Reviews of Bowl America Fairfax (Bowling Alley)

ThermiteFe8

Great, I had the most entertaining night of my life here!

Kelly Hsu

Great place to bowl! Nicholas rocks! Love that guy. They put on the disco lights so it’s great for kids and teens. I will train to be a bowling master here. Y’all will see me here every night

Jordan Chirico

No wait, clean bowling alley, beer on tap, perfect Friday night out spot!

Ricky Webster

Great bowling alley food and dank lanes

Ankith Raj

Lanes are bad, balls are insufficient and not.good either and the manager is non co-operative and yells at customers!

Ripley Alston

Well, I have to admit, I've been there twice, but it's kinda weird there. First, it has an amazing vibe to it, like an old time-y one. Music is amazing! The guy at the shoe thing seems like her hates his life, but ehh. Bowling is so much fun there! I feel so happy when I go there! I've read the bad reviews, and I made sure I didn't eat anything… but like… ehh… whatevs. They've been nice to me so far so… yeah. And lastly, I think I've had more fun there, then anywhere else! Rating: 4/5

Jiaxuan Q.

Why didnt they give us bumpers bruh what kinda wack manager doesnt give children bumpers WE NEED HELP

Dillon Franks

Looks like it's stuck in the 80's

고희경

My family loves there~

Robert Simpson

This place was great! Good food, good times, good beer!

John Hirotama

I thought this place would be mediocre because of the google reviews but unlike the negativity people have shown, this place is great. The staff is very kind and understanding. The lanes work very well and I had a great time with friends.

Priyank parker

Good bowling place to hangout

Rebekka Poulsen

We tried to go bowling at this "establishment" recently with our kids. The person working the desk was extremely rude, refusing to acknowledge our existence for five minutes despite looking up to see we were waiting and me saying "excuse me" politely several times. There was no one else around but he couldn't be bothered. When he finally did come over, he acted like we were inconveniencing him. So far, annoying, but not a huge deal. We went to start bowling (which we never got to do) and I discovered that the shoes we got for my son were a size too small, so I went back to exchange them for the next size up. When I asked to do so, the same guy at the front was extremely irritated and snarkily asked, "you sure about it this time?" I replied that yes, it should be fine because the ones we had were just a little too small. Then the man went on a tirade about how if he had to do this for 30 kids every hour, it would be all that he did and how I should know which size shoe we need. (This was the first time we had gone bowling with the child in question, so we didn't exactly know which size would work.) This employee, or maybe he was the owner, I don't know, was incompetent, very rude, and disrespectful despite us being there for the first time ever and wanting to patronize his business. Obviously, we took our business elsewhere. If you are reading this, you have other choices too. Don't reward bad behavior and a business that doesn't give two craps about you. Oh, and the place is a dump too.

murthy pingali

Very bad in giving information and too rude on phone. Not customer friendly

Normal Person

I love this place it’s fun

Henry Brandmark

We come to this alley every monday. The extremely friendly staff knows us by name and is what keeps us coming back. The lanes get oiled regularly, TV's between the lanes, clean bathrooms and best of all only $7.49 + shoes all you can bowl 9pm-12 during weeknights. Definitely a spot for bowlers rather than the glamor of an alley like pinstripes in Georgetown.

Paris Morton

Always have a fun time here, ever since I can remember. Food is actually decent for a bowling alley as well. Definitely a good place to take your mind off things with a friend or two, or even alone.

Avyakt Gaur

Great place that is lots of fun to be at.

Brittany Dzugas-Smith

I’m coming back! Nicholas is the best! Shane is also helpful, but Nicholas was a champ getting two troublesome pins that popped out of line and then talked serious savings opportunities! Like I said, I’m coming back!

Katie Beck

I recently came in here on a Monday night for the “$7.49 All You Can Bowl” special with some friends who are home from college. The service was great and we had tons of fun! Will be coming back here a lot this summer.

Alice Wang

Bowl America Fairfax brings back memories of suburban group outings, birthday parties, and high school date nights. This Bowl America looks a bit ghetto from the outside, located in the backside of a Korean grocery store (Lotte) and some other Korean shops. The inside looks like it hasn't been renovated since the late '70s and gives off a retro feel. Prices are fairly cheap compared to other bowling alleys though. My boyfriend and I decided to have a suburban date night not too long ago and we went on a Friday night. On Friday nights, you can do unlimited bowling for $13.99 with shoe/ball rental, so that's not too bad price-wise. It was also neat because on Friday nights, they have cosmic bowling, which I hadn't yet experienced. Lights are out, disco balls are lit up, lights on the side of the bowling lanes go on, music is blasting, and there's even a smoke machine. We had a pretty fun time. Only one mechanical issue - my bowling ball and the pins got stuck at one point, but they reset everything quickly. The bowling balls are incredibly dirty and greasy though. When we were done and I went to go wash my hands, my hands were black and oily. I didn't get any food or drinks, but they all look meh especially the food.

