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Lanes & Games
Rating Details »
Neighborhood: North Cambridge
195 Concord Tpke
Cambridge, MA 02140
(617) 876-5533
195 Concord Tpke
Cambridge, MA 02140
(617) 876-5533
- Nearest Transit:
-
Alewife (Red)
- Hours:
Mon-Sun. 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
75 reviews for Lanes & Games
This place is huge! The staff is awesome, and the fact that you can get beer at a pretty reasonable price as well as bowling in one place it's a definite go!
We went on a league night but were happy to find that the entire upstairs had plenty of room for our crew to spread out. And I was even more excited when I went to fetch beer and found the prices to be much less than one would expect in Cambridge. Bonus!
They offer all kinds of bowling for everyone---bumper, big ball and candlepin. We played candlepin and enjoyed the somewhat mellow Friday night crowd. In the bar they also offer many many appetizers and a varied selection of beer. The bartender was nice and actually made small talk.
All in all a good night and lots of fun! Definitely will be back, and next time am gonna make a point to try the appetizer menu!
Ghetto-fabulous.
Big ol' bowling place that offers both big-ball-bowling and REAL BOWLING also known as CANDELPIN.
Don't call it "duck pin" or you will get beat up.
This place is a big 2-floor bowling.... place. Downstairs is 10-pin. Upstairs is candlepin. Is that right? I forget because upstairs is their little restaurant/bar and I went bowling after that. Who knows. Either way you can drink while you bowl which is awesome. Their food is like bar food - so no high expectations here, please.
Like I said, you can drink while ya bowl. YAY!!!!
Everything is yellow, orange, or brown - just the way a bowling alley is SUPPOSED to be. I had major flashbacks from when I played in a league in elementary school - except I wasn't drinking beer then. This time, I WAS. They carry IPA and some other beers that aren't totally Coors or Michelob. This makes me think I need to join a league again.
The guys who staff the alley are hilarious, and love to give people a hard time. The attitude you catch is great!
So, I've been going here since it was known as the Turnpike Bowladrome so there's likely a lot of comparative data working against the place. I still love that they have candle pin and 10 pin lanes. I love that you can now drink at the lanes themselves now. I like they now have a full time lounge/bar with real food...
OK, so, what's my gripe? Disinterested service. When we walked in the desk guy couldn't have cared to hardly look up from what he was doing. We asked for candle pin and they gave us an alley for bumper bowling!!! OK, so I suck at bowling but really, bumper bowling for 2 adults? I pointed it out to the first person to come by and it was met with a shrug. The bar is confusing as to whether you stand at the bar, order, then take your drinks back or simply wait for service at the table. EVERY time I've been there and waited and waited and waited before getting up to get my own drink only to have the server come by AFTER with a snide comment about "oh, you went up to the bar". Yea, only because I was dying of f'n thirst...
All in all the place is great but service needs a serious upgrade or maybe just an attitude adjustment
Best alley in Boston, hands down. I've been going here since I was a little kid. I used to bowl here a few times a week with my friends back in high school. This is the real deal. There's candlepin downstairs and tenpin upstairs. It's packed on Fridays and Saturdays but you can usually play pool while you wait, or grab a drink at the bah.
I bowl with my Dad whenever I have spare time (no pun intended) and we will bowl game after game after game...bowling is awesome! It wasn't until I went over to Kings in Boston that I realized that Lanes and Games is much more of a legitimate place to bowl. The staff is extremely friendly and laid back, and the lanes are professionally maintained. The lanes are oiled regularly throughout the day which means, for those of you that have your own weighted ten-pin balls, there is less of a violent curve when you bowl naturally - this allows for a more gentle, calculated, almost artistic curve. The floors that approach the lane allow for a decent slide too. None of this affects the average bowler....just know that the lanes are legit! I'm actually about to head there right now...time to find my 70s bowling shirt and start screaming turkey turkey turkey turkeeeeyyyyy!
I have been coming here since I was a kid, love this place! Looks like absolutely nothing has changed since I've been alive. I'm sure it was unchanged for a few decades before that too. My dad who is in his sixties worked here when he was a teenager.
