Open List Home >> Chicago, IL >> Recreation & Sports >> Bowling >> Lincoln Square Lanes
Since 1990, Lincoln Square Lanes has provided a memorable bowling experience for all of its patrons. With 12 lanes and late hours, customers can bowl until 2am on weeknights and until 3am on Saturday. Moreover, pizza is served and there's a full bar inside the alley. In addition to open bowling, league games are hosted as well.
5.0 of 5 stars.
Been coming here for years, I dunno why I have never thought to yelp it. Before I say much about this place I have to say that Im not a bowler, so I dont know anything technical. The lanes strike me...
yelp.com - user review - 09/13/2009
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4.0 of 5 stars.
"Let's say you have a cheap-ass can of PBR and I have a cheap-ass can of PBR. My straw goes ACROSS the room and I - DRINK - YOUR - PBR!!!!"Lincoln Square Lanes is the premier bowling experience in...
yelp.com - user review - 07/11/2009
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4.0 of 5 stars.
After bowling here several times now, I feel I can give Lincoln Square Lanes a solid 4 stars. Overall, great place to bowl (but if you freak out at the thought of scoring your own game or absolutely...
yelp.com - user review - 06/20/2009
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5.0 of 5 stars.
I'm going to keep this short and simple. dive Bar bowling alley under one roof = GOOD TIMES
yelp.com - user review - 04/23/2009
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4.0 of 5 stars.
Old school bowling at its finest. Numerous reasons make this apply:- the lane approaches are very short especially if you are on the far right alley, which is cut off.- they only take cash - no...
yelp.com - user review - 04/19/2009
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4.0 of 5 stars.
Two words: Old.School.Above an old hardware store, Lincoln Square Lanes was a hoot. Open on Easter Sunday, we bowled a couple games. With shoes and 1 lane, it was about $60 or so.PBR comes in a...
yelp.com - user review - 04/13/2009
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4.0 of 5 stars.
If you ever want to see what your relationship is made of, ladies, then see what happens if you bowl a better game than your man once. It's ...ugly.I love LSL for the old school. I enjoyed keeping my...
yelp.com - user review - 04/02/2009
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5.0 of 5 stars.
Awesome - the girlfriend and I finally bowled together - yippeee! (She usually beats me at pool, but bowling? NEVER!)Great old school bowling venue. Great people, great atmosphere. Easy to get lanes...
yelp.com - user review - 03/27/2009
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4.0 of 5 stars.
I thought Lincoln Square Lanes would perhaps show up on the "Yelp Secrets, Exposed!" Weekly Yelp E-letter. Could anything be more underground in secrecy, yet above ground in location?? Thank...
yelp.com - user review - 03/10/2009
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4.0 of 5 stars.
I was a little torn on this review. It's an excellent, low-key place to go bowling. The price isn't bad if you've got a group, the beer is cheap and low-brow, and the crowd is pretty down to earth....
yelp.com - user review - 02/16/2009
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1.0 of 5 stars.
I celebrated my birthday with a bunch of friends at Lincoln Lanes. It's an old-school, dive bowling alley with cheap drinks and some makings of a fun atmosphere. If you like generous pours with no...
yelp.com - user review - 02/04/2009
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4.0 of 5 stars.
I'm not gonna lie--Lincoln Square Lanes wasn't exactly my first choice for bowling with buddies on a Sunday night. But, considering the fact that I called four bowling alleys before we landed here, it...
yelp.com - user review - 01/25/2009
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3.0 of 5 stars.
One night, at the end of a critical mass bike ride, we docked at Lincoln Square Lanes, and it was very cool. This place is totally a throw back 1960s bowling alley. The best part is, is that it isn't...
yelp.com - user review - 01/25/2009
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5.0 of 5 stars.
This bowling alley is absolutely fantastic. If I had to live above a bowling alley and below another bowling alley, I would pick Lincoln Square lanes.
yelp.com - user review - 01/14/2009
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2.0 of 5 stars.
dear owner: not every customer is trying to screw you. fyi.also, your "first alley in chicago" retro charm is severely lacking in the charm.
yelp.com - user review - 01/04/2009
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1.0 of 5 stars.
I'll agree that Lincoln Square Lanes is retro in one respect - the place smells like my grandma's shoe closet .What this bowling alley lacks in cleanliness and general atmosphere, it make up for...
yelp.com - user review - 01/04/2009
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1.0 of 5 stars.
I celebrated New Years' Eve at Lincoln Lanes' Chuckle Bowl.First, the good: This is an old-school, down and dirty bowling alley with cheap drinks and a fun atmosphere. If you like a traditional, no...
yelp.com - user review - 01/02/2009
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4.0 of 5 stars.
Lincoln Square Lanes is an old school bowling alley. They don't have the computerized scoring systems nor the lasers and colored lights that you'll find en mass at most lanes. What they do have is a...
yelp.com - user review - 12/29/2008
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3.0 of 5 stars.
