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Categories: Bowling, Bars, Pool Halls, Restaurants [Edit]
Neighborhood: Back BayHynes Convention Center (Green)
Massachusetts Ave (Orange)
Mon. 5:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.
Tue-Sun. 11:30 a.m. - 2:00 a.m.
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Even though it's not my favorite set of lanes in the area (Lanes and Games, ILU) I seem to come here an awful lot. It's a favorite party venue for my office and a centralized locale to sling some big balls with friends. I was also here for the past 6 weeks with my team bowling clurb.
King's is a gussied up lil bowling alley with the prices to match. But hey, I dig the blue light, red lane disco scene, and I dig the decent music and huge screens right above the lanes with which to keep up with the sporting event of the mo. They probably have about 20ish lanes in the main part, I haven't been over to the private area but I think there's a few back there as well. Pool tables, a few video games, and 2 bars fill out the rest of this establishment. There's also a separate restaurant-lounge that I've never ventured into. Service, in general, is ok. I've only had one waitress that truly rocked, the rest are adequate.
Maybe this isn't fair, but here's sort of why I'll probably forever hold a grudge against the King and think twice about giving them my business. When my bowling team won the champsh, we drank a beer out of the trophy but got our victory mellow harshed when we were told by King's staff it was not kosher and we had to pour it out. C'mon, seriously? We have bowled at your venue for 6 weeks, bought drinks and food everytime, and we can't drink one measly, symbolic Miller Lite out of a wee trophy. Lame. Get off your high horsie.
The owner just emailed me a response to my review. She disagrees with my sentiment that by offering free bowling on Industry Nights (Mondays) but having very few of their lanes available for this free bowling is misleading. She offers these suggestions to bowl sooner and wait less time:
(And I quote) "1. You may opt to enroll your work (if you work in a bar, restaurant or a hotel) in the free league by e-mailing meghan@lyonsgroup.com leagues are a 6 week commitment and the winner receives a free pizza party in the private room.
2. You can make a priority lane reservation -Which is a sit down dinner in the restaurant and you get bumped to the top of the waitlist for lanes.
3. Be here earlier than 9pm to put your name on the waitlist for bowling, if there is a list. You can also play pool in the mean time as that's free after 9 as well...The earlier you are the less time you have to wait!"
My response to this:
1. Well I guess that was the league that took up all the lanes making the list long. Good option if you want to make that commitment but there is no advertisement that I could find of this league with the advertisement I saw about free bowling.
2. So this is probably why a bunch of other lanes weren't available and why the wait time was so long for everyone else.
3. This is blatantly untrue. We arrived at 8:45 and the person working there told us there is no way we could put our name down for industry night free bowling until 9 or later.
So I would add a star for the owner responding and the offer to join the free bowling league. I would take a star away for #3 which is either a lie or the staff is unaware of this...either way it isn't a good thing.
So there are so many things that make me want to give this a better rating. It has pool, bowling,… Read more »
Wow. What a disappointment King's. I've been at your establishment every Sunday night for six weeks (plus 8 weeks in the spring, 6 weeks last fall). That's 20+ visits to your establishment. I can't, in good conscience, recommend people here--I'll have to recommend your competition.
It's your customer service. It's dismal. Aside from your one blond, spiky haired waiter, I haven't received one ounce of good customer experiences here. And I'm really disappointed.
Your front of house staff that handles the shoes and lanes repeatedly gives us grief when YOUR lanes are broken. I'd love to reset it myself and not need your services, but you changed the computer system and removed my ability. A single apology or recognition of the problem would have sufficed. To tell a paying customer it's his or her fault because they hit a button is pretty unacceptable.
Tonight, I asked the bartender for a drink because my waitress went 10+ minutes between visiting the lane. He walked AWAY from me, no drink in hand. The man who checks id's, rude. Not a single employee, except the one waiter, has ever displayed any interest in customer service.
Finally, tonight takes the cake. Besides no drinks for nearly a quarter of a game, it got worse. When we tried to pay, with a gift card and a BYFAD (buy your friend a drink card), none of our money was accepted. I understand we've missed the fine print on the gift card, but an apology would have been lovely. The BYFAD card, of which you have a sticker on your window, is a little harder to swallow. Again, I am a repeat customer, you'd think you'd take the card for $15 dollars, knowing full well I spend money here week in and week out. EDIT: The BYFAD card doesnt work here for drinks, so while frustrating and confusing, not technically King's fault.
If you had studied any service marketing, you would understand the damage of pissing off a repeat customer. You should really rethink the attitude and service level expected from your staff.
Amendment: I talked to the Manager, who was genuinely concerned about our experience(s). I'll update again in the winter when the league starts back up and I'm here every weekend.
