Harlem Lanes

This bowling location is hard to find. even if you have the address you will
walk past this place numerous times til you find it. its location on the 3^rd floor
is not convenient at all. you have to go through checkpoints as if you are visiting the white house. its only good if you live in harlem and dont own a metrocard or a car.
and this place is pricy for drinks and bowling. only go if you are on a date and trying to impress but if you want to learn to bowl save money and go elsewhere.

I read that this place will be closing soon.

Nice place.
The staff is young but on point and more than willing to help.
The Lanes seem to be short. My friend has been there before and told me that the private party lanes are better. On the next trip, i’ll take a look at them.
Parking on a Friday night was pretty good.
My only beef is with the rates. At $ 9 bucks a game on a Friday night, jeez. I know it’s Manhattan but i can get better rates and have a better time at Brooklyn bowl bowling and listening to live music.

Harlem Lanes is not designed or managed well. Period.
Based on what professional operators have told me, part of creating a hospitality venue is managing the flow of people and overseeing their experience. You should be able to move through a space without running into confusion and road blocks at every step.
Harlem Lanes is a text book exercise on how not to do it. When you get to the lobby there is a sign leading you to a staircase that ends in a locked door. When you go back downstairs and find the elevator (there is no sign) you get off and its not clear where you should go. When you finally find the desk (go right, not left), the guy behind the desk will be so shady that you feel like you have to watch him to make sure he doesn’t give you place away. It doesn’t help that there are a dozen people also around the desk complaining that they have been waiting 45 minutes to bowl and the manager comes out looking more confused than the desk clerk.
After you wait 45 minutes to get a lane, no one tells you where your lane is. They don’t even tell you what floor its on. By the time you get to your lane, you are so suspicious of their service that you might ignore the perfectly reasonable and plesant attitude of your actual waitress.
Bowling is bowling and that experience is fine at Harlem Lanes. I’m not expecting a bowling alley with the design excellence of Disney World, but the initital service at Harlem Lanes is so bad I’m suprised anyone actually stays to bowl.
Have fun
G

I came here with a group of coworkers. Initially I thought we’d be a larger group so I contacted their sales rep and inquired about promos and such. I was informed that they have $ 20 bowl all you want inclusive of shoes on certain nights. The funny thing was when we got there none of their front staff knew about it. They had to call and confirm.
And then there was the interesting crowd. Upstairs there was a large party with lots of kids just running around all over the place while the adults were eating and drinking. It was quite chaotic that the staff actually said they don’t know what to do. Uhm, it’s your business premises. Come on now!
Once our group got set up though we had fun. After all, bowling is bowling. You have fun depending on the group you’re with. I wouldn’t entirely be opposed to coming back here since it is cheap but it’s one of those things you should be forewarned of. I will say that over all if we had to pay more than $ 20 then this place is a rip off.

NEVER AGAIN.
came here for a school trip with my class (i am a TA). my children are special need’s children and the reception from the staff members was less than acceptable. the one man at the front was a total douche to me and the other teachers. if it werent for our kids, i would have let him have it.
i really did not want to stay and give a dollar of my hard-​earned money to this establishment but business is business.

Price: N/​A
Highlight: Leaving
I remember visiting this place when it just opened, nice looking decent place. What happened? I stepped off the elevator and felt like I should have come in body wrapped in a condom… almost like there was a thin layer of grease on everything… honestly my eyeballs saw no physical grease… i’m just saying I got a greasy feel. No hellos, no welcome to harlem lanes. In 2 minutes my motivation decreased from «maybe i’ll play a game, wear the shoes, buy a drink» to «okay, maybe i’ll wear the shoes but rarely play» to «maybe i’ll buy a drink» to «yeh i’m definitely staying for 20 minutes and leaving.» It didnt help when my friend smelled his fingers after sticking them in the holes in the ball, grimaced and looked at me eyebrows raised. I raised my eyebrows back at him in response, grabbed my jacket and headed out of Harlem Lanes…

Went for a friend’s birthday late on a Wednesday night and it was perfect.
Service was amazing. Waitresses were so nice. Drinks and bowling were cheap!
Fun place to bring a bunch of friends for some bowling action.
The music there is really good too!

I really wanted to like this place, unfortunately I didn’t so much. Customer Service wasn’t the best. It wasn’t really clean and too dark on main floor
I went on a Sunday night and 90% of the people in Harlem Lanes were kids running around.
I’m glad I had good company.

