All Star Lanes

02/03/09

Decent bowling on the cheap

by cmccaugh

I've been to All Star Lanes once, on a Friday night in January. I'm giving them four stars because the quality of the place is a good match with the price you pay.

Even though it was a Friday night, we didn't have to wait for a lane. (That sets them apart in this city.) The place was decently packed, too -- it wasn't too empty. I have no complaints about the service, although we never had a problem with our lane malfunctioning. The automated scoring system is noticeably cheap, but so were the prices. On Friday nights (and the other weekend nights too, I would imagine), they do that blacklight-heavy "astro-bowling" thing that you've probably seen other alleys do. Other users complained that the place was seedy, but if that's the case then the low light levels totally took care of it. It was a younger crowd that night. There were way more patrons in the 18-28 age range than I've seen at other alleys.

I agree that no one should bring their own bowling ball here. The house ones are all gouged up, presumably because of the old ball-return equipment. Considering I always use a house ball anyways, I didn't care.

In summation, the place really isn't that bad. I'm not looking for a fancy place when I bowl, except when I went to Lucky Strike that one time. (That was just too much money for bowling.) As long as you can be comfortable in a blue-collar place, you'll get your money's worth here.

• Pros: Price
• Cons: Equipment

10/17/08

Fun All American Bowling Experience.

by Newtotown9

I just had my birthday bash at the All Star. We all had a great time. The facilities were clean, well maintained and the staff was SUPER nice. It wasn't too noisy or loud. Was easy to enjoy!!!!

02/26/08

SPARE YOURSELF...STAY AWAY!!

by puckaroo

My friends and I went to All Star Lanes last Thursday or some bowling and beer. The first thing that STRIKES you when you walk in, is how empty the place is. There were literally only 3 lanes being used when we came in. We joked that it felt like a mausoleum. Anyways, a few of us have our own bowling/balls. After rolling our first few frames, we all noticed that our bowling/balls were literally caked with some brown subtance. I asked the gal up front what the story was...she looked at my ball, rubbed it, and said that it must have been on the ball before I came in. The funny thing was, I took it to a pro shop at another alley in Glendale that was full, and they cleaned the ball for me BEFORE we went to All Star Lanes. I assumed the gunk was the oil from the lanes...as it turns out, the ball return belts rub the bowling/balls, and also chip them.

If you do feel the urge to bowl there ( their beer and lanes are fairly cheap) I strongly suggest you use a house ball!!

• Pros: cheap beer and bowling
• Cons: inadequate equipment and laisez fair attitude

10/17/07

Good times, coming back slowly....

by sckid

Cool place to hang out and have a good time and be melow (different from the usual club scene)....Everything is very reasonably priced and staff are friendly. It looks like they are still working on this venue and giving it upgrades slowly!

We went down witha bunch of friends, watched footbal game, drank and bowled. It was good times I would definitly recomend it, it ain't too fancy but it sure is fun!!

• Pros: Cheap Prices, Friendly Staff, good amosphere

08/16/06

Run Down Dump

by bobbobarino

People in LA assume that if something is filthy and poorly operated that it's "kitchy" or "classic". Worse yet, they refer to it as a slice of "Americana".

Folks, sometimes a dump is just a dump.

This place is so poorly maintained and operated. They should have let it become a storage facility (as was planned a few years back). Yes, they added computerized lanes, but they installed the cheapest ones possible (made by K-Tel, I think). They are unreliable and you can barely read the washed-out monitors. It's agonizing to run to the counter every two minutes (seriously!) because a ball is stuck or the pins aren't resetting. They don't give a damn, anyway.

In the hands of competent management this place could become the gem that people pretend it is. These folks are trying to get by operating as low-rent as possible. Every meth lab and 7-11 in the world has better management than All Star Lanes.

I will admit that the bar is certainly unique. Alas, dark and musty isn't quite my style.

Please stop pretending like this place is great. You deserve better, Mr. and Mrs. Los Angeles Area Bowler! There are plenty of other old bowling alleys in LA that are operated a thousand times better.

• Pros: Cheap (dollar-wise)
• Cons: Cheap (in every other way)