons and think of ways to close it up in the parlance of our times.
Only reason I went here was because my friend could bowl a free game, even though it's right by my apartment. We didn't get any of the expensive food or drinks; we just went to bowl a game. The crowd was West Hills and Pearl all the way; gimme blue-collar beer drinkers any day. Plus a bowling alley shouldn't have door people.
However, while I suck at bowling, I would have preferred to pay less to figure that out. But my friend hurt herself bowling and they were attentive to her, so a 1-star review gets 2 since they were nice to her.
supereffinawesome...
Met up with the ladies for lunch here today, pretty sure I'm going to try to make it at least a monthly event. They've got a pretty good sized menu at pretty fair prices- not cheap, but totally worth it.
I had originally decided on the sliders after perusing the menu online, but when I got there I was faced with a serious dilemma. It was a case of sliders v. dagwood v. monte cristo...ay Dios mio, what to do!? DK was eying the burger, so I suggested she take a stab at the sliders (which means I get one) she went for it, yay. Down to two. I asked the super helpful waitress what she would do, and she said hands down go for the monte. HOLY HERBED CREAM CHEESE was she ever right!
Get this, ham, turkey, bacon, herbed cream cheese, and avocado on french toast with powdered sugar & raspberry preserves... jealous much? I think it was $8.75, came with choice of salad, soup, or fries. I went with the salad feeling guilty over the sandwich. I shared it with the girls, filled up myself, and I still have half of it in a box for later:)
Everybody else's food looked great too & from what I tasted, was delicious. There starter salad is big enough to be an entree for serious. That's a huge bonus.
I've only been here a couple of times before, and never have I eaten, but the rest of the place seems pretty cool. Super sweet staff & free parking downstairs gets them on the escalator toward being on the top of my faves list for places in my hood.
Get ready GCB, you and I are gonna be friends.
I would have to give it to this establishment for making a superb comeback.
The lounge upstairs are good with the wait staff being friendly accomodating.
The food menu doesn't look like it's your regular bowling alley food. I mean, they are your typical food that can't be found in a bowling alley.
All the prices fit the place. It is NOT that expensive.
It is non smoking so everyone can breathe deeply while appreciating not only the heat that the pretty ladies emit but even the 3 fireplaces as well. You have to excuse yourself outside to smoke.
Tired of the stiff slippery barely there cushion of the bowling alley seats? Well, they have a couch here. Plush corinthian leather?! but it's still comfortable. No jumping on the couch though.
Wow.
You expect me to believe that this...THIS...is a bowling alley?
No, it can't be.
Have you ever seen a bowling alley with huge projection-style TVs in a dark area during the day? No.
Have you ever seen a bowling alley that has a [nearly] five-star restaurant with black-leather booths, dark wood, and a mean cocktail list? No.
What about the option to choose a pint of beer OR 23 ounces? No.
And, have you ever seen a bowling alley with a chicly dressed doorgirl? Ha...ha ha ha!
While I can't vouch for the experience that the lanes offered, I will say that the restaurant portion was awfully awesome for a bowling alley in Southeast Portland.
The menu was a fun rendition of fancy takes of normal bar food. The starter arugula pear and gorgonzola salads looked to die for (and were enormous), and the Heart Attack on a Plate that Sylvia got (the Monte Carlo, their version of the Monte Crisco...whoops...I mean Cristo) tasted way too delicious for its own good.
Prices weren't outlandish, but it wasn't super cheap. However, the service was excellent, and so was the grub.
But really...is it too good to be true?
It's a bowling alley, for cripe's sake!
OMFG. This place was a madhouse to watch the election on Tuesday. After failing to secure drinks downstairs, we wandered upstairs (21+) and got drinks after about 15 minutes. And I managed to even score seats.
One barback actively discouraged us to get food but we still tried it anyway and got the food towards the tailend of our first drinks.
They were running out of glasses and it was a bit weird to see the bartender shower our cups down. Um? Was he just rinsing them out?!
