On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Categories: Pool Halls, Restaurants, Bowling [Edit]
Neighborhood: FenwayKenmore (Green)
Loading...
Good times for the bowling, I did even better then I thought I would. I think the last time I played I used the old school small balls. Besides the bowling, I would consider the eating and drinking at Jillians mediocre and over priced.
I came here with 8 other people. It was annoying how they won't let you reserve a lane in advance. With a large group we would be more then willing to put a credit card down in advance but they said no on the phone. So we arrived and put in our name and were told it was an hour and a hour half wait with the girl promising to do her best to get us in. We had expected that so we sat at one of their booths and got a bunch of food.
Chicken Pillows: The name sounds like it would of been something different but they were pretty much pot stickers with a thin skin. Not pillowy and not that great.
Margarita pizza: A small size for the $10 price. I guess it was a premade one heated up by the way the bottom was so soft.
Beef Terryaki: Not your typical Chinese style but not bad
BBQ Chicken Bite: These were my favorite. A generous amount of chicken, tossed in a tasty BBQ sauce.
Bowling added up to $68 for 7 people, playing 1 game with shoes. I guess that's average considering we had a large group to split that cost.
Drinks were a joke. For $8 each they were all soda.
Our buzzer went off around 2 hours after we put our name in. Then we got our shoes and were ready to go. The shoes ran a size smaller then what I usually wear so go down a size.
The music brought itself back to the old school Snoop Dogg hits to R. Kelly, then the modern Miley beats. Scantly clad waitresses were hard to track down when we needed more drinks or the bill.
This is a good place to go once in a while, I would come again to bowl. I would advise to get something to eat before hand cause the food and drinks are mediocre.
Ive been to Jillians way too many times, and there is nothing too special about it; really.
Yes you can watch the game while you play some pool or Bowl, but cant you do that pretty much anywhere else?
Food is way over priced and so is everything else. They try to keep a good looking atmosphere which is good, but please don't send me back after 20 minutes in line in the freezing cold, because i have boots on... Well dude, Its been snowing for 2 days!!!!!!!!
Save your money. Go some place else.
Reading some of the other reviews here, I am gathering that these days, Jillians is a very hot-and-cold kind of place.
A large group of us showed up on Sunday afternoon for an impromptu tenpin session, and the CAVERNOUS room full of televisions, couches, and an enormous bar was almost completely deserted. I mean, like completely empty. Maybe one or two dudes hanging out.
We got on a couple of lanes, and bowled to our hearts contents. Beer is a little pricey - 5.50 for drafts - but I guess that goes with the Fenway territory.
I shudder to think what kind of a place it is at night when the hair-and-nails crowd crawl forth to perfume the halls of this establishment - but I said it more than once on Sunday afternoon - I will be back to this place to watch some football!
Confessions of a Jillian's employee:
Dress code issues such as hats/jerseys/boots are not allowed to keep "that element" out. Take that as you will.
Sometimes exceptions can be made, but the rule is in effect to deny people they don't want inside.
The doorstaff is underpaid for a shitty, dangerous job. If the bouncer was an asshole to you then perhaps they were called a faggot one too many times by a drunk being "held back" by their 90lb girlfriend. Things get edgy.
Oh, and don't think that you will get your way if you try to go over their head and call a manager as some are prone to more toughguy antics than the doorstaff as they take you out the back door.
The service sucks? You don't say! Management completely over or understaffs waitresses/bartenders. Next time it takes 30 mins for your order to be taken and then another hour for some flash fried chicken tenders, before you take it out on the waitress, realize that it is a managerial problem, not hers. This goes for any restaurant.
Employees are expected to work 12+ hour shifts (15 hours is not unheard of) but are cut shy of 40 hours a week to avoid full time benefits/overtime.
Why are you ordering food here anyways? The staff hardly even eats here. Do you know how many mice/roaches are in this place? Keep your eyes peeled next time you are there, you'll see them. We once had a customer find a roach in their food, don't worry, we comped them.
The huge bins of beer in Tequila Rain are filled to the top. As patrons buy beer the bottles are removed from the top and replaced at the end of the night. This leaves month+ old beer at the bottom, completely covered in mold. Management had staff wipe the mold off the bottles that still had salvageable labels and replaced them for your consumption. You're drunk, you can't tell the difference.