This place is A-OK.
We all had fun, but for the price paid overall quality should have been better. It was nice that their billiard tables are 8 feet, but.... the felt is very loose and most of the sticks are warped or bent.
The bowling was but... it was nearly twice as expensive as anywhere that im used to bowling.
The 80s music was a nice change from the normal cRAP
The Shortrib pizza, and Mediterranean pizza were very good.
I will come back again, but no real reason for me to become a regular.
Maybe because I'm a sucker for bowling shoes and showing off my off days where i get 2 turkeys in a row while I'm drinking a martini, but I seriously am a fan of this place!
I've been here a few times and each time the music has been great, the staff even better, and the $ for the drinks just puts a smile on your face. The bowling set up is really nice with a nice edge (dark blue lighting) to it. There are tvs everywhere and you can watch your favorite sport while you bowl, play air hockey (another one I love!), or simply enjoy a drink with your friends here.
Monday nights here are industry nights where if you work you basically get to play for free! Come early, get your snazzy bowling shoes on, and have a blast. This deal really can't be beat. I'm also told they have karaoke there. I honestly couldn't think of how much better this place could get, but knowing this now definitely makes it that much better!
The only thing I don't quite take to is their food - though they have a pretty big menu, it's not the best. I had chicken pot stickers and calamari, two dishes that you just can't do wrong. But I was left dissatisfied with the calamari. The potstickers were slightly better though.
But I'll DEF be back here again!
Last night was my second time at Kings. The first time it was not so busy so we had great service, and got a lane right away.
However, last night we had a not so great service. I was told 30 mins for a lane, and we waited over an hour. While we waited we went to the restaurant bar (not the smaller bar by the lanes) to get a drink. We were three of five people at the bar. The bartender walked around and kept telling us he would get to us, but he didnt seem to be doing anything. After waiting 15 mins he finally got us our beers.
Once we got our lane, it wasnt working and we had to get them to reset it. The lane next to us was leaving and left a table full of dishes that were there for like 30 mins. No one was coming by to bus them.
We got our lane working and kept pressing the call button to place food and beer orders but no one ever came. Then the lane next to us went down. The lady came over to tell us not to bowl right now becase we could hit the guy at the end of the lane inside the ball return. Luckily she was a server so we placed an order.
They only way we got her to place the order was because she came over to tell us not to bowl. Otherwise who knows how long we would have waited. They finally cleared the table next to us, only because they had to make room for our food.
We had to wait over 30 mins while they worked on the lane next to ours, luckily we had the food to eat by that point.
Kings is a great and fun concept. Bowling, good food and beer!!! They really need to work on the staffing and service though. They are not planned out properly to be able to handle the amount of customers and requests right now.
And find bartenders that are willing to help people, instead of being more interested in the football game on the TV!!
Overall I had a GREAT time last night, but that was because I was with great friends who made it a fun time.
Never made it inside.
Was holding an empty 40oz bottle when I showed up at the door. Rather than throw it in the bushes, I asked the idiot working the door where I could throw it away. He said I wasn't allow in because I had been drinking. Of course I had been drinking and I planned to drink a lot more upon my entrance to their establishment.
Instead I went to .... I forget.
Love this place, they have karaoke, bowling, pool, arcades, food, drinks... you name it...
Its a bit on the fancy side, but extremely convenient.
Parking garage next door... its just perfect.
We went to Kings tonight for a friend's birthday. Some of us got there early and found a seat at the bar. Bartenders were attentive and knowledgable, and I got my drink pretty quickly. My problem with Kings was the atmosphere. It's more loungy and that's not my style. Not to mention that there was no place to sit. Literally we were standing in doorways and getting yelled at because all the tables and space around the bar was full.
My advice if you're going on a Saturday night, go for dinner at 7pm and squat your table until later. That way you're guaranteed a seat and you can watch people make a fool of themselves singing karaoke.
Needless to say, we left and went to another establishment down the street.
I gotta take it down a star. The customer service in this place has really slipped. I come here a lot and every time I've had a problem with a lane and tried to get someone to help me, I've gotten attitude from the people up front. While I've had some nice servers in the recent past, I just don't feel they are all that attentive. Also, what's the deal with not accepting gift cards for booze? I just feel like it's always been something every week we've come here for the past couple of months.
Kings gets it done and we have a blast. It's the only bowling ally I know anywhere where people… Read more »
This place is definitely a good way to kill lots of time with a medium sized group. I've bowled here a couple of times and it is definitely a nice bowling alley. The lanes work well (no jamming or ball return issues) and there are tv screens all around to watch some sports while bowling. It's definitely more of a fun place to go, so if you are a serious bowler trying to practice for a league or something, then you would probably want something thats a little more calm and less distracting.