K.A. Naylor

Great place for a company team building event. Serves a good lunch too.

Jeremy Kehr

An old and aging alley but with plenty of life left. Me and the family went for $1 family bowling and bowled a game. Shoes still cost normal, but a good value nonetheless.

Stran Kurdi

Nicholas was awesome, 10/10 service. Bowling was good too but Nicholas was the best

Benjamin Hadinger

Love coming here! I have been to this bowling alley ever since I was a little kid, and have had a lot of memories with my family and friends right here. I have been going weekly for the last few months on Monday nights, and the staff is extremely nice and welcoming, always helping when I have a problem. I love the atmosphere and the people, and of course the bowling is a lot of fun too.

Fred Glaeser

Big Fun!

Ariana Orta

Before going here I read the reviews, but I still gave them the benefit of doubt and went. Their customer service was terrible!!! It’s embarrassing to have this bad of customer service in this area. Beth, the manager is a total embarrassment for this bowling alley. Long story short, I my husband ordered food, they messed up his order. At that point he didn’t want it anymore, and wanted to be issued a refund, but Beth didn’t give it. We didn’t get the food or our money back. On top of it all she was trying to kick us out of the alley. It’s a shame that I have to write all this, because there was one nice senior gentleman that was very nice to us.

최지영

unfriendly staff

Robert Cooper

Great place for late night bowling and drinks. Some of the lanes have some problems with scoring but the attendants usually have a good attitude when asked to change the score.

Jeff Francis

No Sign

Pranav Somesula

Great service! 5/5 would recommend.

Elena Torbenko

I didn't go over there. But observing from outside. This place always booked in the evenings

Adriana Diaz-Vigil

Really good place to bowl! Great customer service, especially from Nicholas:) def will be back when me n my friends wanna hang

Christopher Kubicek

You always roll the dice when eating and drinking at a bowling alley, but I'm 99.9% sure this place made me violently ill.

Alex Blaire

Horrible customer service!!! The bald white guy, supposed manager, was awful!! Absolutely no concept of customer service. Take my advice, don’t ever book a party or function there! I’ll nevrr go there again! Be aware! Horrible service!

michael

Worst bowling place I’ve ever gone to. Customer treatment is the worst I’ve ever seen. Our game broke and workers told us it is fixed (which was not) we continued playing until it finished. We went up to pay and the total went from 12$ to 48$! The workers response said that we did NOT COMPLAIN ENOUGH! This is bs. bowling is supposed to brighten the mood however this experience worsened it tremendously. If I could give negative stars to this place I’d do -100

Emery Matta

I love this place. It has that 80s grove that you dont fine in other bowling places

P J

Nice place to bowl. The equipeque seems a bit aged (actually very aged)... the kitchen doesn't have much quality and I recommend a simple fast food...

Sean K

Great place for chilling and hanging out. Usually they have special prices everyday night except Saturday

Nick S

After going to the bowling alley in Centreville, I will never come back here. Very limited selection on food/beer and everything is old/run down. When a girl in my group asked for a lighter ball they said it was reserved for children.

Robert Lewis

Great place to take the family for a good time. League bowling and bowling specials. Call ahead to be sure there's open lanes. Hidden on the backside of the facility.

Heather Etner

Score keeping system/screens are a bit dated but nice folks and clean bathrooms!

surinder singh

Good family time, place needs update

Aaqib

The place is really well made, and the best time will be the All you can bowl on friday. There are also arcade games such as, hockey or miniature basketball. Should bring socks and bowling shoes.

Ji-Ho Kim

They put more oil on the lane than most of the other places around.

Timothy Soehnlin

Facilities are dark and dated. The bowling was fine but left a lot to be desired.

Thai Hung Nguyen

Attended this bowling venue for a charity event. The equipment is very old. The staffs are not responsive or helpful. The food service is not good for a big party. They are not motivated to serve well.

Kris L

Not very clean.

Yana Mungal

It was horrible. The staff is rude and they told us not to bring in bags even thought we know were allowed to. It’s also very over priced.

Robert Crum

Over priced for a 1980's atmosphere. Needs to upgrade to the 21st century.

Delphine Carey

So cheap!!!!!!!