Management treats their employees like shit which rubs off on the staff and is then returned to you. Take your money elsewhere. Get better food and drinks in a better environment.
Can't say I didn't warn you.
Be ready to shell out some serious cash for some pretty average entertainment at Jillians. This place should be cool with pool tables, ping pong tables and bowling alleys but its really not.
Drinks will run you around 10$. Bowling is ridiculous. The ping pong tables are impossible to get on unless you reserve them for a private party. The pool tables are the only thing worthwhile but there are a lot of other places I'd rather play pool. Avoid this place if you can. The only plus is the big screen tv's.
Oh...and the doormen/bouncers are always assholes.
This place was terrific... It's no regular seedy bowling alley that's for sure! Great for drinks and decent food with generous portions. The pizza and chicken fingers were particularly tasty. Its a great spot for families and children on weekends upstairs at the alley.
'Twas the late 90's when i first stepped into this establishment. The old Cheri movie theater still existed near the Sheraton hotel, and Jillian's was the biggest entertainment spot for the area at the time. They had an 80's Tetris arcade game with full screen burn. You could get in underage pretty easily, it was my first underage bar experience was here in 1999 when I was 19.
Begin the early 2000's and the Cheri theater gets dismantled near the Sheraton, replaced by this new entertainment complex called Kings. All of a sudden, Jillian's had competition. Bowling got trendy. Jillian's made a decision: Faux-Class ourselves up and let's get Pretentious Wit' It!!
Enter the new bowling alley, shiny new bars, high quality pool tables, and groovy seating.
Since then I have been back a number of times, and each time I consistently find that this place really takes itself too seriously. I have a huge problem with the managers in this place. I'm not sure what they actually do there besides annoying customers about rules and policies, but I'm talking about the guys who seem to appear out of nowhere like a Ninja.
Went there after work and I had a hat on. I was one of about five people in the ENTIRE place, giving the friendly and chatty bartender business and tips. My friend and I were chatting, and Ninja swoops in from the rafters and tells me that I have to take off my hat, because at 6pm they enforce a dress code. I was told impolitely I can either take my hat off, or leave immediately if I had a problem with it. I told him I'd take my next beer elsewhere and that he and all of his well dressed imaginary friends can go smoke a rope.
The last time I went there, a group of coworkers and I went there after work to go bowing. There was 8 of us and our waitress was friendly, and FAST.
We were the only ones in there, sans a quiet couple a few lanes down nursing an ice water and a diet cola. It was a thursday non-red sox game night.
We are a haughty bunch, admittedly. But there was nothing more going on than well fed, thirsty gentlemen playing a very competitive game. There was some shouting, some kool-aid guy style "OHHH YEAAH's", fist pumping and high fiving. Good fun. It was now sundown, late enough where some noise and revelry should be acceptable at an entertainment and drinking establishment.
Enter Ninja. He landed from the rafters in front of all of us and pointedly told us that "If I have to tell you guys again, you're all getting tossed out of here and we won't issue a refund for the rest of your time." Really? Nice to meet you Rule-Ninja. We sparred over what was wrong, but agreed to tone it down a little bit. Someone made a snyde remark when he was out of earshot. As anyone knows, when you have a confrontation with a group of people and then hear uproarious laughter after you've walked away, you know that they're laughing at you. This guy had it out for us.
Our friendly waitress gave us an apologetic look and the hilarity cotinued. At the end 2 hours, our bill arrived, and we paid our bill and tipped our waitress handsomely and thanked her for her lightning beer-delivery speed. She was appreciative, and we asked to stay for another hour and we'll of course, pay and keep giving her business. She said sure - but she just needed to check with the manager to see how they'd price us as a group.
Few minutes later, the guy we may or may not have called Pee Wee Herman's boyfriend behind his back returned. He sternly told us he couldn't accomodate us because we were too loud. I asked who thought we were too loud, since we were the only people here. He said it's their polcy and said we could leave now. We did, but told him in front of the waitress its a shame he took more business from her. She looked pissed, too. He further hated us for de-masculating him in front of not only a female, but a coworker.
Bottom line is that these people have no people skills or business acumen to keep good paying customers PAYING. Their egos and policies get in the way. Rules are rules, but these guys keep everyone from having fun, including keeping tips in watiresses pocket to fulfill their ego and use what little authority they have in life at their shitty job at Jillians.