We got the lettuce wraps and the artichoke dip. They were okay. At least they were happy hour prices.
None of the drinks I ordered had garnishes and I had to ask for lime for my vodka tonic which I felt was essential. I could forgive you for not giving me citrus with my Hef but seriously, I need lime! And then they were also out of cocktail onions and orange slices (making my old fashioned kind of off).
And thought they were quite busy, I could see most of the bartenders measuring out pours with a jigger. Not ours though which is good since I like my drinks strong if I have to wait forever for the next drink.
What was the worse part of the bar was they kept flipping the screen off CNN to their internal video of the jocks from the local talk station gabbing about nothing. The bar patrons were pissed.
Note to Grand Central- if you're expecting hundreds of people, get some extra glasses or at least plastic cups because they lost tons of business that night.
The second star is when a guy "accidentally" threw his credit card at me when I unzipped my hoodie. Um, I prefer cash if you're going to throw money at me. Ha.
This is a pretty generic joint that tries stale flash to make up for its high prices and slow service. And why does a bowling joint need staff with those Secret Service ear pieces?? It reminds me of the generic, cheesy places in Boston near Fanueil Hall and North Station.
The fried stuff I ate tasted like fried stuff, so it was good enough, but the service was seriously slow and we couldn't even get happy hour because we were not sitting at the bar (which if I reached for I could have touched with my hand from our table).
Don't go here to bowl. If you want to bowl, go to less expensive places. If you want to bowl while you drink/eat/sit on leather couches/play pool/watch big screen TVs, then this is your joint.
They're a little tricky with prices. Keep in mind that the prices per game are actually per person per game. So for the three of us at $6 a game, it was actually $18.
Service was amazing, food was actually pretty good, drinks were reasonably priced. I bowled like crap (I swear their lanes are longer than usual), but I had a good time because I got to eat and drink and sit on fancy sofas.
Like I said, don't go here to bowl. Go here for a date, for a girl's night out, or for a company outing. Some would argue a blue collar sport should not be mixed with the Pearl, but hey, if it's fun, it's fun.
When I was in high school my friends [never me, of course ;)] used to engage in what they termed "synergized bowling":
step 1: consume large amounts of alcohol.
step 2: go bowling.
See how cool my friends and I were? I think we'd just learned about synergy in science class and this terminology somehow made sense in our warped sixteen-year-old minds.
Flash forward five (or so!) years, and here's a place my teenage pals and I would have thought was "hella tight" if we had fake IDs and, um, money to afford going out. The food is pretty mediocre Applebee's style fare with huge portions, and party bowls of sickly-sweet, watered down, yet still alcoholic beverages for your synergistic bowling pleasure. And the atmosphere was super-loud top 40 hits, complete with a big screen for playing the music vids.
Sadly, my twenty-something no-longer-suburban self was not that impressed, but judging by the families and teenagers there who seemed to be having fun, I'm no longer the target demographic. It is what it is, so as I would have said back in the day, "whatevs."
Bad music played way too loud tainted anything I could have imagined being good about this place. The crowd looked disgusting. The bartender treated me like an idiot when I asked if one of their 300 tvs could be switched from the NBA Playoffs to the NHL Playoffs. I walked in, walked out, will never go again.
It's very difficult to be creative and try to find different places to have a birthday party for kids nowadays, other than your own home. I thought a lot about it and asked my 7 year old and we decided on bowling. I had been to another bowling party at a different local alley and decided to try Grand Central.
We booked our event, I had mentioned a few things that I wanted (bowling pin for my daughters friends to sign) and they said we could pick it up at the desk when we got there. When we walked in, we were greeted and walked to our private area, they had the "Happy Birthday" bowling pin at the table already.... they got 4 kids size bowling balls all set up for the 9 girls we were going to have there. One by one the girls were shown where to come and given shoes as they walked in.