Apart from the subtle stench of B.O., this place is okay.Came here for an office team building event, and while I was stressed out, recovering from a cold and bowled a personal best of 45, I had a...
yelp.com - user review - 12/14/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
Put on your bowling shoes! Warning: If you're not into dive establishments, then this isn't the bowling alley for you.Warning: If you like the modern conveniences of automatic scoring mechanisms,...
yelp.com - user review - 12/05/2008
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3.0 of 5 stars.
I went here last night for a friend's birthday. The place is definitely cool. I had heard lots of fun stories about it, and I love how its over an old hardware store. Lincoln square has lots of cool,...
yelp.com - user review - 11/22/2008
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4.0 of 5 stars.
Quicktake: Looking for a place to bowl? Here is a cheaper alternative to Diversey Rock N' Bowl or Waveland Bowl. The Good: Cheap beer and cheap bowling flow like chi here. There are a good number of...
yelp.com - user review - 11/19/2008
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3.0 of 5 stars.
I absolutely refuse to learn how to score bowling by hand. Absolutely. Sure, I could easily learn but how many times am I going to have to do this in my life? Shouldn't I reserve the extra space in my...
yelp.com - user review - 11/17/2008
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This was by far the absolute worst bowling experience of my life. If you don't have time to read this whole review at least heed this advice: NEVER EVER COME HERE. I am a college student who volunteers as a...
citysearch.com - user review - 11/10/2008
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2.0 of 5 stars.
Bowling is pretty fun and it's usually a good time. However if you're going to do bowling at least show an effort to actually do the game right. I don't mean that there are professionals that go up...
yelp.com - user review - 09/20/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
Cheap beer, cheap bowling, tons of fun. No frills like some other places that have plasma screens and glow in the dark paint, but if you like to keep it simple and affordable, this is the place to...
yelp.com - user review - 09/19/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
My wife and I actually had our wedding reception here. We couldn't have asked for a better location or staff. A year later our guests still tell is it was one of the most fun wedding receptions ever....
yelp.com - user review - 09/06/2008
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4.0 of 5 stars.
Lincoln Square lanes is the exactly what you would expect from a bowling alley nestled atop of a Hardware Store. When I was younger, and I would go shopping in the hardware store with my parents, I...
yelp.com - user review - 09/03/2008
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4.0 of 5 stars.
I gotta give this place 4 stars just for how old school it is. Couple that with the fact I was able to get a lane when other places would have been a lot harder. Yeah, I was lucky no league night that...
yelp.com - user review - 09/03/2008
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4.0 of 5 stars.
Hey Owners! Maybe get a website that gives your league bowling nights? I peddled half an hour to get here just to find out it was league bowling night so I went home. Which takes away one star, I'd...
yelp.com - user review - 07/30/2008
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1.0 of 5 stars.
Giving them only one star because a group of us went to bowl after calling a few days prior to confirm their hours of operation, and the alley wasn't open. Call ahead before making the trip! (Have...
yelp.com - user review - 06/22/2008
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4.0 of 5 stars.
The lanes themselves need some serious maintenance, otherwise this place would get 5 stars. It's the oldest alley in Chicago and it's like the land that time forgot. The best part has got to be the...
yelp.com - user review - 06/16/2008
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4.0 of 5 stars.
If I had written this review Saturday night, it would have been 3 stars, but I've calmed down a bit so I'm going with 4. Allow me to explain.Saturday night was the boyfriend's 30th birthday party. I...
yelp.com - user review - 06/09/2008
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4.0 of 5 stars.
Do you like bowling? Awesome. Do you like bowling... UPSTAIRS? Ok, sweet. What about bowling, upstairs, in your grandpa's living room that hasn't been redecorated since the 70s? Still with me? Well...
yelp.com - user review - 06/01/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
Amazing.I went here for a birthday party, and personally this place is fucking awesome. It's dirty and smelly and looks like a bowling alley straight out of a 1970's coming of age movie, which makes...
yelp.com - user review - 05/24/2008
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Pros: I came to this location for the first time on a Sunday afternoon, and after figuring out from a local that the place is above a hardware store, I was surprised to find so many parking spots. I thought by...
citysearch.com - user review - 05/18/2008
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Pros: I came to this location for the first time on a Sunday afternoon, and after figuring out from a local that the place is above a hardware store, I was surprised to find so many parking spots. I thought by...
citysearch.com - user review - 05/18/2008
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4.0 of 5 stars.
This cavernous, poorly illuminated behemoth sits atop an ACE Hardware in near-perfect camouflage, its door unmarked and uninviting, it's littered stairway giving no clue to the FUCKING BOWLING...
yelp.com - user review - 04/26/2008
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4.0 of 5 stars.