The managers here are the douchiest bunch of douches who've ever douched, this side of the Mississippi. There's not much of an alternative to such a place though (Except for Kings), and if you can avoid the Ninjas you can probably eke out a good time, so the best I can do is 2-stars for this one.
Jillian's, youre ok at best. The only reason I keep coming back is for your grasshoppers and ping-pong. And the only reason I like your grasshoppers is because they taste like a mint cookie, not because they get me drunk... because you guys serve the weakest drinks EVER! Oh yeah and the food is total crap too... dont waste your money. However the ping-pong does bump it up to 2 stars:)
I came here for a birthday party not too long ago. The place itself is pretty cool if you want to relax. Playing pool or bowling isn't necessary and it seems like there are a lot of people there to just shoot the breeze and watch some sports. The later it gets in the night, the more clubby the place becomes. Go early if you want a chill, sports environment, later if you don't.
This place is dirty. The crowd is unattractive. And the drink prices are steep, um why? This place tends to draw a trashy crowd that usually stays in faneuil hall, somehow the migrate upward for this bar. If I could give it no stars I would. It was easy to get in with a fake ID when I first moved to Boston at 18, and even then it was not worth going...
I don't have too much to say about Jillians. I've been there a few times before Red Sox games and it is the least crowded bar because it is so spacious. I have to admit that I like that. Of course it's expensive, because we ordered Blue Moons for $5.50 and they were in smaller glasses than normal. The waitstaff were friendly. I'd go again.
Good for bowling
Out of my luck, I came here on a nite of building maintenance~ So an hr early it closes. This was probably my 2nd time here since it remodeled and hit the lottery as this only happens 3x a yr!
With only 30 minutes to spare, we just suckered down a drink at the bar. I just haven't been out much I guess - I just wasn't used to the plastic glassware! When it looks like glass, it should be glass!!!
I thought this place would be cool - the beer marathon started here last year and seemed like a fun place to go bowling...
This is the worst place I've been to in a while. Please read this review if you're considering coming here - hopefully I can dissuade you, if the other reviews haven't already.
I bowl all the time (at least twice a week if not more). I own my own bowling shoes, ball, etc. I don't take it seriously - I love to get tanked, bowl all night, just have a good time.
The waitress was a space shot and came back twice to our table over a period of 3 hours. The place was dead, no excuse. Took us a half hour to pay the bill, and they still added on extras we never ordered. C'mon - I'm willing to give you a big tip if you serve me drinks! If you don't, you're only screwing yourself over.
The most insulting part of this night was when someone who appeared to be the manager came over as I was bowling - here's the convo:
*Bowls a strike*
Manager: You need to take off your sneakers and put on bowling shoes.
Me: These are bowling shoes. *Shows the bottom of the shoe*
Manager: No, those aren't bowling shoes. You need to wear bowling shoes on these lanes. Please take off your sneakers. *Looks pissed off*
Me: These ARE bowling shoes! *Takes off shoe and schools him on this new sport they call "bowling."
Ever tried to bowl in sneakers? You'll quickly find yourself face-flat in the middle of the lane. Wearing sneakers at a bowling alley is very unpleasant...it's worth the 2-3 bucks to rent a pair.
It's understandable to think that I'm wearing sneakers if you've never really been bowling before - but YOU WORK AT A BOWLING ALLEY! How clueless can you be???
My first time home from college way back in winter of 02 (god i'm so old) my friends took me to jillians, it was awesome... pool tables and arcades... what was there to not love? I even played DDR for the first time there (Annmarie picked the song it's raining men...). So naturally when I moved back to boston, I wanted to give it another go. I went there for a Bosup and saw the new Lucky Strike, which was pretty cool. I was sad they got rid of the arcade in favor of bowling, but what can you do?
You know, take bowling, make it look 'cool', add $10 drinks, and you feel like you are in LA.... cause that's how people in LA bowl, with 8inch heels and cocktail dresses.
It was a decent lounge area, I mean, so much space you never felt crowded. Enough bars that you should have minimal waiting when ordering your $9 drink. (PS they have knob creek, and it's delicious). (Though it took forever to close out the tab at the end of the night)
If you want to bowl, or shoot pool, show up early, at like 11 o clock there's a 2 hour wait... kind of ridiculous. The pool rates were reasonable when i went for my b-day, like, 10 bucks an hour. Maybe that's a little high, but the tables were good.