After bowling this last time, we wandered over to the pool hall and decided to play for an hour. The tables are in decent condition, but they need to do a better job at not putting everyone at tables next to each other when there are plenty of other tables in the back not being used.
The food there is okay, nothing special but good enough to munch on while you play. I tasted some of my friend's sesame ginger chicken wings which didnt taste very flavorful and the dipping sauce was too spicy for me. But then I ordered potato skins and those were really good, so I recommend those if you want a cheap appetizer.
The main problem we had though was that the people who work there don't do much to enforce safety and stop chaos. We had a whole family that stayed on the lane together the entire time and the little girl kept hanging on the ball return and sticking her hand in. The waitress told them once that she needed to get off it, but she didnt even stay there to make sure the girl actually got off it...and of course the girl did not.
I know the bowling alley's job isnt to teach good parenting, but they should be concerned about the safety of those playing. There were a few times where some of the kids would start to wander on our lane as we were actually bowling and we had to move out of the way and stop ourselves from knocking the kids over or pelting them with the bowling ball!!
Trivia and College Night (Tuesdays)
Trivia:
It can take quite awhile to get through the whole game as you are given a whole song and sometimes more to answer a question. Also, the questions seemed to be geared toward a more senior generation, so unfortunately, my friends and I (24-25 yo) placed last.
The food was good. I ordered the portobello and goat cheese pizza- I would recommend it. However, the advertisement leads one to believe that there are food and drink specials when there aren't. They just consider themselves on the cheaper side.
Bowling:
Free bowling (2 games) AND free shoe rental. A really good deal. One of the employees was a bit unsavory while we were on the waitlist, but my friends and I shrugged it off and had a good time anyways.
We'll return sometime soon, and hopefully, we'll have an even better experience.
Bowling is always fun. I am not a fan of the new trend in night hangout bowling places with the neon lights and dark lanes. But as a place to hang out with some friends and relax it was nice.
What I do like a lot about Kings was the food available. Now don't get me wrong this a bowling alley not high cuisine. But the food was much better then i am used to at most bowling alleys.
The pulled pork sandwiches were on standard rolls, adequate. But the pork itself was well made, soft and tender with a tasty BBQ sauce flavor. Not as moist as I prefer but better then most.
The shining star was the sausage pizza. Thick cheese with thing crust. The sausage was firm and tasty without being too oily.
This was all before the pitchers of beer that are brought out fairly quickly so I think the food reviews are real and not after beer taste buds.
As a side note the area is clean and well kept without that stale cigarette smell from years of smoking that plagues some older bowling alleys.
Perfect.
Love the design of the place - not only is it spotless but the decorations and lighting and rugs and different levels and rooms and places to hang out are just spot-on.
Waitresses are perfect too - they really keep you loaded, which is the smart thing to do - do drunk people tip more?
Bowling is fine - they have about a dozen or so lanes in one area. Then there is this small room tucked around the corner which has 4 private lanes and is the perfect area for a corporate event! So cute.
And the food - the food is PERFECT. Bacon wrapped scallops, brie and crackers, ribs, pizzas - I've had it ALL and it was ALL GREAT.
Deserts! They have excellent deserts too! All number of chocolates and truffles and those little pastry balls with the stuff in them? Fondue - chocolate fondue too!!!!! Awesome.
And to top it all off? Miller High Life in bottles. Perfect.
-Pitchers of beer (1 star)
-Bowling (1 star)
-Air Hockey (2 stars)
-Douche bags with Jersey Blowout hairdo's and trashy North Shore girlfriends (0 Stars)
What better a time to have beers and greasy snacks all while bowling than your best friend's birthday? Luckily, it was a Monday night (industry night) where if you work in the industry you get free games (but of course have to pay for the food, alcohol and shoe rentals). I wasn't necessarily eager to go, but being my first time I was optimistic.
King's blew me away. It started with one of the managers speaking with me when I checked in. He was incredibly friendly and obviously passionate about his job. After small talk, we ended up getting to use the private room in the back and had an incredible time. It is definitely a place that it is as good as you make it- but they really provide an awesome atmosphere to have a fun night.
We went to King's yesterday with 7 of us to bowl. It was a Saturday at 12:30. We went at the perfect time of the day. The place was totally empty except a kids Birthday party.
I really love the way the inside of the place is. It's really retro and the colors are really amazing. It's a great place to go for bowling.
We also had food here. The Nachos are huge!! As are the prices! I had chicken/steak/shrimp skewers fries and a soda it cost $20.00. It's very expensive to eat here. As it is to bowl.
