Reviews of Esperanza Lanes (Bowling Alley)

J S

Didn't get to bowl didn't realize it was league night, no one picked up the phone when I called to check if lanes were free that night. They sell "wine" which is strange. Parking lot is unusual and quite easy to get your car for dinged since parking spaces are tight, especially with large trucks taking up two spaces. Got to the counter tried to find a worker no one would acknowledge me. Not a place for families especially if they can't even post a sign at door saying closed for league or even answer the phone. Don't even know if anyone works there honestly.

Betsy Brucker

I don't expect much from a bowling alley, but I do expect the lanes to work and the staff to know what they're doing. While my group was technically able to bowl, we kept being redirected as to who to talk to / who to pay in order to reserve lanes and get bowling. The lanes themselves constantly needed to be reset during our two games.

Flint Lockwood

Staff is great. Only problem I have is there is a lot of reset button use.

Amber Jenkins

Great for family fun. Not expensive. Kid friendly

me G

I've tried to go there twice and it seems they're always closed. That's sad since there aren't a lot of lanes in the area. So, this review is only from the perspective of never going inside.

Andy Zwak

Expensive and gross

Aidan Iberg

I used the 6 pounder ball just once unknowing of the rules and was rudely confronted to about it by almost every employee even after apologizing to each one and without retaliation to any of them. The lanes have definitely were not the best. Every other ball thrown down the lane glitched the system out. Not a reccomended bowling alley for sure.

Gabrielle Boyd

If I could give this place no starts I would. Stars are not even a good way to judge this. But I give it 5 poop emojis

Kyle Morgan

If only you could give 0 stars.... The staff the facilities everything is garbage....... I would rather throw rocks at bottles..... If your looking for fun dont do it... Watch paint dry its more fulfilling that tgis dumpster!

Omar De la Torre

Not a family friendly place, avoid it when is any league going on

Dick Ryder

I would recommend going here if you want to be embarrassed and treated like garbage by the employees. They have a strict no outside food or drink policy. The woman behind the counter was extremely rude and refused service to me until I brought my water back to my car. The party I was with wasn't allowed to bring in their ice cream cake and ended up having to throw it away. Horrible customer service. And what kind of bowling alley runs out of bowling balls and asks the customer to return some of their balls?

Jen Jen

The lanes are super old, had to keep pressing the reset buttons ourselves. The staff are two old people who are rude, just plain nasty. Will never, ever bowl here again.

David Morris

The staff was amazingly patient and caring for about 50 summer camp kids and staff. They explained the rules to us and personally interacted with the kids attempting to make the experience fun and a good memory. One of our kids spilled something and they came and cleaned it up immediately and understood that it was a kids mistake. They have been around for years and I recommend their bowling alley to you for family fun!

Tony Fleming

Throw back look and feel for a bowling alley. Friendly service to.

Zachary Gerkin

The decor is old the machines keep braking. The staff is mean.

Christopher Cordero

Friends and I went to Esperanza Lanes on Friday night at around 8:30. It was not busy, and I believe there were around six other patrons bowling at the time. The facility was fine, pretty much what you expect for a bowling alley. The staff however was, in my opinion, terrible. Bonnie was very stand-offish, as were the other two individuals staffing the place. They said we could rent a lane for an hour for sixty something dollars. When we said we would rather just pay per game they wanted to put six people per lane, and got more disgruntled when we said we wanted four people per lane. I’m not sure what the problem was since 3/4th of the alleys were empty. Then they said they could only take one payment per lane. I asked since we were paying for individual games, why cant we pay as individuals? She just kept saying “I can only take one payment”. After that you move down the counter to a surly young lady who just said “Gimme your shoe”. This was pretty much indicative of the entire experience at this place. A couple of the guys from out group has missed dinner and were looking for food. But the staffed said the kitchen wasn’t open. So they went next door to subway to get something. Despite the fact that they wouldn’t open the kitchen, they also wouldn’t let them bring in a sandwich, and went so far as to pat down one of my friends. Their behavior at this place is so offensive that I’m never going back and would recommend that anyone who isn’t looking for a colossal buzz kill avoid these people.

Jeffrey Bonner

Went inside to people bowling with half of the lanes unoccupied then go up to the counter and she tells me there are no open lanes.

Tod Jackson

Sad to say this might be the last year it is open. It was sold to someone and not sure what their plans are for the future.

Eliza Appleton

After calling for over a week and leaving multiple messages about having a party with them, I never got a return phone call. Then, after driving to talk to them because I could not get them on the phone, the woman behind the counter was incredibly rude to me and had me write a note instead of helping me set up the party. I followed up with a phone call and she was just as rude, telling me that they did not have time to address the party because they were working. Bottom line: poor communication, rude staff, old facilities, expensive prices.

Alex Kuchta

A friend of ours called yesterday about booking a few lanes for a birthday party for her daughter - the response she received was that it was first come first serve, and that if we showed up at 5 pm today, we would be able to secure two lanes. We arrived as the doors were being unlocked, only to be told that shortly after our friend got off the phone, Booze Allen Hamilton called and rented the remaining lanes and that they were "sorry"; so much for first come first serve. Poor management at its finest. Luckily, I have access to the alley on our local base - Esperanza Lanes will never receive a dime of my money.

iAMLeGeND

Great prices and service for bowling.