Devin Lee

Some lanes stop working really easily. Whenever I go there I feel like I went back in time to the 80s because of the looks of the place. The service is decent, though it feels a little pricey to play.

Christopher Lenihan

The worst customer service that I have ever experienced. The staff is unbelievably rude and seems to be trying as hard as they can to not do their jobs.

Eddy Drake

Had already eaten so can’t say anything about the food. However, staff are nice and had a good time bowling.

Anand Parashar

Good place for Friday unlimited bowl 9-close.

Parth Dave

Experience was very bad .staff does not care about the guest what they have to say. We had issue with lane which was giving an error while playing . When we told this to staff three times but they do not care about the it. We asked that we don’t want to play and we don’t want to play but they charged for the whole game what we didn’t have play. They don’t want to know what’s happening. I had guest and it was very embarrassing. I will never go there even if I am getting it free.so embarrassing

Eric in DC

Good place to bowl. Lanes are in good condition No pro shop to buy/drill bowling balls.

mkl0615

Very questionable customer service. Lanes glitch occasionally but rude customer service that seems to be unmotivated and unwilling to do anything to help you brings this review down.

erica otero

Absolutely love the music that you can just sing along and the prices aren’t that bad. Nicholas was very kind and funny. Definitely would come again with the crew. Will work on becoming a bowling star!

Jae Smith

Worst experience ever. The management do not care or cannot seem to understand the problem. The bowling scoreboard did not match with the pin cycles and we complained once. They told us it was fixed but it continued to malfunction. We finished the game and we looked for compensation at their overpriced total. Their feeble excuse was that we had not COMPLAINED ENOUGH. Also there was an older gentlemen just watching three boys play without a break in his glance. Really awkward. TL;DR don’t go here.

Ed Brandmark

Great place to bowl with great staff. Nice deals after 9pm for all you can bowl. We go every Monday night.

Kyle Small

Quality of everything is poor. The staff is Un friendly starting at the door to the kitchen staff. The guy behind the bar Mohammad gives un-needed attitude for everything. The guys at the desk want nothing else then to not talk to you. I used to come here a ton before Sean the old manager left now I don't know who runs it but they don't enjoy their job and it shows. Sad to see the only bowling ally for locals of fairfax be so bad. Seems like if you wanna really enjoy a night bowling you have to drive to Reston or Annandale which is the plan for me from now on. Equipment is poor as well and havnt seen any updates in 10 plus years.

Rocky Gray

Great place to have a kids birthday party. The crew was very patient as we hosted 18 kids 5 and under.

Chinmay Upasani

Worst customer service ever! Never buy food here!

Fairfax City Reporter

A comfortable facility on Fairfax city Blvd featuring bowling alleys as well as professional leagues and parties, snacks, drinks and arcade games. It’s hard to ignore such a family friendly place. A high recommendation for bowling lovers.

ava green

Excellent atmosphere! Great food

Jedi Starwalker

Hidden behind shopping center but always a good time.

Max Wagner

Don't even want to "1 star" but I have to. This place is such a rip off. There were no prices for bowling. Such a rip off. Payed $60 and some change for 3 games and it was myself and 1 other. Also pitchers of beer is per 2 people, fine, but when there's 3 people, they wouldn't let us get 2 pitchers....horrible place,people, and prices. I don't recommend to know one

Song Erica

worst customer service from front desk staff, Yon. outdated equipment.

Rylynn Oswalt

The absolute WORST customer service I have ever experienced in my ENTIRE life. There is not an ounce of my being that would recommend this bowling alley to anyone. The way this staff treats paying customers is a total disgrace and no one should be treated the way I was today. I will NEVER return to this bowling alley and would strongly suggest you take your money and business to people that actually deserve it. This place is disgusting. If I could give negative stars I would. They should all be ashamed.