Returning to Harlem Lanes, reminded me of being a child and anticipating the weekend to go bowling with my family. It was not necessarily a weekly event but, it was definitely something we did two to three times a month, Boy, was it fun! I remember the stale cigarette smell because this was the 70s and 80s when people smoked everywhere. I’m certainly glad that some things have changed.
My five-​year old daughter (Averie), my husband, his sister-​in-​law, and her boyfriend (both visiting from France), and I went to Harlem Lanes this past summer and had a fabulous time. We swapped our shoes for a pair of ubiquitous red, blue, and white bowling shoes and came up with funny names to use for our score card.
This was Averie’s very first time bowling and I wanted her to have fun-​filled memories like I had. Harlem Lanes didn’t disappoint. We each bowled three games and laughed and encouraged one another. I even managed to bowl a strike to the shock of everyone.
If you want to have some affordable family fun time, I strongly urge you to check out Harlem Lanes, one of the only family owned bowling alleys left in NYC. You will leave happy, exuberant, and still have money left over for a cab ride home. Your children will have an incredible memory to share with their family and friends and you’ll all want to return again and again.

My son’s bff had his 9^th bday party here on a Sunday afternoon. Now im entirely too cute to bowl so I sat on the sidelines and watched the kiddies play… ok let me be honest, I SUCK at bowling and I was happy it was a kids’ party so I wouldnt have to get embarrassed (again!!) or make excuses to go to the bathroom everytime it was my turn to bowl.
So anyways, everything was in working order and the food was decent. We had the run of the mill kid’s party food – chicken fingers, pizza, etc. The staff was cool and my friend and the kids were satisfied with the outcome of the party.
I noticed a bar area and that they have another level upstairs that I’d like to pose at some day (I cant bowl but I can pose like a mug). Seems like a pretty good concept.

Worst bowling experience EVER in my 30 year life !!
Went on a Thursday night, they had a little kids birhtday party before we arrived and they got buck wild and were jumping across my lanes and bouncing around like monkeys!
Now this is a bowling alley coorect? so why do the lanes not work. on any lane? why dont the busted balls they do have not come bacl down the ball return?
I JUST NOTICED AN ALMOST IDENTICAL REVIEW soooo I am not the only 1 who feels this way! Unilocal needs to allow negative reviews because not all venues are positive, not even worth 1 star!

Don’t waste your time:
1. We should have been tipped off by the lack of signage, the dirty elevators and yes… that’s right… being frisked at the door
2. There is no real system to the wait list. They take your name but never call it. After 30 minutes and seeing a bunch of lanes sitting open we asked how much longer it would be and were told that it wasn’t our turn yet and that they didn’t know how much longer. I’m sorry, what?
3. We quickly realized why it was so hard to get a lane. All of the open lanes are broken. Out of the 10 – 12 within eye shot, at least 5 of them weren’t working.
4. When we went to get drinks, the bartender at the far end of the bar who was just standing there made eye contact, but then looked away. Aside from the bad service, the lounge is super small. Sorry I forgot to mention that she overcharged us. She said $ 17, I handed her a $ 20, but when she rang it up the register showed $ 15. The bartenders are skimming!
5. Lastly there were people still arriving at 11pm with little kids. I don’t have anything wrong with kids at a bowling alley, but it wasn’t a Saturday afternoon, it was nearly midnight and at midnight I don’t want to hang out with little kids.
If you want to bowl, do yourself a favor and pay the extra to go to Bowlmor, Lucky Strike, Chelsea Piers or even the place in port authority.
If you want a night of night of frustration where the closest thing that comes to bowing is the smell of shoes, then you’ll love Harlem Lanes.

Harlem Lanes is the only accredited bowling alley owned by two women of color in the country. I really wanted to like this place. I really wanted to have this be a ‘go-​to’ spot for some fun and good times and support my people.
However, the question asked by my S.O. as I started writing this review pretty much summed it up: «Can you rate a place negative stars?»
I can talk about how this place was overrun by children and their birthday parties. But that’s not really the fault of the bowling alley how annoying I find small children to be in a bowling alley as they’re running all over the place, stealing balls, pop and locking in our lanes, and just being a nuisance. I can’t be mad at them for that. Note to parents: Be responsible for your children when there are heavy balls that can break tiny, developing skulls are involved.
You know what I CAN mad at?
Being put on a wait list for lanes that don’t work!
After waiting an hour for lanes to open, we went from lane 18 to lane 17 to lane 13. Why did we go through so many lanes you ask? Balls getting stuck and not coming back to us, the scorecard not accurately keeping the scores or jumping ahead, and pins disappearing. All. Damn. Night.
So if the lanes are non-​functional you’d think that there would be enough people to fix them and fix them in a timely manner. Not so much. It took us THREE hours to play three games. We spent more time trying to find people to fix our lanes then actually bowling and then even more time WAITING for them to do it.
What else? Waiting over 30 minutes for a server to bring over a coffee. We asked another server if she could track down where our coffee was only to get «We don’t even serve coffee.» So we order a Coke. Then our server comes back to say, «We have coffee but not skim milk.»
What??? GET IT TOGETHER!
Finally, we ended up a functional lane for our last game but by that time we were exhausted and just wanted to go home.
As my friend stated, «Bowl, bowl, and bowl some more. Just don’t do it here.»