For each person out of the group to bowl 2 strings and for shoe rentals it was $15.00. Then if you are driving in, even after you get your ticket validated ($5.00 off) parking next door is $20.00) so excpect to drop at least $35.00+ to bowl at Kings.
I think I'll stick to the local bowling alley It's half the money!!!! I guess you really have to pay for the "Boston" nightlife though. I must admit it's really a gorgeous bowling alley though and the food was definitely delicious!!!
I prefer Lucky Strike. King's is quite overpriced. There were 4 of us. Bowling and shoe rentals cost us $70! We only bowled 2 strings, because they kicked us out of our lane because people were waiting. It would have been nice to know this before we ordered our 4th pitcher. I went there to bowl and drink, not to hang around with WT bachelorette and bday parties from Revere.
I had heard about Kings through friends and was anxious to try it out.
For someone that does not live directly in the city, this place is sort of hard to find. Due to the fact that it was early on a Tuesday night, the restaurant was empty and about half of the bowling lanes were full. The decor is retro lounge with pictures of celebrities who have visited plastered all over the walls. It's a bit dark in the restaurant and I nearly fell down the stairs because they aren't lit, but I guess that's the vibe they are going for.
We decided to eat first and were just told to pick a table wherever we wanted seeing that we were 2 of 6 customers in the whole place. Our waitress was extremely slow coming over to our table at first and not as polite as I would have expected seeing that she had no other tables to wait on.
The menu has a good variety of foods, there is a huge drink menu, and the prices are reasonable for the neighborhood.
I had the Chicken Sandwich - sans the avocado mayo - which comes with a pile of delicious hand cut fries that were cooked perfectly. The sandwich was a good size and had some great toppings, so it was very filling. I found it annoying that the water glasses are so small, but perhaps that's just me hating to have an empty glass after three sips.
During our meal our waitress was hovering and then when we wanted the check, she was nowhere to be found. The service is the sole reason I gave this less than 4 stars, because the food was fabulous, even empty the atmosphere was fun, and once we were finished with our meal, things were picking up and it looked like it would have been a great place to hang out.
The lanes were full by the time we finished dinner, but we'll definitely go back to bowl.
This place sucks. This place would get 3 stars if it weren't for the staff. I was told to hurry up after the lounge/pool area was supposed to be reserved for a party. Then I was told there would be a 90 minute wait for bowling. 2 hours later, I ask how much longer it would be for bowling. the manager tells me it's actually a 90 to 180 minute wait. Thanks for telling me that when I got there.
^^^ this is how their scam works. They give false estimates of how long it will take to get on a lane so that you buy drinks for hours and hours. Not cool.
The staff here is robotic and soulless. They love to give canned responses, and could care less if you're not satisfied. After I argued with the manager about the waiting times, he kicked me out of the queue (that I had been waiting in for 2 hours). Thanks.
Save your money for a worthy establishment where they actually care about their patrons.
EDIT: I don't like to call people out, but the above reviewer works for Kings. If you've read my other reviews, you'll notice that I do in fact write legitimate, honest reviews. I tell it like it is. I give people the benefit of the doubt. I understand that people have off days, and might not want to come into work. I've given Kings the benefit of the doubt too many times, and now you couldn't force me to play buckhunter for 2 hours until I get on a lane.
Make a reservation at a bowling alley? Seriously?
Kings isn't Boston's best bowling alley... http://www.bostonmagaz... Sacco's bowl haven is by far the best, although they don't have tenpin (which is why I don't bowl there). Lanes and games even beats them out on Yelp's top bowling alleys http://www.yelp.com/se... Where is Kings? Number 4, with 3 stars. Look at the others on the list...you might just say it's Boston's worst bowling alley (aside from Lucky Strike...ha).
Yes, I'm hating because Kings really sucks. If you happen to like it, I'm really happy for you. Lanes and Games and Boston Bowl are way better and cheaper. Boston Bowl is open all night too, I might add. After Kings has closed and you're still not on a lane, head to Boston Bowl. They're open all night, and a hell of a lot nicer...
This place is cool. If you go expecting something fantatic or cheap then you're being silly. I knew exactly what to expect and I got it. We spent a TON of money, but then 4 fishbowls and many martinis later will lead to that. We paid a lot for bowling, but 8 people will lead to that. We waited FOREVER to bowl and sing, but I knew all this. what made this place so happy for me, was the fabulous staff. My bartender made the night. Cute, sweet, and attentive. The Karaoke list wasn't the best, but it wasn't a let down. They had great music in between and by the time I left, i was glad I chose here to celebrate my bday. Everyone had something to do, it wasn't too loud, and really, what's better then bowling a horrific game and singing shittier then a toddler. Also, the food wasn't that bad and the fish bowls just rock that much.