It's always fun to come here for candlepin or tenpin and see groups of dudes in their late forties sipping on white russians and wearing shirts with airbrushed wolves on them.
The bar upstairs has cheap draft options and you can get most basic mixed drinks for about $3.50 or so. I've never had a weak drink here ever. I once ordered a rum and coke here once that was so strong it was practically clear.
After you've played a few games and shoved a few drinks in your face the food is just good enough. It helps that it is also incredibly cheap.
My biggest suggestion is to get some goddamn Big Buck Hunter in the arcade. That would earn another star.
Yes, this bowling alley is a time warp into the 1970's with carpet all around BUT there are some cons. Firstly, if you are driving on the otherside of the road, you can't simply turn into the parking lot and there are no Uturn oppurtunities. You have to take an exit, then drive around, following signs to get back on the highway.
When I finally got to the bowling alley, I was told that my friends and I would have to wait 1 1/2 hours! We opted to play pool until we had our turn. In the meantime I did grab a beer, and a grilled cheese which were both good. As I left the bar area with my beverage I was stopped by an employee to tell me I wasn't allowed to walk around with a bottle. Why the bartenders didn't mention any of this I don't know.
When it finally was our turn, the lady dispensing shoes was rude and scolded my friend for asking a question. So much for customer service. I also asked for one of the lighter "kiddie" bowling balls but she told me I was going to break it. The whole point of me getting a wimpy bowling ball is because I am in fact a wimpy bowler with obviously weak wrists. While bowling is a fun outting with friends, I probably wouldn't go back here anytime soon.
Pros:
OK wings if you're starving (and the bartender was speedy)
Choice of candlepin or 10 pin
A lot of lanes
Cons:
A really long wait, every time
Cash only (come ON that's old school)
Bowling for my son and his friend, ages 7 & 8, cost $15 and lasted less than 10 minutes! Why should kids have to pay to rent shoes?
Then, when my son lost his tokens in the video games, the young man behind the counter barely acknowledged him, walked away as he attempted to explain what he had lost, and only gave him one token though he lost two. Never again.
Lanes & Games has been my favorite bowling joint since high school. I just had my birthday party there this past weekend [SRY IF U DIDNT GET THE INVITE, BITCHEZ], and it was just as awesome as I remembered! This time around however, I also got to enjoy the surprisingly cheap prices of not only the food, but the drinks as well - I got two drinks, which ended up costing me about $6, including tip. Plus, if you're bowling, you need to drink some White Russians for Big Lebowski cred. The selection of appetizers and food was better [and also cheaper!] than I remembered too - fried mushrooms, mozzarella sticks, seasoned curly fries... the perfect menu for my Super Sweet 16! Kanye West showed up to my SS16 at Lanes & Games this weekend and totally dug the sweet menu too.
The upstairs has ten-pin lanes [yay!], while the downstairs has candlepin [boo]. I've only played candlepin once here, many many years ago - it was a fluke, since by the time we got to the alley, all of the ten-pin lanes were taken. With that said, the place gets incredibly busy in the evenings [even on weekday nights], so if you're going with a crowd of more than 5 bowlers, you may want to head out a little bit earlier [before 5 or 6 pm], to get neighboring lanes [all the easier to heckle your friends with...].
Each ten-pin lane has a monitor that not only displays the scores, but awesome pixelated animations of demons taunting and abusing the bowler when you get a split or gutter ball. Furthermore, there is a large selection of bowling balls to choose from, varying in both color and size [6lb - 10 lb, I believe] - as long as I have my hot pink 8-lb ball, all is right in the world.
Plus: Maybe it's just me, but Lanes & Games has always had the cutest bowling shoes...
I'm not good at bowling, but I'm good at having a good time.
I have nothing to add to the army of enthusiastic Yelpers below, except the following: I have been to worse bars than the upstairs lounge at Lanes & Games. Think about it. The dimly-lit, 70s airport throwback lounge in a North Cambridge bowling alley is a better place to grab a beer and watch the game than most.
Scary, no?
Carpet on the walls! This place is stuck in the 70's and I love it. I did a little 24th birthday get together here because this place is so much fun and the food/beer is cheap. We all had fun and the best part was the carpet on the walls. Yeah, we had some weird facination with it.
