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Yerba Buena Ice Skating & Bowling Center
Rating Details »
Categories: Bowling, Skating Rinks
Neighborhood: SOMA750 Folsom St
(between 3rd St & Mabini St)
San Francisco, CA 94107
(415) 820-3532
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
160 reviews for Yerba Buena Ice Skating & Bowling Center
yerba buena ice skating-
what can i say? I met corbin bleu from high school musical there (profile pic) and that alone is worth every penny of what i paid.
other than that ...its pretty big...just go on week days or something so you wouldn't be running over little kids who're just trying not to fall
We took up 4 lanes for my friend's bday party here and had a great time despite having pins keep on getting stuck in the machine. Sometimes the pins would be missing and would really eat into our bowling time. The cost was a bit higher than usual for several games on top of it all.
The bar is really just a fridge with some bottles in it. And the idea of a pitcher is just a six pack with the caps removed. One redeeming quality is that the place seemed very clean and it's in a nice complex. No ghetto-ness here.
I skated though the 1990s at the skating rink today (what is it with ice-skating rinks and music from the previous decade?). Alanis Morissette and old-school Green Day kept me company along with the usual beginners, instructors, wanna-be hockey players, dates, and kiddies. There was even a speed skater wearing the works, long blades, spandex suit, and a helmet!
Monday nights at this rink are great, not crowded at all. Get there early, watch the Zamboni (tonight there was a girl driver! how cool!), and then get out on that freshly-Zamboni-ed ice for the best glide of the evening. Sadly the rink doesn't run the Zamboni once the open skate starts so if you miss the beginning of a secession, the ice isn't going to get any better. The temperature in there is pretty nice, you definitely need a sweatshirt, and possible a long-sleeve underneath depending on how warm-blooded you are. Don't forget the gloves either!
It's great that they have the pro shop there, they also sharpen blades. It's only $8 for a sharpening, you can drop them off and pick them up another day. If you want them on the same day though you'd better call to make sure the guy that does them is in, from what I can tell (having called and showed up a few times), his schedule is pretty sporadic. Also, you can get a discount pass, which is awesome if you plan on going regularly (then again, I planned on going regularly two years ago but still have enough left on the card for 14 more skates....so much for planning).
Speaking of planning, make sure you check the website to see when they're open. Because of hockey and other events the schedule changes almost weekly.
The ice skating rink is the only closest one in the city that works all year round. Always a plus if you want something different to do.
As for the bowling alley, I have not gone there since 2002 and I think I remember it as being cool.
This place had around ~10 lanes. Five us went on Sunday at 1pm and didn't have to wait for a lane. We rented the lane for 1 hour with 5 pairs of shoes and paid a total of $11 each. Not bad for being a modern downtown bowling alley. Parking is street which could dangerous during conventions but always easily accessible via MUNI. No food/bar scene so come for the game and then head to SoMa or the Metreon for drinks.
Ice skate? Hell YES I know how to ice skate? Yeah, I'm like pretty freakin' good too. Oh... oh... you actually want to go ice skating? Uh... yeah... I think I'm busy that night.... Crap!
So basically I got dragged here. I had not ice skated in about 8 years and someone said it was a good idea. The funny thing was, that all 3 of the friends I went with said that they could ice skate really good and guess what?
NONE of us could! We all fell several times and were all over the place but OMG was it fun!!
This place is relatively inexpensive in my opinion. We all needed to rent skates so it was $11 per person.
I love that this place is open late on Fridays and Saturdays, we got to skate till 11pm. The only problem I had was that the store they have there was closed. I forgot socks and the girl at the window said "you could buy some in the gift shop but its closed." Great, thanks for the help lol.
if only i could give this place a negative rating.
this place is unresponsive as well as extremely unprofessional. why? well, i emailed them 1.5 months in advance to ask about having a party there; no reply. i called and left a message a week later; no reply. i called again a few days later and this time someone actually answered the phone, apologized , took my name & #, no reply. the icing on the cake, they responded literally 2 days before my requested party date to say they lost my number and finally found my messages. .......good luck to all seeking a party at this place
cheap skates! look for their website for the schedule! they also play good songs on the rink. didn't really go play bowling but went in... the area is just cool to bring kids.
