Novelty Golf & Game Room
Category: Amusement Parks [Edit]
Neighborhood: North Park3650 W Devon Ave
(between Lawndale Ave & Monticello Ave)
Lincolnwood, IL 60712 (847) 679-9434
- Good for Kids: Yes
30 Reviews for Novelty Golf & Game Room
Been here once, and had a great time! Something about this mini-golf just seems a bit off, but in a good way. I will be coming back for another round of golfing, more photobooth pictures, and lunch at the Bunny Hutch.
Please don't go away, Novelty Golf! Too many of your kind have left me.
I love this place. It took me awhile to realize that it isn't called the Bunny Hutch, but I still call it the Bunny Hutch lovingly.
I used to come here once a week to take photo-booth pictures with my buddies.
Although I have never played the mini-golf (soon, I swear) the course looking incredible, dinosaurs and skulls, oh yeah.
The batting cages are super fun and they have a yoo-hoo vending machine, which both disgusts and excites me.
Air-hockey, love calculator, pin-ball in the arcade.
Fun, fun, fun.
Hell yeah, mini golf! Batting cages don't interest me, but this place has two solid 18-hole courses. They aren't state-of-the-art, but they aren't too run-down either. Many of the holes are challenging without resorting to gimmicks, but of course there are the requisite windmills and giant nursery-rhyme shoes. I admire a mini-golf course designer who can make 18 holes each unique and interesting because, when you think about it, there is a very limited set of materials and principles available.
I came here a couple of times several years ago but don't remember having nearly as much fun as today. Plus I shot even par and beat my friend by 20 strokes! He had to buy me a milkshake! I wish our other two friends had agreed to bet. We played Course #1 and will definitely return for Course #2 sometime this summer.
The place was doing a brisk business but there was not a crush of people waiting to move through. We never ran into the group ahead of us and weren't pressured by the group behind either.
Old School!
DO NOT REMODEL! Love the vintage!
You may, however, do a little maintenance...
The freshly planted flowers? AWESOME!
A Chicago Institution!
AMAZING!
I was dying to play some mini-golf. Unfortunately it seems that all the good (read: tacky) mini-golf locales are in the suburbs. I recruited a friend with a car and out we went to Lincolnwood.
So the place is really run down. You have to hold down foot pedals to get the whatever object is blocking your way to move/rotate/whatever it's supposed to do. My ball got stuck while traveling down chutes a couple of times.
However, this place wasn't crowded, even on a Saturday, so there was no rush from people waiting behind and no waiting for the people in front.
I had a great time. If you're looking for tacky golf, this is your place.
This was first rate nostalgic fun. We went on Memorial Day weekend with some friends and had a great time.
Batting cages: $1 per turn with 12-15(guess) balls per turn. People were very considerate about taking turns. Cages are outside and they have 2 softball, one fast, and two medium baseball cages. Lots of helmets (not really clean, but they don't make you wear them) and bats in a variety of sizes in each cage.
Mini Golf: There are two courses and they are definitely in need of a paint job, but hey, who can say no to a giant T-Rex, a massive rooster, or a classic windmill? The course we did was actually kind of challenging, which kept it interesting.
Plus, there's a black and white old school photo booth.
This place was a great way to spend a warm, low key evening.
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Every time I hang out here I feel like I'm playing hooky from school. It's a nice buzz to get in your mid-twenties.
You can still take some swings in the batting cages for only a dollar a coin, and the old school mini-golf courses only seem to get better with age (and some discreet BYOB). If I was a family man, and I'm not, I'd say this is a wonderful place to take the kids. If I was a young hedonist who prefers play to work, which I may be, I would say that the only downfall to this place is that the game room smells like a fourteen year old fat kids gym shorts and the employees are a little air-headed. Hey, who can blame them?
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I love miniature golf and I love Americana. Lucky for me that I can get a big helping of both at Novelty Golf. If you grew up in Chicago and watched TV, then I am sure the Novelty Golf jingle will forever be ingrained in your psyche. The course is challenging, even to the best putters, and even though some may be old, the holes are have undeniable charm. One of these days, I will actually make the shot into the castle's drawbridge. For some reason, keeping my ball out of the moat has always eluded me.