Talesha Sutermeister

Horrible customer service. If I could give negative stars, I would. Absolutely nothing great about this place or experience. I booked a corporate event to celebrate the holiday and encourage team bonding. I had 35 staff members pumped and excited for the bowling fun and competition. Sadly, our party and event was ruined by the unprofessional and awful manager on duty, an old male claiming to be the highest level of management available. We paid over $1000.00 for 1 game of bowling, 7 pizzas, and petite amounts of chicken wings, meatballs, and mozzarella sticks. Do the math! We paid double for the rip off “corporate package deal!” Deal being the dishonest advertisement! I was told we get minimum of 2 games bowling up to unlimited bowling for 2 hours. At the 2nd hour on the dot, the bowling lanes were shut down and lights off. Mind you, an hour of time wasn’t even spent on bowling- as we did secret Santa gift exchange. Of course not knowing these con artists were ripping us off on our time. You’d think the management, knowing this 2 hour time limit, would have given us a heads up. But of course not! They enjoy ripping you off and stealing your money. Talking to the manager was pointless. He was arguementative, unprofessional, and actually seemed happy to argue and ruin our holiday party. The 2 obnoxious kids behind the counter were equally unprofessional as they laughed and chuckled as if they were equally amused by their customers being upset. I’ll never book another corporate function here, nor will I ever bring my own family back! The facility is old and worn, in need of renovations. The facility and lanes were dirty, not enough balls, and the food was sub par. The snack bar staff actually asked me for a tip and were rude and confrontational when they didn’t receive a tip. A tip for what? Get your tip from the $500 your company stole from us! Most horrible experience and very disappointed they ruined our holiday party! We relocated to your competitor down the street and having a great time right now!! With much better customer service! Never returning!!

Heera Hong

Nicholas S is so very polite and attentive!! The service here is great!!

Jon Stansell

A great place to share an enjoyable night with friends and acquaintances. Plenty of amenities and lots of fun.

Catherine Im

When I was younger, I came here for the fun birthday parties. Now, with my friends, I came back here thanks to the central location. Unfortunately I am no longer a patron of this location--save yourself some hassle and frustration and go to Burke, if you are further south (wonderful management) or Falls Church if you are further north (great facility). The facility is mediocre and although there are 48 lanes, they don't seem to want to use more than maybe 10 at a time. We waited for an hour at the request of management because they asked us to--they were expecting a large group and would have to play it by ear. That was fine and we understood that. We went back and asked, only for them to tell us they couldn't open up a second lane. We ended up making the extra drive out to the Falls Church location because league was going to crowd up Burke. Sorry to say I can no longer recommend this location unless management changes.

John Jones

We had a company event at Bowl America Fairfax on Saturday, March 2. When we arrived, the manager walked us over to Beth. Beth took us to our assigned lanes where the buffet tables were already set up. She explained how the event will be conducted. Our employees received their shoes and we started bowling. The food was brought out about 15 minutes after our starting time. At first, I was concerned that the food brought out would not be enough, but Beth assured me that the food is brought out in stages and replenished when an item runs low. She made several trips to bring out food and soft drinks. The manager checked on us also to insure everything was running well. I had not bowled in years and I forgot how much fun it was. The entire staff was great!

Souheil Hammoud

Lots of allies.. smells like feet at the entrance

Mirza Baig

Old place.

Gabby Ravanera

The customer service was awful but the game was fun.

Eric Lee

A couple times I've been there, the staff SUCKED. Lanes were broken and they wouldn't let us transfer. Other times, the experience was ok, nothing special.

Arra Super

Friday night after 9, $14.95 per person, bowl how much ever much you what.

Sabareesh Sivakumar

Very poor lighting. System controls are so cheap. They need to either renovate or reduce their prices.

Shane Kellogg

Would give negative stars if at all possible. The entire night was a nightmare with the staff. Our entire group paid per game and were fine with that because we weren't sure how much the group wanted to play; however, our games were interrupted 3 times due to the staff saying it was "computer problems". Then Jenny at the front continued to to say we didn't know much about bowling systems or cross bowling; however, I have bowled in league for over a year and her comments became an insult because I knew everything she was talking about; however, she tried to belittle me. Being a previously happy bowl America Burke league member before, I was appalled at the actions and comments of the Bowl America Fairfax staff. Avoid this one and go to Bowl America Burke or AMF Annandale, at least you will get quality service at both of those.

Shanna Murphy

Will never be returning to this place. Whatever manager or asst. manager was working on Friday, November 23, was the rudest person I have ever dealt with. My friends and I were looking forward to seeing each other over the Thanksgiving holiday and a few of us showed up early and asked for two lanes next to each other. We prepaid for two games on one lane and the remaining friends all came in and requested lanes 29 and 30 for two games each. At the end of the night, they charged us for two additional games even though we had all paid for shoes and two games each. Whatever high school kid threw us all on one lane in the system messed everything up. Regardless, the manager should have talked this through with us to help us get our money back for the games we were charged. Instead, we were berated and accused of trying to cheat the system. He told us we were leaving with two more games to play on the lane and we told him all we wanted was two games each. He proceeded to yell at us even more and told us he can give us an all you can bowl Mon-Thurs but can't go into the till to give us the money back for the games we didn't play (AND DIDN'T ASK FOR). While all of this is happening, the kids who messed this up are chuckling and smiling behind the cash register. It was the worst experience I have EVER had bowling and we will never be coming back to this establishment. I cannot believe a manager had the audacity to treat customers like this.