The ten pin bowling is great because the Tv's have 80's graphics. Gotta enjoy the little guy demonstrating a split or a stike.
The food is iffy at best... avoid the nachos at all cost! The beer and mixed drinks are cheap! Sadly they dont do pitchers but you cant go wrong with a $3 beer.
You cant go wrong here!!
This is a pretty sweet two-stories-worth of bowling joint.
If you're into ten-pin bowling, then you'll probably have to wait for awhile. "How long will we wait?" you ask. Let's just put it this way; people actually applaud themselves when their number is finally called. In fact, everyone applauds themselves when their number is finally called for ten-pinnin'.
We chose to do a little candlepinnin' while we waited for our lane, and it was fine. There was no wait for a candlepin lane, and they didn't sneak any extra pins in there or anything. It was your standard candlepin bowling.
That took up the first hour of the "hour and fifteen or hour-twenty minute" wait we were quoted for ten-pin bowling (it turned out to be closer to two hours). The Ten-Pin bowling is much more popular.
Unfortunately, we had another half hour longer than we expected to wait before we got a chance to bowl ten-pin style.
Look, I understand that candlepin is the NE thing as far as bowling is concerned, but I have to say that the folks I saw at L&G weren't exactly Floridians, if you know what I'm saying. The demand for Ten-Pin bowling is there, and L&G can't meet it. If they could, then I would give them five stars for a fun time.
But they can't, so despite a fun time, the waiting loses L&G a star's worth of rating.
I LOVE THEIR SHOES!
Love it here! Cheap beers, tenpin, an arcade and some of the best Buffalo sauce i've ever had (in or out of a bowling alley). So Todd, why not 5 stars? The service is kinda shitty. Not horrible and really what can you expect from a bowling alley? But still... it's poor form for a bartender to bitch and moan about people being cheap. I always (and if you don't you should too), ALWAYS tip $1 a beer so she wasn't bitching about me but c'mon if you're that pissed there are places where you're going to make more money. Don't just sit there and gripe and give me time to ask myself why am I tipping you a buck a beer? It's sure as hell not for the ambiance! the desk people were all great and again it's still totally worth it. Just don't expect Tom Cruise/ Cocktail style service. In fact don't expect any and that way you won't be disappointed!
One of the only ten pin bowling alleys in the area that haven't given over to the obnoxious black-lit "rock and bowl" makeover. This place looks like it hasn't change since 1977, and thank God.
No overhead music, atari aged computer graphics on the overhead monitors, a REALLY cheap bar, and surprisingly decent bar food (I recommend the chicken fingers). Even the grumpy old fuddy-duddies who run the desk are cool.
My only complaint, too many candlepin lanes and not enough ten pin. Be prepared to take a number and wait a while if you're bowling ten pin.
This was the classic hangout spot before I turned 21. Man, I have way too many memories of this place.
It's a good all around bowling alley, with small balls in the bottom floor, and big boy lanes at top. There's also a bar area that serves drinks and crappy prepackaged food. But you're not here for that; you're here to bowl! If you're a serious bowler, this isn't really the place to be; it's too much of a novice joint. The customers are all groups of young high school kids looking to have fun on a night where there's nothing else to do.
There's also a very small area for pool (three dumbed-down small tables), which are not worth it, and there's an arcade with games from the 90's. I'll still rock the Die Hard Arcade game, or that stupid hockey game where you flip the players like crazy in the hopes of scoring a goal!
As for the computerized system, it glitches A LOT. I think I've registered a strike when I clearly guttered on two occasions. But hey, that's the reason why i gave this place four stars: because when I'm here, I'm a really good bowler!!
DO YOU LIKE BIG BALLS OR SMALL BALLS?
Get your mind out of the gutter!
At Lanes and Games you can bowl with both big balls and small balls. This place is very very solid, not to expensive, bar upstairs, always amazing people watching (some kid fell as he bowled Sunday night) and plenty of Big Lewboski references for everyone.
So head on down, write silly embarrassing names for your friends on the scoring screen, and if you're bowling we me, we're using big balls!