I have a love hate relationship with KINGS. I've had so many fun experiences and some pretty bad experiences.
First off.. If you come to Kings expecting great food.. don't. They make up for it with the fabulous drinks. They're food is not horrible... but it's a bit overpriced for the quality.
If you want to get a lane.. try to come early or make reservations. If you don't.. you'll be waiting for at least an hour or more --bad experience. The same goes for Pool.
The music and videos are fun... they have Karaoke nights Thursdays and Saturdays and live music on Friday and Saturdays.
I will return to KINGS.. the fun times with family and friends do outweigh the drink bill and mediocre food.
I finally got to come back here! The staff at Kings did an excellent job with facilitating my friend and I to get a lane, since last time the wait was so long. This time around we came on a Sunday at 6pm. The place was fairly crowded. Around 7pm or so it started to clear out, but I noticed that a large portion of space was reserved... a league maybe.
I thought the lanes and balls were all in really good condition... and I bowled the best game of my life. Seriously. 153... usually I'm happy if I break 100 and my all time high prior to that was 117!
Servers come around and bring you food/drink to the lanes, and they were very attentive as well. I like the whole blacklight atmosphere, and the music they were playing was good. There are 15 lanes for bowling, I believe, so I understand how it was a bit challenging to get a lane last time. I also noticed an advertisement for free bowling after 9pm. Not sure if this is on a specific day... or if it's every day, or other stipulations around it, but if it worked out that you were able to take advantage of it... that sounds like something that would be great to do with a group of friends - come BEFORE 9, pay for a few games, then stay AFTER 9 and play the rest of the games for free... eat, drink, and be merry.
Hopefully my next venture to Kings won't take me so long to get back! Again, their staff is very helpful and attentive, so if you have a question or concern, talk to them about it instead of leaving disgruntled... excellent customer service and an all around good time/atmosphere.
I can't review Kings on the bowling, as I never got the chance to bowl. I arrived with a friend, and… Read more »
Once upon a time, two brothers set out to find a place to bowl (ten-pin) in the city of Boston.
It was a difficult task. They spent hours on the Internet and looking through phone books, trying to find a place within the city itself -- or at least T accessible -- as the brothers lacked a horseless carriage. All of this seemed to be of no avail.
Finally, the brothers discovered a listing for Kings, in Back Bay. And, as a phone call revealed, it was not an obsolete listing. The business still existed!
And so the brothers set out to bowl.
They set out on foot, thinking it to be a nice day. As it turns out, the weather quickly turned scorchingly hot, and the brothers had a long way to travel.
The brothers trekked far against many lands. Beacon Hill. Boston Common. The Public Gardens. Even lower Comm. Ave., passing statue after statue.
The brothers' cold drink supply was running low, and they quickly realized that they were lost. Thankfully, the air-conditioned Apple Store was there to guide them.
Finally, after what was a very long expedition, the brothers arrived at their destination. Kings. The place to bowl.
When the brothers arrived, descending into this new location, three things leapt out at them:
1) The decor and feel of this place was like a cross between a Legal Seafoods and a Beacon Hill bar that tries too hard. And then someone put a bowling alley in it.
2) The place was EMPTY. There was NOBODY there except a skeleton crew of employees. People were probably enjoying the weather instead of inside a really dark, trying-to-be-hip bowling alley.
3) The music was FUCKING LOUD. We're talking near rock concert proportions here. Sub-subwoofer Central.
Since the brothers were obviously the only customers that they had had in a while, and the only customers they would have until that night, the eldest brother, Joe, went to the guy at the counter and very politely asked if they could turn the music down.
The counter clerk immediately replied "No, but you can buy a set of earplugs for a dollar."
And so the two brothers left, never to set foot into the strange bowling alley ever again.
Stopped by Kings last night (Tuesday) after work for the free pool. Luckily my friends had been there for a hour already to ensure we got a lane, because by the time i arrived (9:45) it was packed.
The food was good, drinks were good, music videos were cool too, but 3 Brittany Spears videos in an hour, really!? Music was a little loud at times and at 29 I could have been the oldest guy there. To be expected on College ID Night!
It has an interesting concept of marriage between club and bowling. For that format, Lucky Strike can also fit in. But it seems that Lucky Strike respects the bowling lane aspect and keeps the club aspect as accessory. For Kings, they seem to let both exist equally and democratically.
Hence, music was BLARING. To make the matter worse, volume amplifies due to its acoustic - hardwood floor lanes and tall ceiling where once used to be a movie theater(Ah... Cheri... I miss thou.....).