Two of the coolest things about the place are: 1) There's a rooftop bar, and 2) They have a strongest punch machine. BE WARNED this thing take dollar bills, yea dollah dollah bills y'all, this thing will eat your cash. Also it will promote fights and competition. But it's the best dollar spent, especially if you have the strongest punch.
One weird thing that I wasn't too crazy for was the bouncer in the bathroom handing out towels. I mean, yeah i like the towels, but you know, after you watch me piss all night... you could be a little friendly? Just kind of weird altogether. What happened to just using the air dryers!
But yeah, it was fun for a bigger group of people, and I really like shooting pool there, so no real big complaints. Though i think I'll save the cash and just find a decent pool haul by my place (Lowell)
I liked you better when you were an arcade. And I like King's better for bowling.
Lucky Strike is for tourists.
I'm in a league there, so I expect to be able to start bowling at the start time of the league. Nope. Perhaps the Lucky Strike folks think that the deliriously loud music and the shifting pictures up above the lanes will distract us from the poor customer service.
While the "bowling alley food" at King's is nothing short of awesome, Lucky Strike is merely passable. I don't think the burger I ate will make me sick, but the surliness of the waitstaff might.
Still, it's a big alley, La Verdad is downstairs, and it may not be awful on a weeknight. But I have my doubts.
I think one's perception of Jillian's is definitely contingent upon what day of the week you are there. I was there last night (Monday) and had a great time. It's a HUGE space in a cool building and they played decent music. Our waitress was nice. I didn't bowl, but shoes, and 2 games was $15. Beer was $5.75, not terrible for a Landsdowne establishment. They have a ton of big screen TV's, lots of pool tables, and of course bowling. It's a decent place to hang out when it's quiet. Definitely get's a little crazy on the weekend or when there is a game. Don't bother to try to get a pool table or bowling lane on a Friday or Saturday night unless you are there super early.
This place kind of resembles a department store of entertainment options. It's convenient, nice and easy that everything is there but going to specialty places is usually a better experience. Everything is kind of on the expensive side except some beer options I suppose. It's very easy to run up a tab if you stay more than an hour or so though. One major complaint for me for the bowling: I can never seem to find bowling balls that are the right size.
I don't care if it's free, I will not go to Jillian's.
Repeat after me: Bad customer service isn't good for business.
A few more times ...
Got it? Good.
Such potential that all went to waste.
So, I made an unexpected visit to Jillian's last night, waiting out the rain delay at the Twins game. Oops - I mean the Sox game - sorry.
We were lucky enough to grab the last open pool table, as the were filling up fast with wet baseball fans. The were not expecting the rush and they were a little understaffed. It took a while for a server to find us to take our drink order. We were hungry so we ordered some food - I had the BBQ burger and my buddy had the Club. I've had better burgers; in fact, it was over-cooked to the point of charred. The fries were good. My buddy said his sandwich was good, but he chips were horrible - I tried one to confirm. I've had their chicken bites on a previous visit and they were pretty good.
I enjoyed the atmosphere and the pool. Reminded me just how horrible I am at the game. I've also bowled here on a previous visit and enjoyed that as well.
It did seem a little spendy - $70 for 2 hours of pool, food and drinks. I'll probably be back.
So I loved Lucky Strikes in Philly. But the first thing I saw when I went to the restroom on the 3rd floor was a mouse.. GROSSS.. right by the kitchen too.
Besides that I would say it is standard Lucky Strike Lane. The wait staff & bartenders were slow. Especially on the 2nd floor .. good luck getting a drink. They were super quick to clear off tables though.. even when their was still some beer in the glasses :(.
I absolutely DESPISE this place...worst service EVER...you couldn't pay me to go back...the only people ruder than the servers are the bouncers, and the only people ruder than the bouncers are the managers...I can only hope that the impending economic crisis bankrupts this place...
F'N HATE IT
The food here sucks. Seriously. Fried mac & cheese balls? Its more like baked cheddar cheese that isn't really baked. Blue cheese covered potato chips? uh........
On the bright side, sweet potato fries are good.