I've driven past Lanes & Games many times and have given it nary a glance. It just looks sketchy from the outside and is not far from the run down previous home of Faces, the local townie strip club. As Jess mentions, it it not accessible from the westbound side of the road and that's mildly annoying. But, at the suggestion of my friends, regular Lanes & Game-ers, we got our bowl on this Sunday. What. A. GEM.
The first floor and part of the second are reserved for candle pin while the bulk of the second floor is large ball bowling. It's stuck in the time warp, complete with laminate wood-grain paneling on the walls and 8bit graphics on the screen when you strike, spare or gutter ball. It's also true that the wait was a bit long (an hour for us) but the waiting can be done in the no frills bar off to the side. Much to my enjoyment, the beer and food is cheap (not in a bad way) and GOOD. The burger I had was extremely tasty and the curly fries were dynamite.
So all in all, I say go and have a blast. Don't set yourself up for greatness and you'll be pleasantly surprised. This place is no frills and CASH ONLY.
So it's Oscar Sunday - what better place to spend the night celebrating class and high society than Lanes & Games!
This place has it all - big balls, small balls, carpeted walls, townies, lotto tickets, keno, a lounge serving "fried dough" and "cocktails" in plastic cups, screaming old men and the ladies who love them, all around class, authentic 70s style decor... There's league bowling most nights but arrive around 9 and reserve your spot. Two games plus shoe rental will run you less than $13 - very nice.
During my first L&G outting I also won the lotto (well I won $1 from a scratch ticket). So despite being somehow pwned by an injured fellow yelper, I'll be back - I need the practice.
I just wrote a review for another bowling alley in Boston and have to say that hands down... this place is so nice in comparison to what else is available in Boston.
The location can be overcome by the fact that it's T accessible but really, that's about the only negative thing. They offer both Candle Pin and 10 Pin Bowling, there are 2 floors (so many lanes), there are food & drinks options in addition to being reasonably priced.
The atmosphere has the comfortable back-in-the-day-when-I-was-10-years-old-and-loved- to-go-bowling vibe going for it making it a place for all ages to make memories. 5 stars.
Great townie bar, bowling! Cheap drinks, awesome greasy bar food. Get loaded and bowl the hell out of the place!
I went to Lanes & Games for the first time last night because a few friends from out of town wanted to try candle pin bowling and I wanted to avoid all things sports bar due to the Celtics-Lakers game madness. It reminds me of those old school bowling alleys of my childhood, filled with drunk townies who take bowling a bit too seriously for my tastes and I love it.
The food upstairs in the "lounge" was a bit pricey for what it was (a grilled cheese and cheese fries cost me $9), however bowling was surprisingly affordable. Two games and shoe rentals cost us less than $10 per person.
While the game was on every television in the place, no one seemed to be there just to watch it. Everyone who worked there was friendly and helpful. Parking was easy, and it's also T accessible (a plus for me for future visits).
This place is so fantastic. A crew of 9 or 10 of us yelpers made our way here last night for drinks and bowling (10 pin). I walked here from the Alewife T stop, and it took only about 5-6 minutes.
It looks like a shitty self-storage shed from the outside.
The inside is decorated in an ORANGE AND BROWN ONLY theme including the carpet on the *walls*. They have a bar area upstairs, complete with a glut of wood paneling, just to make you swoon and sigh. The food menu is cheap, with sandwiches averaging around $4.50. Even PB&J (an option) comes with chips and a pickle. Mama's not cookin' tonite!
I was a bit sad to learn that they don't have PBR or High Life, in fact I was borderline offended. This place positively screamed "High LIFE! OMGZZZ" I had UFO ($4) and mixed drinks ($4) instead.
Also, serving as the highlight of the night, a 4 foot tall, wizened old woman shuffled out from somewhere to stand behind the bar, grunt at two of the people working there, snatch something off the counter, and shuffle back to where she had come from. I was in awe.
The bowling was $12.25 per person, which included two strings and shoes.