However, you can make refugee into the pool hall, if you felt too hot and too noisy. The pool hall was really cool and quieter.
Bartender's relay of service was quite well executed. I don't remember being waited and frustrated.
Expect 2.5 hours wait for bowling lane on Saturday night. But you can kill time at bar/restaurant and/or pool hall.
The day was Wednesday. I had just met up with my friend T. Benson at the otherside cafe on Newbury St. Our goal was to discuss an evening activity over flower tea and meatless meat sandwiches. Naturally, otherside was our first choice :).
As we mulled over possibilities in our head, we realized that we were consistently arriving at the same boring conclusion: We were going to a bar, going to drink, going to hit on girls, and I would go home with one while T. Benson would go home with his T Pass. END OF NIGHT
"No!" I said, "Not another typical night in the Back Bay! We should do something different tonight, something fun, laid-back yet classy, exciting while relaxing, a place where we could meet college girls, and go cougar hunting, all at the same time!"
"What about kings?" Dr. Benson suggested.
"Hmm... I haven't been there before but I'd be willing to try it out, where is it?"
"Its right next to the summer shack, underneath that big parking garage"
"Really? Wow, thats actually an incredible location, I can't believe I've never noticed it before"
"I know! Gosh you're incredibly handsome and cool and funny and talented and people really genuinely like you and you're not even the least bit out of sha...
Alright, so maybe I paraphrased that... Enough of the foreplay LETS GET TO REVIEWING!!!!
---We arrive:---
Before we even make it to the front door, we are greeted by the bumping house beat of Eric Prydz's call on me, a fantastic song to start off the night with!
VIDEO BREAK:
http://www.youtube.com...
You back? Probably the best video every yeah?
Anyway, we walk inside. Immediately we are greeted by a really cute girl at the front desk. After an EPIC FAIL at trying to get her number, I settle for putting our name in line to play pool. The place is pretty packed (FOR A WEDNESDAY?!?! Thats a good sign...) so we're put on a 45min-1 hour wait. No big deal, we'll just grab a drink in the meantime at one of the...
!!!!!!!!!!!!!3 BARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What?
THEY HAVE 3 BARS. JUST ONE? no. OH MY GOD, 2? NO! 3 BAAARRRSSSS!!!!
Wow. Just wow.
--------We drink:----------
All three have their own vibe as well.
Bar # 1 - Restaurant/Lounge
Laid back feel, classy vibe, good food, plenty of comfortable seating. Apparently tonight is open mic night? We stop in for a bit and check that out, some surprisingly good acts, some surprisingly bad! haha but hey, its an OPEN MIC! What can you expect?
(Edit) Apparently on this side of kings they have a different event every night, heres the rundown:
Monday - Industry night + Free bowling & Pool
Tuesday - Trivia + Free bowling & Pool with a college I.D
Wednesday - Open Mic
Thursday - Karaoke
Friday - Live Music!!!
Saturday - MORE KARAOKE!
Apparently theres ALWAYS something going on in the kings lounge...
anyway, BACK TO THE DRINKING:
We head over to the middle bar. Immediately we are greeted by the bartender (I think Curtis was his name?) who hands us menus and asks us if we've been here before. He then recommends a KingsTini paired with their appetizer sampler. We agree and the order is placed. Our drinks are made SO QUICKLY. SO EFFING QUICKLY! I think I may have had time to look at one of the really cute servers or the army of cute college girls behind me before turning back and having a drink in front of me. WOW.
The "KingsTini" was delicious and I recommend it to anyone looking to try a twist on a classic martini. Or you could try one of the other 40 specialty cocktails/martinis/frozen drinks that I haven't even heard of anywhere else (Frozen Ten Pin Split Sundae??? What the hell??? SO GOOD THOUGH!)
-----We eat:------
After what seemed like seconds upon placing our order, a friendly Brazilian man comes at us with a tray of food. Our feast has arrived!
And talk about a feast, I was expecting nasty food like fried Twinkies covered in hot dog and pizza sauce (it is a bowling alley after all!)... Much to my elation, the food was excellent and well varied. For only $25 we received generous portions of buffalo wings, potato skins, meat on a stick, ginger wings --- so good BTW, potstickers, pretty much the works. I was in food heaven. Bruce Willis was there. It was incredible.