Bowling in Harlem? Oh, hellllll yes!
I rambled up to 125^th for bowling on my birthday, because, well, why not? My two friends and I were glad to go out on a wintry day and stretch our glutes, throwing heavy balls down wooden lanes.
Harlem Lanes reminds me of a bowling alley at an aging community center. The place is clean enough, but everything is a little dated and shabby. They slap a fresh coat of paint on things now and then, and the jukebox is stocked with the latest pop hits, so it isn’t a total time machine.
But the ceiling is leaky, some of the lanes are bowed in the middle, and it looks like they are always doing maintenance on one of the lanes or another. Our lane would occasionally fail to set all 10 pins. It was better for my score, but, well, just wrong. Additionally, all the fans by the ball returns were unplugged. It changes the experience, you know?
The staff was friendly and helpful, and technical assistance was rendered quickly. I’d probably go back if I just want a cheaper bowling experience.

Such a shame… just moved down the block and I want to love this place. But my experiences there have been a total bummer:
1. Auto 20% grat on all drinks without mention. I’m talking even for 1 person on 1 beer. Total turn off.
2. Chaos. Hardly ever anyone at the register to get you a lane and shoes.
3. Sh*tty equipment. Our pin machine things malfunctioned twice on two separate lanes.
4. Staff are all on different planets: no one agrees on prices. Really?
Bunch of amateurs, dude.

Here’s a rhetorical question. Ever have one of those nightmares where everything is messed up, zombies are everywhere, and you just can’t wake up? Welcome to Harlem Lanes.
I came here with some friends who had a Groupon for 3 games+shoes+whatever. We showed up hungry. That was a huge mistake.
After finishing the first pitcher of beer and ordering food, we got called to our lane (18). The first thing we noticed was that every time we threw a ball, it didn’t come back. We started borrowing the balls from nearby lanes, but since those weren’t coming back either, people got mad at us. We finally asked someone to come by and fix our lane. It took this guy maybe 45 minutes to completely fix the lane where the balls were returning properly. Meanwhile, we were waiting for our food.
An hour after ordering our food we started to inquire about where it was. We were assured that it was «coming.» Another hour passed and after bothering the staff a few more times, we were informed that the kitchen was backed up but we would get our food soon. Finally, we got part of our order and some stuff we didn’t order. By the we were so drunk and hungry that we devoured everything that was there. Eventually the burger that I was going to split with someone came, but THEY DID NOT HAVE A KNIFE. They absolutely refused to give us a knife or even come over to our lane and cut the burger for us. It took OVER TWO FUCKING HOURS for all the food to come out.
When I went to pay the bill, I didn’t even bother going over the charges which seemed like they didn’t comp the «free pitcher» or the extra stuff that we didn’t ask for. I appropriately wrote YOU SUCK in the tip line and hoped that none of us would get shot or stabbed on our way out.
Never coming back within a mile of this place.

Great place to go bowling — especially if you’re on a budget!
Cheaper than normal bowling prices for the NYC area. Good finger food.
I went with a large group with the buywithme deals, but Unilocal has deals w/​Harlem Lanes as well. The staff here are very friendly, helpful, and let you have a lot of fun. You probably won’t be spending over $ 15 for 2 games and shoes here.
It’s not luxury bowling — but it’s normal traditional bowling (which I love)! I missed it. The shoes are clean and well kept. Bowling is fun here.
I’d go here again and again

I took an 8 year old to Harlem Lanes and we had a good time. It’s pretty clean, and it’s not too hard to get a lane (although this was the middle of the afternoon). It seems a little pricey, but it is Manhattan so what else can you expect.
They had excellent onion rings and the staff was helpful! It is also cool that the bumpers in the gutters can be taken away for each person, makes it so the adults don’t have to use them, but the kids can. I had never seen this modern technology before and thought it was a fantastic idea!
It’s easy to get to from the red line or the green line, so even though it’s way north, it’s definitely accessible.

Janeen B’s UYE bowling event ended up being a bust, but the four of us who did show up made a night out of it by, in part, drinking at the little known bar on the 4^th floor in this building. That’s right. The main bowling alley is on the the 3^rd floor, and all of the signs will direct you there. But there are in fact more lanes on the 4^th floor and a bar/​lounge area set up, perfect for relaxing with friends over drinks.
Drinks are all around the $ 7 price point, and the service is good at the bar but kind of nonexistent on the main floor. I really thought the bartender was pretty gracious. One of our drinks was a glass of Pinot Grigio, but for some reason they did not have a regular wine glass to serve it in. To make up for the wine being served in a soda glass, the bartender poured out some extra wine. The music was loud and largely consisted of a modern sampling of R&B punctuated by the occasional urban classic. Considering that this is a bowling alley, I was pretty impressed. In fact, this bar was so considerably better than Seville’s across the street, that it is worth a look if you are in the immediate area.
3.5 stars