Reviews of Harvard Bowling Lanes (Bowling Alley)

Josh Senecal

It was a nice summer day so it was quiet. Arcades worked and the place was clean. Old school candlepin bowling and paper score cards. May not be for anyone wanting automation, flashy new looks -but great if you just want simplicity and just want to play a game.

Dean Blackketter

Old fashioned candlepin bowling. Fun!

Andrew Brown

Candlepin bowling and arcade games at its finest. Only one of the two skeeball machines in the back work but it's still worth stopping by because it's so affordable to play the arcade games.

Chaim Kimhi

Big place lits of lanes and decent prices

Kayla Myllykangas

horrible. I asked for the cosmic glow three times and she said no. I think she's racist.

Josh Senecal

It was a nice summer day so it was quiet. Arcades worked and the place was clean. Old school candlepin bowling and paper score cards. May not be for anyone wanting automation, flashy new looks -but great if you just want simplicity and just want to play a game.

James Frey

We had the place to ourselves it was great

Elliot Niman

Candlepin bowling - it was great fun. We were treated very well. I recommend it!

Big Daddy Long Pants Fish

Nice place old school style bowling. Small balls candle pin style. Here for cosmic bowling. I’ll be back. They also have a game room area. Definitely a hidden gem

Abby Belanger

Ya

Diane Potter

This is a fun old fashioned place to bowl. There was a 3 hour wait at Apex so we came here and had our kids practice math scoring by hand and had fun with glow in the dark bowling.

Jen Paolilli

Fun times while being transported back in time! Wonderful management.

Keilin Bickar

We showed up at 7:30pm on Friday and found a small crowd standing outside unable to get in. One person called and they said they had closed early because "it was dead". A couple other cars stopped by and were also disappointed. The employees were still inside, but I guess they just wanted to close 3 hours early on Friday night

Dani D

Always old school fun!!

Birch Tree

Why does their parking lot smell like p I s s?

Erin Sheedy

Inexpensive, Great for gatherings!

Diane Potter

This is a fun old fashioned place to bowl. There was a 3 hour wait at Apex so we came here and had our kids practice math scoring by hand and had fun with glow in the dark bowling.

Janet Oloughlin

We went there today to have a great family day , i brought my 21 month old grandson , who acted awesome, sitting there eating crackers , I at one time took him in my arms and held him, the lanes beside me at the time were not in use, mind you, this was at least 1hr and 45 mins into bowling, when out of no where I got screamed at by a short haired, heavy set , female, she screamed at me in front of my 3 other children, telling me to sit down with THAT BABY, who was acting amazing, not only was it unprofessional ,rude and embarrassing , but she then went after my 12 yr old cause he mistakenly had a pencil in his hand while we went to pay, almost attacking him to get the pencil back, and when i said "for the love of Jesus" she hissed yes hissed at me, needless to say after spending 52 +dollars at your business, I will never ever be returning, and the people who also sat in lane 8 beside us in lane 7 showed the same feelings towards this rude large lady..I will be sure to tell all my family and friends as well as post my experience on my facebook , where i have over 580 friends, never to spend any family time at Harvard Lanes Harvard Ma, for the rudeness in which this person showed today ...not a great way to run a business, employees are your biggest asset, and this person should never work in the public let alone a family friendly place.

michael ernst

Love this place. Debbie is awesome

Ivan Dell'Era

The owner is the most unfriendly businesswoman I ever met. When I proceeded to redeem the Groupon I purchased a few days ago, she refused to accept it, regardless of the printed rules on the Groupon, as she's the owner and she makes the rules. She doesn't seem to care about customers. Years ago I had a similar experience with a coupon from the Entertainment book, she refused it saying she didn't authorize them to add it to the book. I'm not sure what is this year's excuse about Groupon. Too bad as my daughter is old enough and starts to enjoy the game, I guess we're better off going regularly to Nashua, as the staff there is very friendly and the place is definitely cleaner.

GNT MIR

Thank you

Noah S. Manongi

Great!

Benjamin Davis

Best place around, been going here for almost 30 years.

Jen Paolilli

Fun times while being transported back in time! Wonderful management.