I walked over to pick out a ball, because you can, and some guy who worked there absentmindedly explained to me how you should pick a ball, and choose the weight. It was actually pretty nice because I previously wasn't sure. He was simultaneously bending a wire coat hanger into a sculpture. Yet another use for wire coat hangers, I'M SO GLAD THEY WERE INVENTED!!
People were drastically less awful than at King's, even though they were high schoolers.
My only complaint was that there was no music. I picture the perfect music for this place to be whatever you would listen to whilst eating cottage cheese. But also pretend you like cottage cheese.
What a great time!
Schmyeah, schmyeah. You kids with your penny whistles and your popcorn. Always looking to stir up mischief.
Back in my day, a gent would escort his best gal to lindy hop at the town flapjackery. We'd sip anise Fizzy Lizzies and respect each other all night long. And that means home by 8 o'clock!
Whatever happened to the rocking chair and coloring eggs with beet juice and candlewax? Nowadays, it's flashity blip-bloops of arcade light machines and hockey pucks that ride on air. It's broadcast picture shows and electric apples.
The bowling! I remember when all the balls were 25 pounds and had no holes. People stood at opposite ends of a plank of wood and had to stop their partner's rolling ball by throwing corn cobs at it. Now mechanical doohickeys bring it back for you and even keep score! And pins? Bars of lead is more like it. I don't care what the scientists are saying, I'd wear lead pantaloons if I could.
This new fandangled funhouse gives the whipper-snappers two kinds of bowling, billards with polished cues and uniform balls instead of tree bark and turtles, an electrozap joysticketeria, flushing toilets and a saloon! I will say, Jeanne is fine lass who pours one humdinger of a whiskey ginger. Curls the toes and tickles the nose. Schmyeah.
Maybe this speakeasy ain't so bad after all. Being so close to the underground iron horse is nice and the prices haven't gone up much since I was a tot. Those kids throwing forks at cakes I can live without, but this place is worth the travels. Five miles uphill through the snow in tennis rackets, I tell ya!
I came here for Bowling with Michael L, VX C, Nayda R, Nate Y, Ligaya T, Damien S, Kenny L, Sus T, Roni E, Trish F, Paul S, Jessika D, Barak O, Ronald McD, Optimus P, Genghis K, Haley-Joel O, Serena W, Abraham L, Spongebob S, Billy The K, Trader J, Hans Christian A and The Olsen Twins.
Okay, some of those I made up. I think.
I had such a grand old time though. And I got the highest score of the night (apart from Haley-Joel O of course) which is a big special thingybob for a transplant like me whose home country bowls little black balls along green grass for fun. Very different.
It's all about getting holes that fit your fingers.
I wish there was music though. I like to bowl with cheesy tunes in place.. Avril L, Britney S, Kanye W, Fifty C, Justin T... but not Soulja B. He's not Elite yet.
Jesse says this is where religion meets bowling. I don't know if I would go that far, but I have been once with Jesse and Robert, and he's gone through out his life. This place hasn't been renovated since at least the early 80's, and it's fantastic because of it......there's carpeting that hangs on the walls, and it smells vaguely of stale cigarettes, though smoking has been banned for ages now. There's lots of parking, and it's probably the best place to go bowl, as they have lots of lanes, both candlepin and big ball (candlepin sucks). They have pool tables and an arcade, too.
It's pretty much a 10 year olds dream birthday location.
Bowling isn't meant to be done in a flashy place with annoying lighting and an even more annoying crowd. This place is great. The decor probably hasn't been updated since the 70s (wall carpeting = great!), and the lanes are kept in great shape. Cheap strings, cheap shoes, cheap drinks. What more could you ask for?
Being originally from Ny I love that this place has REGULAR bowling in addition to the miniature bowling native to these parts!
It's a big place with tons of lanes (though you still might have a wait on a Fri/Sat night), has a bar with cheap beer/food and a parking lot- what more could a girl ask for?
I celebrated my 25th birthday here with a large group- they allowed us to make reservations and it was awesome! I do think they expected 30 children and not adults and were surprised when we showed up but it worked out : )
It is nice you can still bowl somewhere in Eastern MA without having your hair and makeup done and wearing a $200 pair of jeans.
It gets five stars if for no other reason than the choice of having bowling still be a low-key evening option.