Food: A++
Service: A+++
------We pool:------
After what seems like no time at all, our buzzer goes off and a pool table has opened up. SWEET. I go and try to flirt with a second cute girl at the front desk. EPIC FAIL AGAIN. Oh well, like I said there's an army of cute girls in the pool hall and I have a big stick and a full rack of balls
HAHAHAHAHAHHAHA, god I'm clever
Anyway, down we go. The music is loud and the service is good, can't complain one bit :-)
I didn't get a chance to make it to the third bar, I had so much to do/cute girls to talk to/games to play that I never made it over there, but I'm DEFINITELY going to have to this weekend, I'm thinking Friday night?
I'm out of space here. GOTO KINGS!
I have been here for my bachelorette party and just to hang with my sisters. I thought it was fun and the drinks were so good and on point. If your looking for people that will kiss your ass with the customer always right attitude don't go here because they want to be treat like humans. Anywho I have also gone on karaoke night and it was fun as hell. I suggest you go on different nights . Food is all right but they make better drinks and their big screen and music is always on point.
I'll preface this review with a confession: I make dumb choices. Apparently so do my friends.
We made the mistake of coming here about 9:30 on a Friday night, maybe a little drunk -- I don't know, I'm not a doctor -- in a not-too-ridiculously sized party. It seemed like a brilliant idea: drink until bowling sounds like fun, then go do just that in a trippy, 90's-disco-looking place. We showed up psyched.
We put our names in, and they gave us a buzzer and told us it would be 75 minutes. No problem, the night is young. Rather than hang out with all the striped-shirt brahs in the crowded space by the lanes, we decided to go sit in the adjacent loungy space, nearly empty and dark save for the thousand screens showing the same basketball game.
The waitress, clad in a halter top, told us that the $20 pitcher of Sam Adams White had "six or seven" beers in it. We're not *that* stupid. I'm not complaining about the price, but past the age of 18 or so that sort of thing starts to become insulting.
Our 75 minutes passed, and then another 45 passed on top of that. The waitress didn't try to sell us any more beer. Someone went to ask how much longer it would be. They told him it would be another 40ish minutes.
Sobriety and exhaustion won; we went home without bowling.
Zero stars for service, zero stars for decor, one star for free coat check.
Good place to go for a rainy Saturday afternoon activity. The place wasn't too crowded, but it did get pretty popular around 2pmish.
The biggest complaint would be that the lanes we were in constantly got stuck. The only answer the guy in the front area gave us was "I'll call the mechanic". This was acceptable for the first 2-3 instances but after a good 6-8 times, we finally begged him for a new lane.
The beer came quickly and the chips held us over til our lunch.
The one additional complaint was from the older members of my crowd was the music was too loud for the middle of the day on a Saturday. I didn't mind, a chance to bounce to the beat no matter what time of day is good for me :)
All in all a great activity for competitive types and for those looking for something to do during a rainy day in Boston. Cheap too, $4 for the shoes and $5.50 per game, can't go wrong!
Things I liked about Kings:
- Did enjoy the giant screens where you can watch music videos. Last night I learned that the raunchiest music video of all time is--wait for it--Eric Prydz's Call On Me. Ok, so you googled it. Am I right?
- There are enough bars that you're not going to be thirsty and the table service is actually pretty good.
- They do a good job, from what I can tell, to make sure that everyone has something to do--be it bowling, karaoke, arcade games, etc. It's a good place to bring people you don't know all that well because you can bond over your mutual suck when it comes to air hockey.
Things that I didn't like (but are standard at things like this):
- Expect to get nickel and dimed. Everything is expensive--food, games, drinks, shoe rentals.
- There's no chance of getting a lane on a weekend night. Don't get your hopes up.
I went here for my office Christmas party, and it was a lot of fun, so I thought I'd bring my friends from all over the state here for my birthday.
But horrible service and convoluted payment policies made it very difficult for me and my 20 friends to have a good time, and instead of leaving happy, I went home very upset, and apologizing to many of my guests.
Dinner for 20 - I called ahead and reserved 2 tables for 10 each for dinner, which got us 3 bowling lanes when we were done. Thankfully, they put us all at the same table, but the waitress was very hesitant to take our food orders while we were waiting on our last 3 people. We had some orders come out wrong and had trouble correcting them, since the waiter said they served something they actually did not (didn't know the menu I guess.) My boyfriend was never asked if he wanted a drink the entire time we were having dinner. We ordered pitchers of Sam Adams and they gave us Coors light (gross!). The pitchers were $20 each, and served 4 beers-- A glass of the same beer was $5.25, you do the math.
They charged us $1 per cupcake "cutting fee" for the cupcakes my friend brought. ($24 total. I understand that they would discourage outside food, but that's outrageous, especially when no cutting was involved.)
We waited nearly an hour from end of dinner until our lanes were open to bowl, however, they didn't bring our bills for dinner in a timely fashion, and we almost lost our reserved lanes because of it.