I've been coming here since I was a kid, and not much has changed since then. There are two mini golf courses to choose from. At the end of each course, you can shoot your golf ball into a pinball sort of machine to see if you've won a free game.
Then there's the game room, full of shoot 'em up games, claw games, classic Galaga and Tetris, and air hockey. Loads of fun. Unfortunately, it's not ventilated very well and thus smells like an armpit.
The batting cages are a blast -- the perfect way to warp back to the fun of your little league days (or release some current aggression!). A buck gets you about 14 balls to hit, and speeds range from 30-75 mph.
The Bunny Hutch adjacent to the novelty campus has some decent greasy food and ice cream to top off your day of childhood fun.
I've tried to keep this a place secret for all the years i've lived in Chicago. Well, I guess it's time to divulge how absolutely awesome Novelty Golf and Game Room really is.
Let's just face the facts. This place is a classic Chicago institution on many levels and for many different reasons. First, it is really the only place to fulfill your mini golf needs in a 5 mile radius of the city. The mini golf course is a classic set-up. None of this Long John's Pirate cove shit!! We're talking old-school trick shots and a fairly consistent difficulty rating on each hole, sans waterfalls and real grass. Second, they have an old-school arcade that houses more pinball machines in one space than any public facility in the city! Third, it's next door to the Bunny Hutch! I don't know what else you could ask for. The drive there is also excellent, especially if you take North Lincoln Avenue all the way there. You see a lost era of North Chicago, filled with broken down 50's era traveler's Motels and hot dog stands, all the way up to Novelty Golf. Beware, while golfing, you may be overcome with an intense nostalgia of the day's when you told your mom you were going to play mini golf, but spent most of your evening smoking cigarettes behind the arcade and trying to make-out with chicks in the photo booth.
Grab some deep fried lovin' over at Bunny Hutch and then head over to Novelty Golf for a round or two of some seriously old skool Mini-Golf!
This course is chock full of low-tech, old school mini-golf items. Spinning windmill? Check. Ubiquitous golf in the mouth of some massive head? Check. Now..don't go confusing low-tech and old skool with easy. Oh no! These courses are difficult. I mean there is a reason that putting a golf ball through a spinning wind mill is funny. It's rarely accomplished..
The greens themselves are in some serious need of touch-up. The many times that we have found ourselves here some lazy summer Sunday afternoon, we always run into ripped up courses or mechanisms that don't work. In turn, hampering our shoot on that green.
Although, I happily look past the crumbling exterior of the greens and their rickety mechanisms...because places like these are one in a million. Fond memories of much easier times. Times when fun-time with the family meant more than fun-time with the family in front of the boob tube!
Bunny Hutch has become an anniversary for us and our friends. We always wait until Chicago has warmed up enough for us pasty Chicagoans to shed our winter layers and finally step outside without many layers. We'll pile into a car..Play a few rounds of night mini-golf and grab a soft serve for the ride home. This is always the beginning of summer, for me!
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Great place for some summer fun!
It's a little cheesy but the kitsch is part of the fun. Make sure you check out the photo booth! There are also batting cages and a video arcade.... and of course the bunny hutch across the parking lot.
If you play one course, when you are finished you can play the second course for half price!
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Sometimes I wanna whack Lady Liberty. Sometimes I wanna sink one through a broken, pastel windmill. Sometimes I want a meeting of the minds with Frankenstein. My moods are accommodated at Novelty Golf.
Course is not easy = great fun.
The game room takes me back to even before I was a teen. I love it. I feel like it's right out of Detriot Rock City or something. I want to hear Little Willy as I'm shooting pinball.
Painted stencils of The Fonz reminding you to throw away garbage, stuff like that. I could spend the whole day there.
Has anyone won a free game from the mini-pinball contraption at the end? Damn. Not me. And I'm usually good.