After walking around the Marketplace to try to walk off our all you can eat....hubby's next plan of attack was ice skating. This would have been a lovely surprise, but I was in a short dress and had no socks. On top of that, they had hockey lessons until 9pm there, so the ring was closed to just general admission.
If you decide to take a date here, I would recommend checking the schedule or calling in to see if it's even open to the public. Oh, and don't forget to bring socks for her. She'll love you for it. :)
For Ice Skating Rink Only:
Finding Saturday afternoon entertainment in "meh" weather for a pre-teenager and her BFF (best friend for life) is not an easy task, even if the said pre-teenager and BFF are agreeable and angelic yet moderately boy crazy.
What would I have wanted to do at their age...:
A. shopping in a vicinity filled with cute boys
B. being anywhere that would allow me to be surrounded by cute boys
C. watching cute boys on TV
Now throw in a hyperactive 2 year old, a grouchy overworked husband and a slim checking account.
What you have left is a trip to the Ice Skating Rink at Yerba Buena Gardens and here is why:
A. Cute pre-teenager boys are actually quite plentiful at Ice Skating Rinks especially this one, however given the activity and our presence actual interaction is quite improbable.
B. Yerba Buena Gardens Playground is directly outside of the glass covered rink: perfect for hyperactive 2 year olds that have no business going near anything with ice.
C. The Ice Skating Rink is in walking distance too the Westfield Shopping Center loaded with every possible store anyone could ever want to visit and did I mention that the Westfield Shopping Mall is also loaded with cute pre-teenager boys.
D. The Ice Skating Rink has overpriced vending machines and a moderately priced snack bar to keep the pre-teenagers moving.
E. The Ice Skating Rink is very clean and offers tons of seating so that parents can observe and relax.
Only drawback:
A. Non skating adults must pay $8.00 to sit an observe, sort of BS in my opinion but the total for two skating teenagers, two observing adults and one hyperactive 2 year old was still a reasonable $32.00 so I can't complain...too much.
I thought of the private bowling alley belonging to Daniel Plainview (There Will Be Blood) when we walked into this place, but it turns out it was a lot less exciting. Only a few bowling balls, no overhead screens that display cute animations of my gutter balls, and it was $11 per person to bowl one game.
Atmosphere: Hastily installed, not maintained, radio-popular soundtrack
Cost: $40/hour for up to 5 people on weekends, $35/hour on weekdays, plus $4 for shoes
Bring: Friends (if you have them), it is cheaper for an hour on the lane, your own snacks/drinks
Forget: Having a cheap date or party here, any expectations that this complex is "modern"
If it wasn't for the fact that this is one of the last remaining bowling alleys in the city, I would give it one star. The guy who works here (seemingly the only one) is really not friendly. I have visited several times, and he always seems to be there and always seems bothered by something. I finally stopped going and I live only blocks away.
The place is small and there are only about 10 lanes, if that. I recall a broken video game machine in the corner during my last visit, and a few working vending machines. Other than that, there isn't anything else to the place.
Maybe I have just had some bad luck, but one other complaint is that it seems like every time I used to go during posted business hours, the place had a private party. I did notice just now that they added a statement to the website letting people know this might happen. That certainly wasn't there before because I always used the website to find the posted hours.
Anyway, if you are desparate to bowl in SOMA, check it out. If you have a car and the desire to travel, there are two better options that immediately come to mind.
This place is A-OK! I went here for ice skating and had a most enjoyable time with friends. It was fun watching how most of the kids were 10 times better than we were. The price is only $11, including the price of renting skates, which is pretty reasonable if you think about how it's located in downtown SF.
My only gripe is that the music was horrible. The songs kept on skipping, yes, they'd play 10 seconds of a song, and then play it again, and they kept playing bad song after bad song over and over again. I think they played Domo Arigato Mr Robato 7 times in the hour and a half we were there. There's no reason for that! Get a better DJ and this place will definitely have 4 stars! :)
I miss my group of bowling friends at work. When I used to work a few blocks away, we would sometimes go out at lunch to bowl a couple of games. That is where I got to rediscover how much I really enjoyed bowling. I'm a terrible bowler but it never kept us from having a lot of fun. It was also a nice stress reliever which helped during stressful days at work. The bowling alley is small with only 12 lanes and they are often booked by private parties. But, we always made sure to call ahead to check if there were any scheduled parties before lugging our equipment over there. I've been back but it's not the same without my bowling buddies :(
Review is for the bowling only...