But to echo some of the other reviews for Jillians:
Pros: Huge space, lots of variety on the different floors, lounge atmosphere, decent bowling, lots of pool tables, decent music, short lines
Cons: Plastic cups, slow service, gross food
Overall: I'd like to say its decent, but other than some fun games, I'd probably avoid Jillian's on any given night.
FOURTH FLOOR
Oh. My. God. The terrace on the fourth floor is amazing! Well, if you take the smokers away ... there's a view, fresh air, and quiet. But what is also amazing and an ideal spot to rent out for smallish to medium parties is the private party room (also 4th floor)! Foozball, pool, private bar, bathrooms, catering... Oh, it was fabulous! I have no idea how much it cost, but it was way better than I expected.
Jillian's has great potential that's squelched by incompetent customer service. The place is huge, nicely decorated, covered in pool tables and couches and full of little nooks and crannies. It would be perfect for special events. Yet every time I go to Jillian's for a party or corporate event, it turns into a complete clusterf*ck.
One of my friends tried to organize an office party here, and I got to see first hand how badly the place is run.
It took us 15 minutes to find our room, because the building is a maze and none of the staff were informed of our party.
Jillian's didn't have any AV equipment available, so any company that wants to do a presentation has to bring their own projector and screen. And good luck finding a wall jack.
We were in a back room, and the most frequently asked question was "where is the waitress," because she felt that sticking her head in once and hour was sufficient to keep 40 people properly served (that's right - one waitress for a party of 40, plus whatever else she was doing ).
And the staff are absolute Nazis regarding the event timing. Part of the package included bowling from 6-9, and we were kicked off the lanes at 8:55 with two frames left to play. It was a Thursday night and the there was only one other lane being used, but the shut us down mid game and told us we'd either have to leave, or pay out of pocket to finish the game.
To the management of Jillian's - get your shit together, or sell the place to someone who does!
I thought that someone's comment "waitresses dress like hookers" is mean. His girlfriend must have told him to write like that. They look nice. But I can see that they often become the prime target of "So..what do you think of her?" - the question girlfriends/wives ask their significant others.
Women, please don't ask that question if you don't want to hear your significant other saying "Yes". We, men, cannot think in details like you do. Once we see them, we can come up with answer only in binary(yes/no, true/false, 1/0, hot/dog, fuckable/unfuckable, etc...). We can't really come up with why we think they are good looking or not.
Anyways, yes. at least the waitress who served us was nice, attentive and fairly swift in bringing the food and drinks.
Decor is very nice and price is expensive enough and they got door nazis to keep meat headed frat boys away.
Drink price is market price($4.50 for a pint of guinness). Chicken fingers tasted very good even I was sober.
I think they have enough pool tables to keep you wait too long. If not, you can always kill time at the bar. I also found that beer selection was quite extensive.
Only thing I would suggest is to brighten up the light that shines down the ping pong table. It' was kinda hard to see the ping pong ball because it was too dark.
I would come back again.
Let's precondition this with the fact that I had a gift certificate that I had won from a raffle for 2 hrs. of FREE Pool with appetizers on 5 tables. I called and set up the event. I even called the week before to confirm.
The day of the event:
- I was running behind and so I called them to inform this of this, due to the heavy traffic conditions coming out of the Pike. The girl on the phone was cordial. However, she didn't mention to me the location of where my party was going to be located.
- I arrive and can not seem to figure out where my party is located between the 4 levels. First off, how can you have an establishment like this without some sort of host directing traffic on which floor to go to for various events? I mean the sketchiness of the staircase is one thing, but not being able to figure out where I'm suppose to be is a whole 'nother story.
- Due to the conditions above, might be the reason why our party of 25 ended up being like a party of maaaaaaybe... 15? I know it took ME a long ass time trying to figure out where our table was.
- We were suppose to have 5 tables. Wait, what? Yeh... we only got 3 tables to play on because there was some sort of miscommunication and they pretty much F*CKed up. But when the server tried to explain this to me, I could have sworn she had said that she was going to see if management can do anything about it, such as extending our play time or something.
Okay fine all that aside, I tried to start a tab, but for whatever reason she can't split it between the parties?! WHAT?!?! That's stupid. You want me to try to figure out who owes what for their drinks on a tab for "25" people?! Sorry I may not be a math genius, but I also didn't know I was suppose to be working for you. I thought I was the customer here and can request a separate tab, no? Whatever, you're the one who's gonna have to figure out how to run multiple credit cards at the end of the night, not my fault if you can't figure out how to split tender later.