Duncan Brown

Needs upgrade

Charlie Wooten

We were hesitant because of the bad reviews, but we had a good time! Good food, drinks, and friendly workers. Only negative was balls/pins occasionally got stuck and had to be reset, but that was easy enough to do. It wasn't your big, lights, theatrical bowling alleys you sometimes see, but it had a small town, local feel and was friendly and fun.

Dawn Mazyck

The 1 star is for the delightful young employee that helped us initially. She was a teenager. The older guy came & and the cloud/aura of Satan entered the room.........then his wife appeared(lord of the underworld). She kept staring at us. Then criticized how we were bowling. Everyone isn't made for customer service. That wife definitely is scaring people away. We felt so uncomfortable. I felt like she didn't want us to spend our money there.We won't be back again. Keep her at home. She is scaring your customers away.

DeWayne Swann

Ridiculous rules! Harassing owners! Terrible

Renee McCarson

I give Esperanza lanes one star simply because there is no option for zero. The establishment it's self is old and outdated and being the prices are high for bowling I can't understand why. The staff is completely unorganized and unprofessional. They strictly cater to "league" bowling yet call themselves a public alley. When I called to try to set up a party for my daughter I left a message and recieved no call back. After calling again a spoke with a women who was not only rude but informed me bowling was first come first serve and and if we arrived at 5 pm we would for sure have no problem bowling. We were the first ones in at 5 as soon as the doors were unlocked and were rudely told that all the lanes had been booked for a company event. When explaining what I was told on the phone I was given an " well I'm sorry for the inconvenience" as my 6 year old daughter and her friends sadly got their hopes up for nothing. Horrible customer service. I will never waste my time here again and I hope other don't as well.

Travis Merritt Sr.

Only Bowling Alley in St Mary’s County Md. Clean lanes. This place has been here for years. It’s been very well kept on the inside.

Ava

This place was awful! The lanes were broken, the ash tray was ON FIRE, and they somehow managed to lose my relative's shoe for 10 minutes? It's 10 dollars for a disgusting, tiny pizza. Also, the woman's bathroom smells like a porta potty. I don't believe it has been cleaned in years. The only reason there is a single star is for the kind woman who helped us out. The other staff are extremely rude. I do not recommend going to Esperanza Lane at all.

Matt J

These are their supposed hours according to their answering machine. OPEN BOWLING: Mon Closed Tue 9am-12pm, 8pm-11pm Wed 5pm-9pm Thur 5pm-9pm Fri 6pm to midnight Sat 1pm to midnight Sun noon to 9pm

Tyler Schubert

This place is definitely, weird and different, and not in a good way. Drinks: They only sell BEER at the counter. You want soda? Use the vending machine. Bowling Balls: They must be very short in supply of bowling balls (which is fairly strange cuz, it's a bowling alley!)... they made a hilarious announcement that said: "To all lanes, if you have more than one ball of the same color, please return it so that someone else can use it if we run out. Please share if you have more than one person using the same weighted ball." HA! What kind of bowling alley runs out of bowling balls? Size: The size of this place feels like a closet. Customers are stock piled on top of each other. For the space they had it's a miracle they're still open. Pizza: It costs $10 for one of their pizzas. They pale in comparison to Pizza Hut, Papa John's, Domino's, etc... and you can get SO MUCH MORE PIZZA from these places. This pizza tasted OK, but it didn't cost $10! Then the older woman only brings you 4 plates/4 napkins, and I took notice to the amount cuz we had so many ppl and asked about it. When I saw how little the pizzas were and we had a birthday, I went to buy 2 more ($20 more). Rude Staff: Refer to my 4 plates/4 napkins above. I mentioned this when I went to buy more pizzas to the 2 women at the counter and they said that they surely dropped off plates/napkins. I bought 2 more pizzas since we hadn't nearly enough food. When the older woman brought the pizzas over and dropped them off, she put the plates and napkins on our table and said, "It's like a magic trick!" All of this cuz I mentioned that there weren't that many the first time? That is just rude. You CAN'T bring outside food or beverages inside, so you're stuck buying sodas out of the vending machine for a BIRTHDAY PARTY, and paying $10 for 4 slices of their little pizzas. Do yourself a favor. Find somewhere else to bowl, or celebrate the birth of your child at a respectable establishment. They don't respect their own place, they certainly don't respect their customers.

Crystal Kipple

This is the worst bowling alley ever!!! All the lanes are old and the staff here are the rudest people I have ever meet. #nevergoingback

alec nolin

This place sucks, you have to reset the lane manually everytime you bowl.

Katherine Stone

Had my son's birthday party here. Staff was wonderful. They made his day special and had amazing service.

Ryan Loyd

Awful waste of money.

Mary Bailey

Had our 9 year old granddaughters birthday party here today. Eight girls and four adults and they all had a fantastic time! The price was extremely reasonable and they did all the work! The staff as extremely friendly and courteous and very accommodating. Highly recommend it for a child's birthday party with 8-12 kids. They do have a private room available also for larger groups.

Matt Kennedy

Rather expensive for bowling given the outdated equipment and facilities. There aren't any nearby competitors, but the place has been dead every time I went because it's so expensive. If they went with an '80s theme on purpose, it would certainly help the atmosphere at least. The owners and staff are friendly which is why I've given this 3 stars instead of less.