Being the stellar bowling pro that all my friends know me to be, I'm going to speak with a voice of authority on this. Or not.
This seems like it's an okay place to go bowling with just one other person, but it wasn't very group friendly. It's a really cute location that's kept pretty clean, but they don't serve pitchers or take credit cards for food/drinks. If they had made more of an effort to keep our group boozed up I'm sure we would've played quite a few more games.
Review for Ice Skating:
I haven't been ice skating in years and I went the other day and I wasn't impressed. The ice wasn't smooth at all and the people working there didn't seem to happy about there jobs. I also thought that it was stupid that you had to pay 50 cents every time to close a locker.
But overall I had a good time skating with my friends.
Great place to go to work on your Blades of Glory moves.
Smiles from wall to wall.
Save $1.75 if you're under 13.
Vending machines and snack bar.
Grand stands to watch the olympically challenged prove why they are.
Guys wearing SKATE PATROL jackets.
...and rest rooms that could be much better.
Got friends flying in from the Sudan? Take them here!
Check it out!
My best skating experience in the Bay in years.
This 5-star review is for the ice skating only.
Fastest, smoothest, coldest, hardest ice I have experienced in the Bay Area. And they seem to be able to do this without making the air environment bone-chillingly cold (hear me Oakland Ice?) or like dark like a discothèque (Belmont Iceland!!).
Their ice is wonderfully maintained (not wavy, bumpy, chipped, or gouged like Oakland Ice is CONSTANTLY), and you could still skate fast on it after a 1.5 hour skating session with 25+ people and not have to worry about catching a bump on a crossover and falling on your face.
Prices were a tad on the expensive side (it was $18 or $19 for 2 admissions and 1 skate rental), and parking is a huge bitch in that area, but I think it was worth it. More night hours would be a huge plus, though.
Going back for sure.
Edit: Looks like my "century" post. Exciting!
Have you ever got an itch - a real itch to bowl in the city?
Yerba Buena Bowl is an ideal location to bowl for those who just wanna have some fun. Yes the place is clean and opens late. it even got some beer and some deep-fried food. There are two vending machines when the snack bar is closed on Sundays and Mondays.
However, this bowling alley is not for serious bowlers!
The facilities are a bit small (12 lanes) and needs more ventilation. Service is on the slow side and is crowded with young children.
I am not used to the lack of ball selection and having no overhead scoreboard either. A few times I have been here, the fun factor waned when the equipment became inoperative, ie pins getting stuck.
Next time you get an itch, consider finding a friend who can drive you to Classic Bowl.
Tips:
* Do not make any bets, unless you want your money to go in the gutter.
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I I I o I Gutter Ball
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I I o I I Hook Shot
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Scanning the ice, you see kids being mowed into each other by pushy, yet smiling parents, hockey players are dashing and slashing, gracious kristi yamaguchis and michelle kwans throw their triple sow-cows and camel spins with perfect 6.0 performances.
You stand back surveying and pondering your own ice merit.
Holding your breath, you take a moment to absorb your leather worn skates embellished by the feet of people born in the 1930s and timidly step out onto that slippery substance, and slip, slop, fro, whoa, bang, boom, CRASH.
Ice-1, you-0.
By hey, the skates were free, you cheapskate, you don't deserve to win.
$8 passage of right to fall on your ass
$0 skate rental
Going to Yerba Buena CheapSkate, beyond priceless.
This is a review for the bowling only.
Ryan V. provided a great review of this place that helped me prepare for YB Bowling Center. Here's the deal: To have a great time, go with low expectations and a great group of people.
I went with my office for some team building and we had a blast. This place is small and simple. There's no crazy disco lights, the music is barely audible, and the decor is minimal (my favorite bowling alleys are much more colorful). BUT, they have a good selection of bottled beers, the shoes are new, and the bowling balls that are my size (shrimpy) are pink!
Just a hop, skip and a jump from South Park, I'm surprised there weren't more startup neighbors hanging out here.