Cut to the end of our evening:
At exactly 8 pm, we were told that we had to either leave or put down a credit card to play longer on our 3 tables. Wait, what?! I thought you were going to extend our play time because you guys f*cked up.
Leading to the poor lil blond girl running to management to "deal" with me. Basically telling me, the customer that no I am wrong and that I heard wrong. No, I don't think so. But whatever, we'll leave. Just means you don't get our business in the future nor more drink orders.
That's alright, we were on our way out to karaoke down the street anyway. You obviously don't need our business. And we obviously don't wanna patron your establishment from here on out. Not only have you just lost 15 future customers but don't forget the word of mouth and the power of 10. Wait wait, I can do the math here, so 15 customers x 10 people they tell... yep that's 150 people that will be hearing of our bad experience here.
Like the Joshua Tree in Somerville, I do my best to avoid the following:
1) having this place in my general line of vision
2) walking past here (crossing the street is the preferred method)
3) actually walking INSIDE
When I think of Jillians, here's what comes to mind:
Hair gel, men with blowouts and tweezes eyebrows, tanning salons, techno music, young girls dressed like Hooters waitresses (I wince for them). And guess what? I'm not wrong.
Went recently (for the first time in years because I can't stand this place) and had fun playing pool because I was with a great group of friends who distracted me from the aforementioned peeves.. We waited a verrrry long time to bowl. We were with a group of 12 and they gave us one weeny lane. For 12 people! It took so long to get through one game that by the end we were completely drained. I saw more than one frown in my group of normally cheery pals. Some were actually lying down on couches, too fatigued to go on.
There are PLENTY of other places in Boston to bowl and play pool. I will never come here again.
Loud.
Dirty Carpets.
Poor Management.
Crappy overpriced drinks.
Mouse traps scattered around the floor.
You will see them in the corners of this cess pool of a place.
Bathrooms that hardly function and doors that don't close.
Kids that are able to bowl and play around adults. Calling all pervs!
I'm between a 2 and 3 star review. I've had a full range of experiences here... been here and had an "A-OK" time (3 stars).. a "Meh. I've experienced better" and the last time was far worse than an "Eek! Methinks not!" - so ultimately... I'm going to go with 3 stars... and give Jillians the benefit of the doubt that this last experience was just a really off night.
Pool tables are in good condition, drinks aren't crazy over priced, and pool prices are comparable for WEEKEND pool playing. Customer service, however, really needs some work. Read Roni's review for full details of what happened this night.... she has done a good job at describing it in detail.
Word to the wise - if you're looking to play pool during the week - just down the street at Boston Billiards, you'll pay a hell of a lot less, and you'll get a hell of a lot better customer service!
As I said... I'm giving Jillians the benefit of the doubt... if/when I go again - depending on that experience I'll have to update this review.
Theoretically, Jillian's has some things going for it: the bowling alley looks to be quite nice (though also probably expensive), the pool tables are well-kept, and it's got that hipster lighting thing going that brings us hipster types in (being a hipster type that I may or may not be, I know these things)
It's too bad the service effin' blows. If you screw up, take responsibility. And Jillian's screwed up with regards to the reservation. Roni has explained this quite well, so check out her review for the full scoop.
Now, apparently other Jillian's locations have a more D&B feel. This place definitely did not have that. Other than the bowling alley and the pool tables, this place is an overglorified Fenway bar with a shorter line. If I wanted that experience, I'd go to Boston Beer Works, and they've at least got a bunch of different beers.
The drinks aren't terribly overpriced, but the non-beer ones don't have much going for them. I had a lemon drop shot which can be best described by the one star review line, "Eek, methinks not".
I do have to give the second star on the basis of the pool: the game itself, despite my complete inability to play it, is okay to play at Jillian's. The tables aren't slanted or off in any way, which cannot be said of all places that have pool (hint hint, Felt). Also, this may have been because I was playing with kick-ass Yelpers, but I don't know.
Overall, it's not a place that I would want to go again. If friends were having a party here, sure, but it would be something based on the people I'm with rather than going for the sake of going.