Sophia Reid

Fun place to go...food could be better but overall good experience...

Peter Vu

Not a great place to bowl, service was horrible and staff unfriendly! Better off going to AMF lanes!

Jerry Miranda

Large bowling alley in Fairfax. Decent prices for bowling. Special pricing on weekends after 10:30 PM. The place has a small arcade and a little eatery. Food is burgers, pizza, fries, hot dogs, etc. They also serve beer for the adults. The restrooms were clean. Overall, we had a nice time.

Paul Saul

The stuff is from the 80s!

Daniel de Hita

Nice music

Drake Goodall

Great weekly specials

Amy Huynh

Haven’t bowled for many years and felt very comfortable and welcome for various reasons! One of them being Nick, who helped out my family with shoes + our lane. Will definitely be coming back to this Bowl America!

Kihyun Lee

i LIKE IT HERE GOOD EMPLOYEES GOOD FOOD FUN BOWLING

Morgan Stevens

Kids had a great time with bumpers and the ramp. In fact adults have a better time with those two options also.

Tyler Caruthers

It's ok. Old and run down but still works.

Tara M

really great atmosphere and attentive workers there if you need anything

Arnie Christianson

Fun bowling alley in Faifax. The kids love coming here and you can always get a lane.

Page Patt

I have been here many times, and it has always been a lot of fun! The staff is so friendly and helpful!!!

Minh Nguyen

Old fashioned and slow and had problems with lane a couple times. But there was PBR on tap.. pretty empty when I was there. Quiet

Andy H

Had a weird glitch where the lane next to us was affecting our score, also they threw away my soft drink even though it was still full, annoyed me a bit but it was near closing so I guess they just wanted us out soon. Otherwise it was aight, after the glitch, games went smoothly

David Patton

Bowled tonight and had a great time. Staff was friendly and helpful.

Bethany Patton

Tonight I had a wonderful time at Bowl America Fairfax with my family. I've been coming here for 10 years and have never encountered bad service. The staff was also very accommodating with my sisterss anxiety as well. I would recommend them to everyone looking for great bowling and a great experience.

Sophia Matta

Love this Place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kate Gerdovich

great lanes and nice staff!

Nick Brunori

Favorite bowling alley in the area. Great prices, lots of lanes, nice staff. I go every Monday and they have a great all-you-can-bowl deal after 9pm for only $7.95+shoes during the week. Not the glamor of some of the newer places, but all the character of an old school alley. Cannot recommend this place enough for bowlers of all ages and skill level.

carson casper

we went there and our lane kept breaking down and they didn't even help or compensate us so we left

Bryan Poulsen

Worst customer service ever.

Tim Davis

Great place to Bowl. I go most Monday nights since they have a good deal after 9pm. The staff is real nice and accommodating as well.

Lydia Anderson Jessup

My friends and I had a great experience here. The staff was friendly and helpful (shout out to Nick). Not gonna lie, we had a couple lane problems but Nick was always nearby to help. He also told us about the student discount which is helpful for us college kids trying to save money (me irl). Prices are good. Friday night, which is when we went was all night bowing for 15 a person which is not bad. Overall I would say that my friends and I had a blast and would definitely come back soon.

BMF

This joint is hit or miss.

Shawn Bond

Great

Joshua Mossman

Great place to bowl, i have bowled in a few leagues here and also just for fun

Iris Robinson

Lots of fun

andrew cooke

I came here with my girlfriend during the day. The staff was more than happy to provide us with everything we needed. Very clean and professional place.

Stan Reed

Nice folks here. Easy to bowl.

Michael Glassman

fun fun fun

Mayur Nankani

People rude, bowling lanes not good, their games keep loosing track of the score and keep resetting on their own. When this happened multiple times we were wanting to cancel the game and they were rude and made us pay for all games. So please avoid until there is no other option and you really want to bowl!!

Erik

I would give this place an even Lower rating if I could.customer service from the assistant manager was horrendous.I will never take my kids here again.

William Chase

An amazing establishment to have fun and enjoy family time at. The staff is full of service and smiles and I would recommend this bowling alley to anyone

Mztt Wright

Yo, I frickin’ love this place food is great. Frickin’ bowlin’ tho, love this place.

Nicholas Montalto

Great time and no one here this morning! Check out the prices on food to include the team platters. Only $3.95 a game duing the week until 6pm and then it goes up 3 bucks. So get the kids here early to take advantage of the open lanes!