So say that you are downtown and just feel up to some bowling at 7:00 on a Thursday night. Say you walk in wearing heels and are not at all prepared. Well for about $20 you can get a quick game, with no waiting, and a fancy pair of new bowling socks to wear!
Since they have beer, pink bowling balls, and brand new shoes, I give them a solid 4 stars!
Oh and when you actually break a nail trying to bowl your very best, you'll be greatful for the yelp nail file you picked up. Fresh reviews filed daily, ya'll!!
I currently play hockey at this rink in the Sunday/Monday night league. I just joined for my first season and its been pretty fun. We get to beat the SFPD team, which is satisfying :P
Ice is not too rough but definitely not great and they don't crank down the temperature enough when it warms up outside! Check your 12 hour forecast guys! The boards could definitely use some work, as I've broken a stick getting it jammed in.
It would be nice if they had a real pro shop or at least someone who could sharpen skates - I have to take mine to East West Hockey down south.
The only skating rink in S.F.! I was excited to find this place after moving here from Illinois. I like this indoor rink better than the outdoor (holiday/future) one because it's less crowded and I don't have to worry as much about bumping into people while racing around the rink. And it's warmer... There's a center area for doing warm-ups like figure-8's and for practicing jumps.
If this is your first time, wear pants that are flexible (exercise pants rather than stiff jeans) and gloves (to protect your hands from scraping by the ice).
Great place to hang out and to work off some of the tension and energy from the election today!!! :-D
This place is both annoying and indispensable at the same time. Kind of like the postal service.
The wait to bowl is always too long, and even if you get in it's just bowling. So let's not talk about that.
The quality of the ice rink's ice ranges from horrible to bad to the point of making me, a hockey player growing up, randomly fall for no apparent reason. A couple of times. At least the rental skates weren't in too bad of a condition.
Then the music they play makes me feel like I'm at a Jr. High School dance. But that's probably appropriate given all the kids around. Damn kids!
Despite all my hatin', I'll be back because where else are you going to ice skate in July??
Watch out Tanya Harding.
Yours truly ventured out onto the ice rink tonight for a fundraiser and with Hallo's Eve in our sights, various kids & grown ups skated around like barrels of monkeys, cows, lighting bolts & suns. Surprisingly, no political costumes. Family fun at its best.
The skates were decently sturdier than I remembered & the ice rink still as big as ever. I skated for maybe an hour...my poor feet (even with hiking socks).
The interior is too stark compared to the long gone faux wood ice chalet on 48th & Lawton (or even the cool Snoopy Ice Rink in Santa Rosa). It needs one of those old fashioned directional signs (All Skate/Men Skate/Women Skate/Reverse/etc). It's just not the same if you can't do the hokey pokey on ice.
Review for Bowling Alley only.
Okay so I came back to try this Bowling alley again, from visiting this alley a year ago. And actually this place isn't too bad. The hauntings from the dry lanes a year ago seemed to be forgotten. So my ball reaction was working! Anyway, it's a chill lil alley, it's cool, I'll go again. Heck, it may be S.F.'s only bowling alley soon.
Having been so used to hundred-lane bowling alley and Dave-And-Buster caliber games at Cupertino's Strike or club-like atmosphere with thumping music at Sunnyvale's Midnight Lane, I was a tad shocked to find a normal-looking 12-lane bowling alley in the middle of Yerba Buena garden.
Having been used to ample, free South Bay parking spaces, I was more than just a tad shocked to find free parking is a mythical concept, and to make sure car is not vandalized, or towed, or both, considerable sum of money has to be outlaid at the nearby Mission / Fifth Garage.
But I would go back, even if for the garlic fries. Everything else, as expected of a joint like this, tasted like frozen food: chicken nuggets, beer-battered onion rings, fried chicken wings, zucchini fries, all of which are served with either ranch sauce or bbq.
Otherwise, the most fun you can get out from a well-lit, kid-friendly establishment.
This review is for the bowling only.
First off, a small venue. Secondly, no screens where everyone can see what you're bowling. Thirdly: NO BEER on SUNDAYS! What is this, Utah?! (Sorry Utah people, but come on... it's The City!!!)
