Cape Ann Bowlg Center

We went here today with my son and two nieces ages 3 – 9. This was one of the best experiences I have had in a bowling alley in a long time. The owner or manager was very friendly and helpful. The place was clean and well maintained. They had a game section where the kids could play games for tickets and get prizes. The electronic scoring was easy to use unlike the ones I have used in kings or other bowling alleys. The kids had a blast and they serve beer and wine. We will be going back again.

The outside of the building is a little misleading, as it is not in fact an abandoned building nor a relic of the past. The inside of Cape Ann Bowling is just what we were looking for — a clean, lively, friendly place to bring the kids bowling.
There were about 15 lanes (candlepin bowling!) that come with or without bumpers. Without bumpers, it is around $ 4 per person/​hour. With bumpers, it goes by the hour ($ 26/​hour), but it is pro-​rated. That way, if your kids get bored after 15 minutes, they’ll only charge you for the 15 minutes.
The staff was very friendly. We were there relatively early, around 1pm on a Sunday, so the place was pretty empty. The two men working were very nice and super helpful. Whenever something happened, they were right there to fix it.
There is a snack bar in the alley which sells small snacks like fries, pretzels, and pizza. They also sell hot drinks, cold drinks, and beer and wine. The guys working were very helpful with the snacks and brought them over to our lane.
There is also an arcade in the alley. There are a handful of games that spout out tickets for prizes at the main desk. They were not too expensive and added a nice way to finish off our bowling excursion.

My friend bought a groupon for Cape Ann lanes and we finally got a chance to go this weekend. It was really easy to get to off 128 and it had a really cool old «bowl» sign out front. We made our way in and cosmic bowling was going on, but it wasn’t too disco that you couldn’t concentrate and bowl. The boy at the desk was nice and our coupon set us up with 2 hours of bowling, a pizza, and a pitcher of soda.
The pins had pretty good action, but the scoring system was a pain to use and confusing at times. The pizza was okay and the root beer hit the spot. There were a TON of little kids running around, but thats to be expected. The manager was really friendly and was always around.
I’m excited to go back, but maybe earlier in the day so it would be a little more quiet.

Man do they have some weird automated scenes that pop up on the monitors here while you bowl! They have these awkward people swinging a club on rocks underwater, a shark chasing a fish… all kinds of crazy underwater themed things but none of them really seem to make any sense in the context of bowling ha ha
But this bowling alley is a decent spot to come to try out candlepin bowling if you’ve never been before. DEFINITELY made way more so for kids, although they do have beer on tap! BUT we were sad to hear that they only do pitchers of soda and not pitchers of beer. I don’t really get that, I mean they have the pitchers just pour beer in those! Seems simple enough to me!
Bowling for two game including shoes ended up being $ 11.50 per person so not that cheapest in the world especially for how quickly candlepin bowling goes too, since they don’t reset the pins between the throws. This place was recently renovated so they have automatic score keepers too which is nice. But the music they were playing was just a whisper! I mean aren’t we there to have fun? Shake our booties maybe a little bit while we bowl? Well at least I was. So crank up the music Cape Ann! I could hear the music from those weird arcade games way more so than I could the actual music! Oh and if you bring kids here and they start collecting tickets to trade in for prizes, just don’t let them play. Unless there is ticket inflation these days, it takes 30 tickets just for one warhead candy! That is nuts!

This place is another favorite of the Guru!
The Guru had been to Cape Ann several times before it was sold in 2001, but in 2001, the Guru returned to find eight of those beautiful lanes planked over to make a dance floor of all things! The people who were running the place at that time were running it into the ground. Finally it closed — albeit breifly.
Cape Ann was then RESCUED by new owners, who understood what they were trying to do. It was purchased by a local family who made a huge investment in the facility to completely modernize the place, reopen it, and make it one of the première Candlepin Bowling centers in eastern Massachusetts!
Cape Ann has 20 lanes of Candlepin Bowling in two sections: a four-​lane section which can be used for parties, and a 16-​lane main section.
They have a small snack bar for more simple food selections.
It is a moderately «fast» house.
They *DO* have games.
They do not have pool tables.
They *DO* have bumper bowling for children.
They *DO* offer «Glow» or «Cosmic» bowling.
They use computer scoring for the public.
Cape Ann is «smoke-​free».