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Can you say CLASSIC Mini golf how it should be?? All those other places have green turf with a few blocks in the middle as an obstacle and call it mini golf! That sucks! Bunny Hutch is the place to be!
I recommend taking the course to the left.......it seems to have better holes. More moving obstacles, longer holes...hitting it up into the barn...the spinning wheel hole!
I have been going here forever.....and have never sank my golf ball in the hole at the ball return in the end, the pinball thing. its always good for a few laughs.......then hit the arcade and batting cages and Bunny Hutch for some food!
Novely Golf, aka the Bunny Hutch.....is a great time! Just like the old Cheesy Commercial "Novely Golf...the place to be"
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What a great place! After reading the reviews I decided this was a spot the boyfriend and I needed to check out. I loved the cheesy, no-frills decor for the mini-golf and would definitely go back.
Batting cages and some not too exciting games are there too, but we didn't get a chance to check them out.
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There are few things that get me angrier than a crappy mini golf course. (Hello Skokie Sports Park, I'm talking to you. A plexiglass penguin resting atop a putting green does not a mini golf course make!) Luckily, Lincolnwood is home to a shining beacon of light, a little slice of heaven known as Novelty Golf.
I'm pretty sure nothing about Novelty Golf has changed since the 1950s, and that's a good thing. They have two different courses to choose from, and there are awesome props and obstacles within each one, so you really can't make a bad choice there. Plus, fun batting cages and bizarre arcade games. And as everyone has already mentioned, the post-golf Bunny Hutch visit is an added delight.
You really need to experience Novelty Golf for yourself, its essence cannot be captured in a simple Yelp review.
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I've driven past this grand dame of mini golf for years but just played there for the first time. Its everything a course should be, complete with huge chickens, nursery characters, and a giant skull. Not to mention holes with spinning, rotating, swinging challenges. (Be sure to check out the Star Wars tableau INSIDE Frankenstein.) 2 courses, batting cages, AND classic video games? Crazy delicious. I'll be swinging here again soon-this Wednesday to be exact.
Be sure and grab some greasy goodness at the Bunny Hutch too. You know you want the Francheezie.
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So fun! Mostly because I kicked my competition's ass! :) I usually suck at mini-golf too, so that made me like this place even more! Nah, seriously cute place, nothing fancy but a fun course nonetheless! I thought it would be crowded on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon but really not at all! We had fun plotting out the strategy for each hole and still some of them tricked us (what is with that giant spinning contraption with the spiral in the middle that will just drop your ball into whatever hole it feels like?)
The kids working at the concession stand (the Bunny Hutch) were also great- they wore their bunny ears with pride and made me a fantasticly cute sundae (the s'more- yum!).
It was only about a 20 minute drive from downtown (could be a lot more in traffic though!)
All in all, lovely place to spend a summer afternoon
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The course is uneven, like someone rumpled the astroturf. Therefore you can hit the ball willy-nilly, because who knows where it will go? I like that. I like a challenge.
And I like the signs that feature Fonzie and Robocop. I also like the dill that grows here and there amongst the holes. "Dillholes," I always think to myself, and chuckle.
Devon Novelty Golf was always a favorite of mine throughout high school, and even after college it's worth a trip. Two eighteen hole minigolf courses that are visually interesting to play. (And no matter which course you play, you always kick yourself because you could have played the OTHER course!) Far more interesting to play than that public minigolf place in Skokie.
Lots of batting cages, so usually a slight wait but nothing too bad. Has an arcade that has seen better days, but what arcade hasn't? (Wave hi to the TV cameras as you enter the arcade.)
Has a few hoop shooters as well, if you're into that sort of thing. All in all, a fun place to kill a few hours!
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This place has a very old school feel to it that makes you feel young at heart. I didn't have an opportunity to mini golf, but went to the batting cages for a little practice. Had a great time. The staff was friendly and helpful and it wasn't too crowded on a Saturday afternoon. The bathrooms are really gross, but what do you expect? Didn't make it to the bunny hutch, but I'm sure we'll be going back, eventually to try it out. Batting cages are $1 for about 15 balls and the softball cage is about 25 mph....just an FYI for those slow pitch players out there. I'll probably hit horrible at my next game, but it was worth it.