Eh. I've seen better.
This review is for ice skating only
The best part of this ice rink is that its indoors. Rain or shine its perfect for some good fun. Love the size of the ice rink because its a full hockey rink.. Great for groups and very reasonably priced.
11 bucks for adults including rental and 6.50 for kids.
plenty of seats for family or friends who don't like to skate.
Will come again and again.
This was my first time skating in about a decade, and rink does its job. If your goal is to skate in counter clock-wise around the rink for the two hours, this place is perfect. For some reason they never asked us to switch to clock-wise during those two hours, so apparently they want you to become an expert at turning left.
The ice wasn't too smooth, felt like I was skating on frozen pavement after a while. It gets pretty warm after a while, I saw alot of people in t-shirts when I went. Be careful not to bump into the kiddies and families, as there are a lot of them there too.
It may seem like a pretty negative review but again, the rink does its job. If you and a bunch of your friends or your family randomly get an urge to go skating, this skating rink is fairly cheap and is in a convenient location downtown. If you're a fairly seasoned skater though, I don't really see any features to make you keep coming back to this particular skating rink.
I hadn't bowled in 5 years (minus a post-friend's-wedding bowl in December I barely remember) so maybe prices everywhere have gone up, but it felt really expensive to bowl here for an hour. $40 really? Plus, there was no greasy food and loud tacky music. Most of the silliness that makes bowling enjoyable for me was missing. But, I still had a good time.
so downtown san francisco doesnt offer much else besides shopping, bars, and restaurants you would think, but nestled inside yerba buena is an ice skating rink and a bowling center. ive done 2 events here and also been to a volunteer event here.
the lanes seem a bit short and the place seems kinda small when you walk in. maybe the low ceilings and the small number of lanes. both times we came here there were other events going on. either professional or grad school. the guy at the desk was pretty helpful and seemed really nice. i made a reservation from 7 to 9 and nobody had shown up until 7:30 so we played until 9:30 and he was ok with it.
the girl at the snack bar was also really nice. helping us clean up. i pre-ordered pizza from mo's grill upstairs. the pizzas were surprisingly good! and also some finger foods.
i dont really have any complaints. the first time i made a reservation they gave one of my lanes away so we had to bowl on one lane. and also i didnt know we had to order the pizza ahead of time so all we had to eat was the snack foods. they also have burgers etc. the food here is a bit pricy though. for about 15 people we spend $250 on food. and the reserved lanes for 2 hours was $150 ...
Price list is wierd and excessively conditional - hard to follow. Cool suvenir bowling socks for $4 if you're wearing sandals and end up here because the Zeum is closed on Mondays.
Serviceable. Not the environment I'd be likely to find myself in my off time.
i lost my virginity to ice skating here
i lost my virginity to bowling here
It was winter tradition back in the Old Country (I'm borrowing that term, Kevin S--hope you don't mind), to don my huge brown furry hat--you know, the kind with the pom-poms on the ends of the ties that made me look like a chubby little Eskimo--bundle up, and trudge with my friends or older siblings, through snow up to my little knees to the nearest lake. Where we would then hike through more snow, push the dried cattails aside, and hopefully find a smooth patch of ice to clear off with a broom. All this so we could freeze our tushies off and stagger around on little metal blades, as our fingers and toes went numb from the cold. And hope we didn't fall in. Or that one of my siblings didn't do something to me to torment me, as was their typically demented style.
This is why I only went ice skating a few times in my life even though we had several lakes within less than a mile from us. It was too much work. In fact, I hated it. Now, doing all this for a game of Broomball? THAT was worth it!
But I have a friend I met *here* a while ago who is from the same small town I am, in fact we went to the same small-town high school and know some of the same families!
How serendipitous can that be?
In Old Country tradition, for her birthday she has an "Annual Birthday on Ice" following a dinner. Of course, since this sort of thing is supposedly in my blood, and we have this connection, I *have* to go. And since there are no frozen lakes here in San Francisco, we went here.
The rink didn't quite have the holiday magic I imagined it would--like the Embarcadero rink does, but my friend selected it because it was not as crowded with first-timers, and kids all over the place. It was, however, filled with tweens, teens (dressed to impress, of course!), families and...well, it was just so...so...WHOLESOME!! Kind of like the old Country...