They didn't want to let anyone start bowling until all 20 of us went to the bowling counter at once (even though some of us were still waiting for our dinner bills, and realistically, you try getting 20 buzzed adults to do anything in unison). The way they explained their payment system before we started bowling was NOT what they told us when we actually went to pay.
And finally, all 3 lanes we were on had some sort of technical difficulty while we were playing. Two of the lanes finished way before the 3rd, but they wouldn't give me back my credit card that I had placed down for the lanes until all 3 lanes were done bowling, making it difficult for 2/3rds of our party to leave.
I would NEVER go here again, and I'm actually embarrassed to have brought 20 of my closest friends to such a sucky joint.
Impossible to get a lane on the weekend, we've waited 3 hours and still never got called. I guess you can get bumped up if you have an entree but they are really overpriced. i do however recommend the nachos, do not try them alone, you'll need at least 3 people...
If the wait wasn't so long i'd give it more stars, it's not really there fault though. I just wish Boston had some more places like this so the crowds weren't so bad. If you're going I'd recommend gettign there really early or during the week, if you can get a lane it's a blast!
I recently came back last week with my original party of 4 to redeem our bowling passes from the last failed attempt at bowling. This time, we had absolutely no issues with getting a lane and in fact, the place wasn't packed like it was the last time.
So I quickly realized once we were on the lanes, that King's actually isn't all that big. I think they have maybe 10 - 15 lanes? Okay so I suck at bowling, and me sucking at it has nothing to do with the condition of the lanes although I think my balls kept going to the right for a reason (Oh that last statement can go in soooo many wrong directions - get your mind outta the gutter!) but had fun none the less.
I also must comment on the fact that the food has been consistently good. If nothing else, I'd come back to King's just for the food.
As a result... I'll bump them up to 3.5 stars for service and food, but they're just not quite 4 stars yet.
I'll bump this to a 3 star for now based on customer service.
The manager Josh actually wrote to me…
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Now, I understand that the following isn't really what one goes to this place for, but I thought I'd let you know just in case you tried something other than bowling and pool.
I went here for New Year's Eve and based on the drinks alone, I can only give this place 1 star. They were absolutely horrible! I had a Pink Lemonade, Mai Tai and a Mango Margarita. They were weak and all you could taste was sour mix. I also tried the cheese quesadilla and was thoroughly unimpressed with the guacamole. It was too spicy for my liking.
You've been warned.
I love this place!!! I've been going here with my friends at least a couple times per month.
Drinks are great, prices are high (hence the 4 stars) and I lover the lady servers. :)
Now, if I could only learn how to bowl.
I love bowling. I love boozing. Kings should be the ultimate paradise.
Unfortunately, Kings isn't. It's really not that much different than say, Atomic Bowling with beer, which you can find at most bowling alleys these days. Kings' prices are steep, for beer, bowling and grub.
Maybe they think it's cool because it's near a bunch of bars? I'm not sure..but it's just not that special.
It gets 2 stars because I admittedly go here when people have birthdays. Otherwise, I avoid it. I don't seek it out.
O the migraines that ensue when you are waiting for a lane on Karaoke night
Would I come back here? Yes. But I wish I could give the place 2.5 stars.
Went really late on a Sunday and the place was packed; were told we might have to wait over an hour but got a lane within about 25 minutes. A friend of mine was easily entertained by playing "Big Buck: Safari Edition" while I waited with the rest of the group at the bar. Feels more like a bar which happens to have the amusement of a bowling alley stuck to the side than it does a real bowling alley.
If you are a serious bowler, this place is probably not for you. Poor scoring system, few lanes, poor sorting of balls, etc. etc. Also, kinda on the expensive side. However, if you love drinking AND you love late-night bowling, that's a horse of a different color... You can bowl until 2am!
REVISION:
I recently went back on a weeknight when it was much less crowded and more pleasant, plus on Tuesday nights, if you have a college ID you bowl for free (awesome!). I think there is also a similar thing for professionals in the entertain business on Mondays (bring your business card). I'll keep it at 3 stars, but now wish it could be more like 3.5.
I went to King's last night for the first time and really wish I would have gone before. I like the fact that I didn't leave there feeling like I would never be able to take enough showers to wash the filth off of me. And I liked that I bowled decently, but I swear that's not what is coloring my favorable review (ok, well it's not the ONLY reason). We had about a 90 minute wait but sat down for dinner and pitchers of beer while we did so, so the time flew. The food was great (nachos best I have had in awhile), the waitress was super nice, and the beer was...well, it was perfectly great Miller Lite.
The bowling was great too, once we got a lane. Oh and the music was FAB--maybe a bit loud but really, really great.
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