The drinks are served in small plastic cups, security constantly exchanges jibes with patrons concerning a dress code that appears to change minute to minute, the food is overpriced and never what you actually ordered, it's like pulling teeth to get servers to fix any of the many, many bill issues, the bowling lanes are horrendously maintained, the music occasionally rises to the level of tolerable... the whole place is painful and a black mark on the city... it's a great space in a great location horrendously, if not criminally, underutilized...
The upside - they have a fair number of decent pool tables...
Still...
Don't waste your time...
Don't come here thinking this is a local Dave and Buster's - and not saying that I was hoping for that, just saying that was what I thought Jillian's had become since the last time I visited years ago.
really this is the new "Kings gets packed, so let's do that" place - so essentially bowling, pool, ping pong, YAWN
I only came for a company 'morale event', so I haven't experienced it on its 'good night' - but I realized it was what I experienced, but more drunk rude people.
not my scene a'tall.
The place is posh, trying hard to look like a high-end, classy place. The large couches by the bowling alley are a nice touch, I will admit, as is the wall of tvs turned to various sports. But I draw the line at the bowling. Quite frankly, their prices are ridiculous: $3 shoe rental, $7/game. What? You're nice, Lucky Strike Lanes, but not that nice. 2.5 stars for sure. I'm feeling generous, and had a good time with the people I went with, so you get bumped up to 3, but honestly I'd rather go bowling somewhere less pretentious and less expensive.
My most recent experience here was this past weekend on a Sunday with Andy and another couple, we bowled a few games after about a 15 minute wait and a drink and then played five games of pool.
I have to say, I never bowl as bad as when I bowl here, but I don't think that has to do with the lanes, I just can't get into it here for some reason.
My one criticism is that the lounge couches are a little too low and deep in the bowling area and don't make for comfortable waiting while bowling.
We didn't eat anything, but the waitress was more than attentive to our need of drinks.
If you go here to bowl on a weekend night it's a guaranteed 2+ hour wait with a limit of 2 games per group. I've got no idea how long the wait is for pool tables downstairs, but I'm assuming it's similar. Despite what some people say there are NO bowling reservations.
The service is OK. The waitresses are scantily clad, which actually made the girls in our party more entertaining when they bitched about it. The thing that stuck in my mind was they never screwed up a drink order and they were relatively fast for the number of people there they had to serve.
The place in general is poorly designed. They should have combined the bowling and pool hall into one level and split the bar/lounge off to another level. The thing that really pissed me off is there were several couples there sitting by themselves in booths designed to seat at least 6 people. They were just hanging out staring at the groups in the lounge area who were forced to yell over the music because the couches are spread so far apart.
We were waiting there so long that I noticed the lazy DJ had a 60 minute loop going that almost ran through twice in the same order. He just kept yelling for people to make requests. Those cocktail waitresses would make a better DJ then that guy.
Large groups of yeah-dudes trash talking each other every time they don't get a strike and throngs of chickie-poos jumping up and down and screeching every time they knock down even one pin? I'm there!
We arrived about 1/2 hour early for the birthday celebration we were attending, so my companion and I sat down at the bar to have a quick dinner beforehand. I thought our bartender was very polite and attentive. Of course, there were about 5 other people at the bar at the time, so the service shouldn't have been anything but exceptional at that point. I ordered a Blue Moon and the beau ordered a French martini. She quickly replied, "Sure, but I can't do the champagne float that's supposed to be on that. Is that ok?" Boo for no champagne float, but I was just impressed that the bowling alley bartender knew what a French martini was. I tried a sip and it was pretty good, I must say.
As far as food, my turkey club was pretty good. A huge triple decker sandwich that was almost too big to eat. For me there was way too much turkey on it, throwing off the crucial turkey:bacon ratio a bit, but still tasty. It came with homemade potato chips in a cute little white paper bag. They were good and crunchy but lacking in flavor. I don't think they were salted very much if at all. I think the food is slightly overpriced. $9.50 for a turkey club and potato chips seems a little steep to me. Maybe I'm just cheap, I don't know.