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One of the most fun places to play mini-golf. The two courses are a lot of fun, and a good challenge for any player.
I recommend this place to anyone who wants a fun afternoon playing mini-golf with friends.
Mini Golf! And with the old school obstacles that are missing on the new ones. Wacky holes are here and you are in for some true old school fun. Plus the batting cages make you wish you could bat for the team again.
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It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...all at Bunny Hutch. Many a summer have I spent in the batting cages or on their mini-golf course. Wasting away my money in the arcade or shooting basketballs were other available options. I haven't been there in quite sometime now, but reading some of these review has made me nostalgic and I plan on playing a round or two with the girlfriend.
But I digress, as far as reviews go, this place has it all, and it's usually not populated by the riff-raff you'll find at similar establishments. Plenty of parking, plenty to do, the machines, cages, and the course are pretty much always in working condition. A visit to Bunny Hutch is a pretty damn good way to spend a summer afternoon or evening.
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Five stars soley because there's a Danzig skull on the course for no good reason and I want Danzig's psuedo Wolverine butt! Well, not really. He's a little scary, but haha he's Danzig and he makes me giggle.
This is a fun mini-golf place, though a bit more expensive than Haunted Trails. There are lots of wacky holes (LIKE YOUR MOM WOOP WOOP) and half of the place is dedicated to growing vegetables!??!?!?!?!??!?!? Seriously, anywhere there's some dirt, there's some sort of edible vegetation growing! It's very weird! They have an old photo booth which makes me want to do the nasty with the place... I love real photo booths! Hmm..I'm such a slut I keep wanting to fuck the places I visit.
I remember it taking a really long time to get through the course, so I guess it's worth the money. Like any mini golf place, it's cheaper during the week, but are you so cheap you can't afford 9 bux? Geeze man, get a job! And people call ME cheap.
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Everytime I go it makes me feel like I am in 1970. Its fun. If you go at the right time its cheap too. batting cages after and some good food over at the bunny hutch. Don't expect to much but check it out.
i remember being on a date here in HS and between the moonlight, her braces and the silhouette of her big hair head.... :-) Aaaaahhh the memories:)
if you listen at night, after closing and nobody around you can still hear the place echo with laughter and fun;p
if you grew up in Chicago, this place is a must do just to say you did.
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In the clouds of nostalgia , I almost gave this place 5 stars. I remembered going here with my mom and brother , and hitting up the Bunny Hutch for a make your own sundae afterward. As a teen I would go here with my friends and nail tape measure shots at the batting cages and trying to meet chicks. So I'll take a deep breath and try to be objective. Keep in mind , the last time I was here was over 4 years ago.The hole design was really cool when it was new in the 70's. At this point , most of the gimmick holes didn't quite work right. It is still pretty cool , but fix a damn hole , patch some astroturf. The price was obscene for someone that remembers when it was $4 to play golf. The Batting cages were almost never tuned up quite right , the pitching was more catered to the midget white sox player from the 50's. That being said , what the hey , give this place a shot . I've never left this place feeling cheated or mad that I came here , except as a teen , I never did score a chick there.
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Yay yay yay we finally went to the bunny hutch! I've been lusting to go to this place since I cruised past with my hot date on our way to our sleazy motel. And you know what? It was totally worth it...the golf...not the sleazy motel...ok that was worth it too, but anyway. This mini golf was pretty hard. I did terribly. But it was still fun. I can only wish there wasn't a pack of old housewife/wannabe golfers trying to ride our asses though out the course. I've never seen anyone take mini golf so seriously.
Next time, double date, after wards, sleazy motels, oh yeah.
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I wasted so many dollars my senior year of high school playing in the batting cadges here. This place has such a nostalgic feel, it is just amusing being there. During the summer I could spend all day here. You have to go here if you are a kid or just a kid at heart.
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