The kids had a blast, they listened to music, bowled, ate pizza all while the adults sat back and relaxed. We COULD have had a grown up beverage had we chosen to, but not being a big drinker, and being with a group of kids we had rootbeer. This place was great for our event, wasn't crowded at all, the kids were all contained in one area. I would come here again for a party, and someday I will make it to actually bowl myself.
I went here with the fam recently (in the afternoon) and had a good time. They have bumpers and ramps for young children and their shoe sizes even start at 7. The menu is all over the place but the food was decent. There were very few appetizer options that you could eat without your hands (hello, who knows how many people have touched that bowling ball). The shoes didn't seem as funky as some other places I have been. My big complaint would be that this place is ex.pen.sive! Wow! Word of advice, if you are not a pro bowler or have a child PAY BY THE GAME -- the three of us only played two games in an hour.
While partaking in some pre-game food and drink in the bar area, I observed a gentleman approach the bowling desk and ask about the availability of chalk for his hands; the employee's answer, "We aren't really a bowling alley, it's more like a restaurant with a few lanes."
Based on the food, I'd also be hesitant to call this a restaurant. The pizza I ate was pretty bland and the crust left a lot to be desired, the calamari was undercooked and the onion rings were overcooked.
The bowling was actually ok. I would highly advise to come during weekdays when the rates are almost reasonable. The large video screens over the lanes are cool. When I was there they were showing music videos and then switched to NCAA March Madness games as it got later in the afternoon.
My biggest gripe is that Grand Central Bowl doesn't seem to fit with the vibe of southeast. I live on this side of town and for the most part, businesses are locally owned, full of character, laid back and affordable. GCB cleans up real good, but what lies underneath it's shiny exterior is disappointing.
Ok, I am going to try and be as calm as possible here. When I drop $140 in one night I expect to feel one of two things (but always satisfied):
a) Turned on.
b) Incredibly intoxicated and thus feeling great.
Neither of these emotions had filled my disgruntled head when I left Grand Central at 1:00 am on Friday. The lanes are rented by the hour, and on this night that figure happened to be $48 (I purchased a lane for two hours). The young woman that I brought there and I bowled three games in that two hour span. We both had 4 drinks each and no food. That's it. Nothing else. Two godforsaken hours and four beers later (thank god I wasn't drinking my usual scotch) I'm a good $140 in the hole and in a mood that I hadn't been in since my mom's last wedding.
How do I put this? You are NOT in the Pearl. You are in the SE. As much as I thought that your company couldn't get any more pathetic than your classless Barracuda lounge or the hell hole that is the Gypsy you hammer this shit down my throat. Concept Entertainment you suck. You hands down take the crown of THE WORST bowling experience I have ever had.
Yelper:
Please, do yourself a favor and go to Hollywood Bowl, a mere mile away. Should you indeed find yourself here mainline it across the street to Sassy's where you actually get something for your dollar.
Grand Central? More like Grand Larceny!
I'm not what some people call "Athletically Gifted", but I've always been a good bowler. After bowling 4 games at Grand Central, not only did I not bowl above a 120, but I managed to spend about $120! The place is a total rip off! Granted, I was very drunk when I bowled, but the lanes were way too greasy to get good spin on the ball.
The ambiance was ok, I guess, but the cost to bowl was so insanely expensive, it completely ruined any great experience I might have had there.
The twinkle in my eye when I found out there was going to be a bowling alley a few blocks from my place is now replaced with the vision of butterflies flying out of my wallet.
Grand Central Bowl, I've dated girls like you.
You are beautiful. No, seriously. Completely...effing ...HOT! But when I'm with you, you ignore me. I swear every time we say goodnight I'm thinking, "Thank God... that's the last time I'm EVER going out with her."
But then, a month or two goes by and you call out of the blue. Why in the hell do I keep doing this!?!
One of these days I'll work up the moxie to say no... I swear. Until then, you're lucky that you're hot, because your personality sucks.
I am a little hesitant to add Grand Central to my "Kicking it Old School" list, but most native Portlanders have spent an intoxicated evening throwing gutter balls in the former rendition of the old bowling hall. Well, Grand Central is back after an extreme makeover...and the results are close to a perfect strike.