Other than that, the prices are reasonable, there is plenty of parking, and you can drink while you bowl here too.
All I have to say is.... Yelp Bowling!
We've been here twice so far and we've had a blast. Props to the staff for being able to deal with us. Between our dancing around, shouting, hi-fives, cake, and asking them to take pictures - they put up with a lot. Thank you to you guys.
I still can't bowl for the life of me as my really really low scores will display. But it is still a fun time to be had by all. And even better with drinks from their bar.
Bowling anyone?
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Update (9/22/2007):
We've been bowling at this place for a lil over a month now. These guys seriously are the best!
For $12.75 you get 2 games and shoes.
The staff is awesome. Props to Joe, Todd, and that other dude (I don't think I caught his name). Thanks for the prop souvenir guys! You guys rock!
Jean, the oh so beautiful and awesome bartender. She knows how to make a drink for sure! She's the best, no doubt about it. Joe - be sure to give her a raise cause she knows how to do her job and do it well!
As the official place for Yelp bowling how can I not give this place five stars. The beer choice is good, drinks are potent, so I'm told, and the food seems on par with your typical bar joint. Plenty of tvs to watch the Sox games, but whose watching when your bowling with Yelpers!
Plenty of lanes for ten pin upstairs. The alleys are kept up to standard so this isn't faux bowling like some downtown places, and no cosmic bowling, this is serious stuff. For those who can't handle it there is candle pin downstairs, some pool tables, a game room, scratch tickets, and Keno. Haven't had a problem parking, unlike Boston Bowl, and they are within walking distance from the Alewife T stop.
So get out there and bowl.
I had my 8th birthday here years ago and it was probably one of the most fun birthday parties I've ever had. The decor is a bit bit dated but really, who goes to a bowling alley to critique the 70's carpet?
They offer both candle-pin and ten-pin bowling with large balls and the smaller kind. I've only ever used the candle-pin bowling but it's quite fun. They offer bumpers for younger children or for adults who aren't the greatest of bowlers. Upon request, the bumpers can be raised on most of the candle-pin lanes. I can't remember if the bumpers are available on all lanes but the bumpers are at least on a lot of them.
The prices are fair, in my opinion.It's only about $5 per person per game on candle-pin and only a quarter more for the ten-pin. They have plenty of lanes designated for both types of bowling which is always a plus.
Their shoe rental place offers a lot of sizes but they occasionally run out of the popular sizes during busy times like Friday nights or on league nights. It's only $3.00 for shoe rental per person.
One feature I like is the game room. They offer the standard games as well as other things like an air hockey table.
There's a snack bar on the second floor, also where the tenpin bowling lanes are. They are the usual snack and bar foods as well as an actual bar. The foods good, not spectacular but it's more than you can expect from a bowling alley.
The overall service is okay, not the greatest. The workers are mainly teenagers/young adults with a few older adults as well. They aren't all that personal but help you when you need it. I've found that the people upstairs tend to be nicer since they probably don't have to deal with children as much.
Overall, it's a nice simple place. The prices are fair and it's just a nice place to hang out and play a few games.
Umm, yeah. This place rocks. Candlepin and 10 pin, all together and living in harmony.
I never imagined that it was going to be 2 floors of bowling, that's just awesome. It's so exactly what a bowling alley should be. Lots of thick carpet and wood paneling. It's like a total flashback.
Upstairs there's a little lounge area. Some folks were getting food, not sure of the verdict on that. But the bartenders give healthy pours for just a few bucks.
Drinking and bowling is a great way to spend a night. I'll definitely be back to do it again.
Yelp Bowling Yay! I love Yelp bowling at Lanes and Games! Really I do!
It's a great time, and really it's nothing fancy. Just a brightly lit, old carpeted, tin shack with paneled walls. But you know what? I think that's why it appeals to me. It has character without the hype. Reminds me of the days back in the 70's when my mom's dragged me along to her bowling league. Ahhhh the good old days doin how my mom did. Also most importantly, the guys that work there are so cool. If you go in the evenings, ask for Joe as he's well versed with us Yelpers and happy to make the evening more enjoyable.