Cole Stecyk

Very old fashion. Staff does not go out of their way to be helpful

Timothy Fryer

A great place to go candlepin bowling.

Keilin Bickar

We showed up at 7:30pm on Friday and found a small crowd standing outside unable to get in. One person called and they said they had closed early because "it was dead". A couple other cars stopped by and were also disappointed. The employees were still inside, but I guess they just wanted to close 3 hours early on Friday night

burt blair

Went with the family to bowl. lanes seems pretty old school overall it was a good time

Haylee DeForte

DO. NOT. EVER. GO. such an awful place. so so rude. always have been—hoped for a different experience but unfortunately it was not. made me feel very uncomfortable, and they criticized everything we did. after we called to complain, they proceeded to MAKE UP a story on what happened, but after we questioned if it was true, they hung right up. they are incredibly racist as well, giving us dirty looks from the second we walked in. screaming at us for absolutely no reason at all. we were yelled at for everything we did, and one of the workers stared us down every second- followed us around, turned to where ever we were standing. my sister accidentally wrote the scoring sheet wrong (they don’t even have electronic scoring, which makes sense since it looks like it was made in the 40s) two workers decided to come over to yell at us, and proceeded to call us idiots. the moment we got in, we went to our assigned lane and not even a minute later, an old man came over and yelled at us saying we aren’t allowed to change our shoes there, we didn’t even have our coats off, and while we tried to explain to him we would move in one second, he was incredibly rude to us saying very awful things to us. we had many more awful things happen too-those were only a few. we were getting spoken about behind our backs, getting eye rolls, and getting stared at constantly. every single worker is absolutely terrible and very old, therefore should be sold to new owners who are younger and kinder, and the place needs to be upgraded and add electronic scoring. wish i could give negative stars.

burt blair

Went with the family to bowl. lanes seems pretty old school overall it was a good time

Jason Tambolleo

Very nice Great job they did Set up everything for birthday party Went amazing Definitely will return

Nic Castro

Let me start off by saying this place is great and fun, but it needs to be updated. Outside of the lanes, which I guess are rather important, this place looks like what it probably did in the 80s. Outside of aesthetics, it's a wonderful place to bring your kids. The attendant was a very nice elderly gentleman, that offered my daughter a lollipop as we were leaving. The mechanisms are a bit outdated, but it's part of the charm. Kind of like stepping back into my childhood. Worth visiting if you are looking for something to do that doesn't require a screen.

DENISE WHITNEY

Good time!!!!

Brandon Boucher

Old school candlepin bowling

Debbie Shepherd

4 games+2 shoe rentals=$35

David Lussier

Get what you get. Not bad. Balls need to be replaced. Cheap arcade as well

Gerardo Torres

Outdated

Lisa Greene

Fun for the family

Hugh Donnelly

What a spot for candlepins. Stopped in on a whim while heading home from great wolf lodge. Bowled a great string, approaching Ed Czernicki level great. I'll be back.

Alison Varrell

Great "traditional" bowladrome in Harvard, MA. If you remember Candlepins for Cash you'll love experiencing this little bowling alley gem off Route 2. It is clean, cared for and welcoming. There's no bar or restaurant, but you don't expect that when you pull in the parking lot. You can snack to your heart's content from the vending machine (circa 1978?), pay at the desk for soft drinks from the mini fridge or get some Skeeball time in at the arcade. Be prepared to keep your own scores on the paper score sheets; there are no computerized animations to do that for you. If you're looking for the flash and shine (or vast number of lanes) of Kings or Wamesit move on. But if you're looking for a family friendly blast from the past--this is your place.