I decided to throw my wife's 30th birthday party at Grand Central. This was a mid sized affair (not nearly like her 29th at Crush which included fire dancing, go-go dancers, djs, and flaming hoola hoop dancers...yeah, it was quite a shindig) and we had our own private room upstairs. Our server was brand new, so this gathering was a little bit of a challenge for her, but overall the service was great.
Grand Central is a great place to go and watch a sporting event, as they have tons of plasma tv's located throughout the bar. And of course there is the bowling...which regardless of the bells and whistles, still comes down to drinking beer and chucking the ball as hard as I can down the lane. Granted the girly leg kick at the end is a requirement for success.
Prices are a little steep for a Bowling Alley, but since this is more then just a Bowling Alley, and most people come for the atmosphere, it is acceptable. I was a little disappointed in their beer selection...come on people, this is Portland, which has more micro breweries inside its city limits then any other city.
Overall, had a great experience at Grand Central...however, be forewarned that getting a lane on the weekend can be close to impossible.
Saucebox meets the Bowl-o-rama... Swank meets blue collar in this super dressed up version of the true sport of kings.
Who could possibly take such a grand concept and muck it up? Concept Entertainment of course.
What a great idea. Take an old billiards hall and swank it out. There's plenty of old kitschy bowl-a-rama's out there for hipsters to get their fill, so why can't those who swing towards swank get a little slice of bowling heaven to call their own?
Concept took a great idea and bowled a 7-10 split with it.
Super fancy physical plant. Similar in modernity to saucebox or any given bar/restaurant in the Pearl, but mix in some soft wood (fir, I think) on the bar and trimmings, throw in a huge bar-area with tons of flat screens, maybe some leather couches instead of molded plastic benches where bowlers wait to throw their turkeys, implant some chasing LED strips in between the lanes, flat screen score monitors, and huge projector screens above the pins showing whatever. Put a lounge upstairs with leather couches, fireplaces, little couched off areas fit for reserved vip booths, another whole bar. How couldn't this be FREAKING AWESOME?
This is how. Meet the robotic corporate staff. They all seem like really nice and genuinely motivated people working under an oppressive corporate code. Greetings manufactured rather than honest (I could tell they would rather have greeted me their own way). The bartender was on it, but then poured my $6 well-bloody with a jigger. I know it's OLCC regs, but seriously, either give me an extra 2-count or drop the price by a dollar, minimum. I don't blame the tender, I don't blame OLCC, oh no, I know who is at fault. Fine, they put the Ducks game on for me, thanks guys. Maybe I'll just have a beer. Oh, they come in 23oz?!?! Awesome! Wait, wait, that's $7 for 23oz Pilsner Urquel? That's more than DOUBLE what a16oz should be!!! Dang, maybe I'll just bowl a game... UH?!?! $5?!?!? Nevermind.
This, this is how Concept Entertainment (you know, those cool cats that operate Barracuda, Lotus, Voodoo, Gypsy, and all those other similar frat-holes) can screw up something so beautiful. I see that they did not make a beautiful, gorgeous bowling alley to create a good thing, they just did it to take my money. I don't mind paying this much or more at a bar like Saucebox, where the drinks are stiff and the liquor call, but well? Jigger? $6? Inner East-side? Bowling alley? I foresee this being a destination spot for frat guys and pearl district tools who want to be seen.
I am so torn. The people working there were genuinely cool, but they just had this aura about them... you know, the aura of the downtrodden corporate peon. I bet the bartending policy manual is 50 pages long here. The space is SO SWANK, so nice, so really excellently awesome. I just have a hard time paying $7 per non-gourmet beer while I am bowling, regardless of how swank the place is. I really, really want to love this spot. It's like Henry's with a bowling alley (but without any decent beer selection, and much higher priced drinks). If this were downtown, I would have no call to say word one about the prices, I would pay it and love it... but I came to bowl, not get bowled over.