There are 2 floors of bowling and that's both candle pin and 10pin!Pool Tables, Gameroom, Bar, it's a cheap night - $12.50 for 2 games and shoe rental, and they LOOOOOVE Yelpers (probably 'cause we are hella hard core drinkers.....or was that just me and Roni? Ha Ha!)
My only 2 caveats - is watch the waitress that walks around the tables. She charges $5 for mixed drinks and they are $4. Also some of the shoes look like they were dragged across rte 2, and put through the garbage disposal. However, the dudes that give ya the shoes are cool about it when you look at them with the raised eye - seriously fella's that's just natty! I'd never rate this place poorly for either, but that was one less $ I had for another libation and a close call on catching someones foot fungi.
Totally check it out - better yet, come check it out with Yelpers. You know what to do - check the events page.
Well, considering so many bowling alleys are going out of business, we were just thrilled to find one OPEN! On a Sunday...
It's a little bit of a trek for us to get to North Cambridge and the location is just bizarro - right on a freeway, next to some crazy sketchy looking rundown place called FACES.
But once inside, you are taken back to all the old bowling alleys of your childhood!
It was a little pricey for a family of four to bowl but since it was our kids first time, what the heck right?
The shoes were fine, not funky at all and my kids loved the fact they got to wear "special" shoes!
It was my husband's first time candlepin bowling, so I was the only one "experienced" at it!
We had a great time, mainly because I won (and I never win!) and it was really cute to see the kids rolling the balls down the lanes...
We didn't eat there, but played a few video games before we left.
I think this is a fun thing to do, especially for out of towners who have never seen or heard of candlepin bowling...we'll be back!
The go-to place for yelp bowling. Lanes and Games is the place to go for a feel good time. They have cheap drinks, cheap food, and cheap bowling. Best of all they have keno and plenty of TVs to keep you busy if bowling is not your thing. I love the fact that you can go have a great time at this place without having to worry that you will get in a brawl with someone there. It's very low key. The minus one star is for their equipment. The shoes are kind of ratty, and many times I cannot find a ball in my size - bowling ball kids! Get your mind out of the gutter!
Reminder: CASH ONLY!!!
Restrooms: They don't really have a front door, so although it was decent to "go" there it left me feeling exposed!
I was expecting dingy everything, stinky shoes, and etc. etc. etc.
But I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, they need to upgrade their software, so it does not look like the graphics are created by someone running punchcards to the mainframe (you tech geeks will get this one). Yes, the food is way too greasy - hint, eat before going there. But the beer is well priced, staff is nice, and you have two floors worth of lanes.
2 games and shoes: $12.75
Ride to the Alewife T or gas money: $2.00
Playing with awesome Yelp bowlers in a 2 floor alley that even had us practically take over the place before closing: Priceless!
P.S. Getting a ride back home from a friend is also priceless!
Tip on those going to Lanes and Games via Alewife T: If you see the park, you've gone the wrong way. Go through the parking lot and up the highway offramp. Don't walk along the highway unless you want to be attacked by "ketchup bottles" at night.
Love this place!!!!!
Why am I so excited about a bowling alley? Because in New England, finding REAL BOWLING is ridiculously hard to do.
Here's a story: When I first moved out here, we were wandering through Davis Square, and we saw a sign for bowling. We thought, cool. We like bowling. But we poked our head in, and thought, 'what the f*** is this?' Because what they were doing was some retarded person's version of bowling.
"Candlepin" bowling as I've come to know it, is NOT BOWLING. It is not even a sport. It's not even an activity. I don't even know what it is.
So, back to Lanes and Games. Boy was I happy to find this place, and I used to live pretty close by. It's still worth traveling across town for. I just don't understand why the rest of New England persists in That Other Thing.
Loved it!...this place is awesome, I went there for the first time last week and went again this past Friday with the Yelp crew. This is the place to go bowling, the staff is very friendly and I think they really like yelp
Place is totally 80's, carpet everywhere, which makes it even cooler!...something funny being a techy person couldn't quite figure out how to enter the names, etc 80's technology! remember how the letters look on Atari? pitfall! ? exactly!
Lots of parking, lots of drinks, lots of fun.