Haylee DeForte

DO. NOT. EVER. GO. such an awful place. so so rude. always have been—hoped for a different experience but unfortunately it was not. made me feel very uncomfortable, and they criticized everything we did. after we called to complain, they proceeded to MAKE UP a story on what happened, but after we questioned if it was true, they hung right up. they are incredibly racist as well, giving us dirty looks from the second we walked in. screaming at us for absolutely no reason at all. we were yelled at for everything we did, and one of the workers stared us down every second- followed us around, turned to where ever we were standing. my sister accidentally wrote the scoring sheet wrong (they don’t even have electronic scoring, which makes sense since it looks like it was made in the 40s) two workers decided to come over to yell at us, and proceeded to call us idiots. the moment we got in, we went to our assigned lane and not even a minute later, an old man came over and yelled at us saying we aren’t allowed to change our shoes there, we didn’t even have our coats off, and while we tried to explain to him we would move in one second, he was incredibly rude to us saying very awful things to us. we had many more awful things happen too-those were only a few. we were getting spoken about behind our backs, getting eye rolls, and getting stared at constantly. every single worker is absolutely terrible and very old, therefore should be sold to new owners who are younger and kinder, and the place needs to be upgraded and add electronic scoring. wish i could give negative stars.

Chris Reiner

Not bad. Needs updating. No electronic scoring.

Mark Ziko

Here is a great place to partake in sport native to the northeastern USA and eastern Canada. This is a smaller bowling alley that still have paper score sheets and is about fun experience of Candlepin bowling!

Crystal Blair

We went on a Saturday night. It was a very nice place and we had a lot of fun!

Marena Cole

Harvard lanes is a fantastic spot for all ages and any occasion. Cosmic bowling is super fun. It's pretty much out of a time warp, which is my favorite part. They also always have the best music.

Robert F. Jobin Jr.

Lots of sizes of shoes for rental. Not busy. But there's no automatic score keeping.

steve perry

old time candlepin bowling, very friendly, clean place also pencil and sheet scoring which i like. you rent the lane now not per string.

Kaycee Deforte

If you are looking to go bowling, i 100% recommend NOT HERE. The workers are rude, you have to do the scoring yourself, and it’s straight out of the 70s with the technology. It is not worth $26, and you should definitely go somewhere else.

Brian Beauvais

Came here for a work function and we bowled for a couple hours. Had a great time with the candlepin bowling. The location has an arcade and some vending machines for drinks and snacks too.

Michael Vaughn

Unfortunately you can't give negative stars. Me and 5 friends went here last night around 845. Upon walking in the extremely rude "owner" felt the need to say "you guys realize we're closing at 10.." We told her that's plenty of time and received an eye roll back. After getting shoes and a lane we asked for music and the cosmic lights. She refused the lights and told us she just turned it off even though the site says they go until close. Already very unsatisfied we tried to make the best of it. We proceeded to bowl and not even 2 throws in the lady stormed down to us. She told us if we are not the ones bowling we need to be sitting. That was the last straw for us and we left. Not before telling her how terrible the experience was and we'll never be back. She insisted that she doesn't care and doesn't need customers. All in all, shockingly bad customer service, extremely rude and just not a fun place. Stay far, far away.

Bobby Conlon

Throwback to my childhood.... Very well kept+++

John McEachern

Retro bowling alley and arcade

Crystal Blair

We went on a Saturday night. It was a very nice place and we had a lot of fun!

Aly Perez

Small spot... but can bring in your own food.

Keith Norris

Stopped by on my way through after moving to Maine five years ago. I used to bowl here as a kid, and up through high school. While I was bowling, the owner, Tony, came in and recognized me after over ten years since my last visit. He was just as friendly and easy going as I remembered, and it made my day knowing that he remembers his customers after so long. Reasonable prices and plenty of lanes in a friendly environment ensure that I'll be stopping by whenever I'm back to my home town.

Sheryl Belley

Great time! Cosmic bowling alley Friday and Saturday night is fun! Very affordable and kid friendly.

Jeff Schwarz

Not fancy but GREAT FUN!!

Jonathan Gaydos

An older bowling alley which needs updating, but we had a lot of fun for our first time candle pin bowling. The staff was off-putting, and it felt like we were bothering her, but the bowling itself was a lot of fun.

William Schwaller

Love candlepin and this place is a perfect old fashioned alley. We rented out the whole place for after our wedding rehearsal dinner.

Marena Cole

Harvard lanes is a fantastic spot for all ages and any occasion. Cosmic bowling is super fun. It's pretty much out of a time warp, which is my favorite part. They also always have the best music.

Dan Conley

Candlepin at its finest. Retro feel and friendly atmosphere