The bowling was a good time, but bowling is pretty much the same everywhere. So what made it fun? Well, let's see. There's the automatic scoreboard with the fun cartoon characters that either celebrate with you when you've done well or ridicule you for getting a gutter ball. I also liked the music mix they were playing so much I looked for the Lucky Strike soundtrack on the way out. No such luck. One recommendation I could made for the bowling is to get more balls with larger finger holes. There were only like two balls on our lane that I could use, as was the case for some of the guys in the lane next to us.
We had a spread of appetizers set out for us to enjoy while bowling. Sadly, the apps did not seem to live up to quality of the dinner I'd had earlier. The pepperoni pizza looked like it had been topped with extra grease and the chicken on a stick was dry. The bbq chicken bites were ok.
I would definitely come back here, but I'd be sure to go early as there was a waiting line for lanes around 10. I don't like bowling enough to wait for it.
Oh yeah, and what's their policy on minors? When we arrived at 6:30, there were tons of surly teens about, but they seemed to disappear eventually. Do they throw them out at a certain time? Not an issue for my friends as we're old (I mean, we were there for a 30th birthday), but my beau's sister who is 20 commented on how she wished she could go here on a Saturday night.
It's a place that is great for watching sports, meeting and greeting. As for the bowling aspect, it's wonderful. Large screens are at the end of every lane. (10x15 ft screens. approx.) The music sometimes can be too loud. I love the computer screens that they score on. The best that I've seen in Boston surrounding area. Very up-to-date!
As for the price for bowling...It's too high, over priced.
Wasnt terrible wasnt great. Midline. I liked most of it then again we knew the bartender. That means speedy and strong drinks. So I am biased. Overall I say B!
Jillian's- Please help me help you.
I have been here numerous times, mostly because it is good, no great, for groups of large people. I went with 17 friends. There is something to do for everyone, and also it is connected to tequila rain so if you want to go check that out you can. Most people like to bowl as well, so between Luck Strike (3rd floor), and Jillian's (2nd floor), there ware a lot of lanes, all with proper seating and couches that people can sit and mingle.
Music was okay too.
Alright so you must be wondering why I would have only doled out 2 stars when it sounds like I like the place..... Welll here is why.
1. Sausage Fest- there were so many guys that there were lines at ALL bathrooms for the men. I have never seen that in the history of drinking. All the girls that were there walked past the line and were in shock because they have never seen a line for men, and no line for women.
2. The Service- To get a bowling lane it was quick I think my friends got one within 20 mins.
3. The Service- We started a tab on a table and when it was time to bowl half of us bowled or sat on a couch and watched and drank. The first round came, and then the second round came, after that, our waitress got abducted apparently. WHEN I TELL YOU THAT I TIMED HER AND IT WAS 37 MINUTES FROM WHEN SHE DROPPED OFF MY DRINK FROM THE TIME I SAW HER AGAIN IT IS NOOOOOOOO LIE.
4. The service- During my 37 minutes of being thirsty, I attempted to ask a few other workers if they saw my waitress they could send her over. All of them but one snapped at me and told me "I'm not your server", and then walked away.
-As a bartender/waiter, I know what it is like to have other people stop you and ask to send over a waitress/waiter, but I also know that I would never snap at a customer who is trying to spend more money. It was heinous.
****I asked one girl who was very nice to come over and started a tab with her. She did even though it was out of her section, and we got 6 drinks, a pizza, and onion rings, and our bill was 40 dollars. Reasonably priced I thought (we left that girl a 15 dollar tip too, soooo suck on that abducted waitress.)
ADVISORY NOTICE- don't order vodka redbull because they are 14.50
****Note to Jillian's**** Please have a staff meeting and discuss the term customer service. Not to sound like an ad for JP Morgan, but in these bad economic times, you guys should be doing all you can to secure business. Your waiters and Barstaff earn there living off of people like me, and to have sucky waitstaff hurts your business more than you know.
25% OFF 1st Time Customers!
Neighborhood: Allston/Brighton
Holiday Pies
Neighborhood: Kendall Square/MIT
Neighborhood: Kendall Square/MIT
Category: Pool Halls
Neighborhood: Back Bay
Category: Bowling
Neighborhood: North Cambridge
Category: Bowling
Neighborhood: Downtown
Category: Arcades
Neighborhood: Dorchester
Category: Amusement Parks
Really fun things to do on a first date, some…
My local dry cleaner, watering hole, deli, cafe,…
They may be hyped, but skip these places--I'm…