I'm sure I'll be back, but I'll loathe every bill-paying minute of it. ;)
Love the layout and monitors. Go upstairs at the bar for the funniest pictures and, on Tuesdays at 9PM, partake in Oregon Pub Quiz.
As an avid bowler, the lanes were pretty decent. The house balls were in decent shape (I ain't luggin my Ebonite on the plane, sorry) and the oil played pretty well. I threw three games at a pretty unreasonable price, so we decided to just stick around after for snacks and beer.
Uhh, BBQ sauce on nachos? Oh NO you didn't. This is total crap - do not mess with my nachos.
In all, overpriced, over-gussied and kinda lame.
Date Visited: Wednesday 7/9/08 (DoveBowl 2008 Charity Event)
I heard that this place was once a pretty run-down bowling alley and had a major overhaul not too long ago. When I found out that DoveBowl would be here and that all the ticket prices would go directly to the Dove Lewis Fund, I was in. I wanted to check out the place and of course give money to a great cause. It's for the kitties and doggies afterall!
I will say that the building and the interior is pretty nice. There's a big bar downstairs, just past the front door. Veer to your right and you can get your shoes to bowl. Go past this counter and there are 12 (can that really be all?) lanes! Go upstairs and find yet another bar area with a decent amount of seating and 4 pool tables.
Grand Central Bowl reminds me of Cal State Fullerton in ways. We had a few bowling lanes....but we never called ourself Cal State Fullerton Bowl. The balls seemed normal. The shoes were normal. The lanes appeared normal (though I bowled the absolute worst game I've bowled in YEARS - but that's not why I wouldn't be too keen on going back myself). There just weren't many lanes. Did I miss some?? The ones that were there were cramped. There were tiny couches, narrow walkways, and just not a whole lot of room so I would stay away from having more than 3 others join you on your lane.
I give it 1/2 star for the bowling and the rest to the food and staff who seemed very nice and friendly while serving and replenishing drinks and the like. Try the cheese enchilladas and skip the pizza.
I work nearby and frequent for lunches monthly. After too many over-priced adequate meals and extremely slow service, I will not be returning for more frustration. I do not recommend this place at all unless you are rich with all the time in the world and no taste buds.
Comment from Dale A. of
Grand Central Restaurant and Bowling Lounge
11/10/2009
Holly. I would like to say thank you for your comment. We…
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This place is just lame. The owners took the coolest bowling alley in town, with the coolest bowling alley lounge (The Pump Room) and completely ruined it with giant TVs, guys with too much cologne from Beaverton and really expensive bowling. So why did they spend several million $ to ruin what was a SE Portland institution? Because they are Concept Entertainment, the same people who bought the Lotus and the Gypsy and ruined those once classic Portland bars. Nice work guys!
Lights on the lanes!
Huge music videos right above the pins!
A computer that keeps track of the score!
A bloody mary that will turn you into a Pro ... too bad it isn't cheaper to get out there and break your fingers. I attached a link at the bottom so you can see the rates for yourself. The rock bottom is Mon-Wed from 10pm-2am which is when I found myself there. Monday is the new Sunday so get out there and bowl. Oh, and bring beater socks, everyone wears those shoes....
http://www.cegportland...
While we were just bar hopping and not eating, this place was awesome! That is by far the coolest bowling ally that I have ever seen - the only downside in my opinion is that they don't have it set up to do the Rock n' Bowl (i.e., disco balls). The huge tv's at the end of the lane are great for watching hockey, and the beer tastes like beer. The menu was huge - and I don't remember the prices being too bad. The bowling prices were pretty "normal" too - it was $22 for three of us to play one game, and rent two sets of shoes. That was 22 well-spent dollars.
Being that it was a Monday night, we pretty much had free reign over the place - which was cool. But the guy taking our money for the bowling was the slowest person that I have ever encountered in the service industry. Otherwise it would have received the complete 5 stars because I was in love... or maybe I had beer goggles, who knows... but those beer goggles make the world go round - especially this morning. Ouch, I hurt.