The ice was well-worn, and the place itself is a little beaten up. There's plenty of seating if you don't want to skate, and for only $11 for entry & rental, it's a great value for something a little different--and active to do.
Surprisingly, SF has an ice-skating rink, and it's huge ! And has reasonable prices, and is pretty. I was so nervous to go ice-skating because this would be my second time trying it. Went here with Jon and his family, and Kim for my birthday. We came at about 1:10 but the lady said there was only 20minutes left available for the last ice-skating round, for the public, and then they would re-open at 4:00. So we left and grabbed something to eat at Mel's Drive In -____- ( Which I wrote about read the review for yourself ) :D
After that, walked around bloomingdales & westfield sf mall until it was 3:40, and then walked back to the ice skating rink. $11 for admission, per person. The place is huge and the large windows showing the recreation area and the city of SF outside was pretty cool. It was a nice view while skating. Even though there were tons of people, it didn't feel as crowded which was good. Noticed that they had birthday celebrations available there. There was a birthday party going on, and a group of girls got a small area of the arena to themselves by surrounding their area with cones so no one else could get in, and there were rooms available to hold parties. They played good music too; the fast songs they play gets you pumped up to skate faster. ;D
I will definitely come back here again !
Take your own skates, or at least some baby wipes to clean your feet after and an extra pair extra socks. Every time I've come here, I've almost gagged at the warm, wet sensation as I put my feet into the rented skates.
Princess Wishes week was really miraculous.
First I see the professionals skate with impeccable form and then decide to put my own skills to the test on the ice with my boys.
We headed to the rink, excited about the prospects of gliding across the ice, smooth, strong and graceful. Well, that's what I was thinking about...my skating compadre on the other hand was worried about staying upright.
I've been a skater since the age of 4. I'm from the Midwest, so it kinda goes without saying that I've been on ice so much that it's about as natural as walking to me.
I take it for granted until I see beginners learning to do it for the first time. Not so easy.
I like Yerba Buena. I mean, it's the home of Brian Boitano. HELLO!?!
And there are lots of hot gay men in tights doing fancy schmancy moves...which me and the boys all had fun watching.
However, there were a few fairly big misses here.
#1 - the rental skates are just plain ick. I feel that one could easily contract athletes foot or some other fungus from wearing the boots. Seriously nasty! Come here with 2 pairs of socks (and gloves).
#2 - the ice didn't get cleaned even once during the entire 2 hour skating period. Booooooo for the Zamboni driver. If I were the Zamboni driver (which I aspire to be one day)...I would've definitely been out there at least once. The ice gets too choppy otherwise.
Other than that, it was family skate night (aka: cheap skate) and it wasn't all that crowded which was nice.
I'll definitely come back...after I've purchased my own set of skates.
And then maybe Richard T. and I can duel it out...hockey vs. figure skates.
It's clearly obvious who will win...
TOE PICK
Bowling, as a concept, is depressing. A collection of breaded-and-fried food-scoffing social outcasts hurling balls down a lane and calling it a sport. It doesn't need any help in the gun-in-mouth department.
Which is why so many alleys "nice up" the place with neon or glow in the dark lighting, retro colors, good loud music, and a wet bar.
Not Yerba Buena.
Rolled in there (no pun intended, but hey!...) one night last weekend and my companion and I were met with dull florescent lighting, walls of beige, and only the sound of balls hitting pins.
Admittedly, we're the world's shittiest bowlers...but that's where alcohol's supposed to come into the equation. The "bar" (a fridge half-full of bottled beer) was closed! At 6pm!
I mean - I'm all for a little afternoon drinking, but come on. You're losing out on some serious custom if you're cutting people off at sundown.
The staff were nice and helpful but that, sadly, does not a bowling alley make. Where's a San Franciscan supposed to throw, then? I haven't been to Presidio Bowl but I imagine it'll just be a bunch of Marina choppers with pastel-colored sweaters flung loosely around their necks, high-fiving each other and screaming, "Nice one, Cheeto!" (or whateverthefuck their college nickname happens to be) overtop of a Dave Matthew's Band c.d. spinning on repeat.
Daly City it is, I suppose.