I didnt even bowl here, but I enjoyed hanging out!We had kind of a big group so we waited probably an hour for a lane. By that time I had to go home and go to sleep cause I had to run in a race the...
yelp.com - user review - 04/26/2008
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4.0 of 5 stars.
What a great place! As soon as you walk in, (and up the stairs, yes the bowling alley is on the second floor), you feel like you walked back in time or at least to a small town in Wisconsin. The...
yelp.com - user review - 04/19/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
Maybe I'm generous with the stars because I bowled over a 130 each game (and beat the unmemorable guy I was with) - both games I say. Hizzah!The people who worked at LSL were very friendly, and the...
yelp.com - user review - 04/02/2008
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4.0 of 5 stars.
When I think Bowling alley , this is the place i picture in my head. No black lights , no DJ , cheap drinks with bowls of pretzels by the bar. I've had my kids birthday here , and could have thrown...
yelp.com - user review - 03/29/2008
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3.0 of 5 stars.
I can see the appeal of this place - friendly staff, cheap drinks, interesting location. However, they really need to do some work on fixing the lanes, especially for the amount you're paying to bowl...
yelp.com - user review - 03/16/2008
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4.0 of 5 stars.
The only star I'm removing is for the warped lanes. Luckily, I figured out the trick, bowled from the left to compensate and got my first turkey (albeit in the 10th frame and I still only pulled out a...
yelp.com - user review - 03/15/2008
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4.0 of 5 stars.
These lanes rock on many levels...First off--the fact that they are located above a hardware store is golden enough...I feel as though I'm doing something naughty when I walk up all those stairs and...
yelp.com - user review - 03/08/2008
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3.0 of 5 stars.
If I was a bowling alley, I'd be Lincoln Square Lanes: not as dingy as the Fireside, but definitely not very well-maintained. We could both use a few touch-ups. We're both pretty accepting of...
yelp.com - user review - 03/05/2008
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4.0 of 5 stars.
Awesome, relaxed bowling alley, a bar off to the side for cheap beer. A great place for groups to hang out but evenings can get crowded.
yelp.com - user review - 01/20/2008
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3.0 of 5 stars.
As bowling allies above hardware stores go, this place is pretty fun. They have a bar that you can order drinks from, although there is no stellar selection of beer, you can get a cold drink to sip on...
yelp.com - user review - 01/15/2008
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5.0 of 5 stars.
This bowling alley is an old timey bowling alley and it is on the second floor of a building above a True Value and that is special and noteworthy for a bowling alley and i like it fine. Also, the...
yelp.com - user review - 01/12/2008
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4.0 of 5 stars.
I have bowled here a few times. Seems like a cool place to do a league, its very old school and inexpensive. The staff there are pretty cool. I like keeping track of the scores, it just makes it...
yelp.com - user review - 01/11/2008
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1.0 of 5 stars.
Well...I've never actually been to Lincoln Square Lanes. But that's not by my choice. The company I work for had our holiday party booked there. Lanes reserved, open bar arrangements, deposit...
yelp.com - user review - 12/15/2007
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4.0 of 5 stars.
Oldskool lanes where you have to keep your own score with a pencil. Rent your shoes and find you ball. No cosmic bowling here, and for me that's a PLUS and a half.It going to suck if you don't know...
yelp.com - user review - 09/24/2007
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3.0 of 5 stars.
Lincoln Square Lanes is all about charm and patina. It's upstairs over a True Value hardware store and just feels like old school Chicago. I know it hasn't been there this long, but it feels, at...
yelp.com - user review - 07/30/2007
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4.0 of 5 stars.
Bowling with an Elvis impersonator? Drunken self-scoring? Live music on the wekends? (Sometimes rock, sometimes jazz...)Cheesy decor (and did i mention prices) not updated since Charlie's Angels and...
yelp.com - user review - 07/29/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
Lincoln Square Lanes is one of the few remaining real bowling alleys in Chicago. It still doesn't hold a candle to the glory that was Marigold Bowl, but this place has a certain charm and grit to it,...
yelp.com - user review - 07/03/2007
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2.0 of 5 stars.
I have to preface what I am going to say about Lincoln Square Lanes by saying that I am a serious bowler who bowls in several leagues during the year and has worked and two different family owned...
yelp.com - user review - 06/12/2007
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3.0 of 5 stars.
A good, old school bowling alley minus the half drunk trunkers and skinheads. Pretty cool for a bowling outside of small town USA and not in the South. It duplicates it very well with a big bar,...
yelp.com - user review - 06/11/2007
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4.0 of 5 stars.
Cool and crusty, that's what I want in my bowling alley. If the sound system attached to the retro jukebox were a bit better quality and LOUDER, it would be pretty perfect. The previous reviewer hit...
yelp.com - user review - 05/13/2007
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4.0 of 5 stars.
This alley may have the most character of all in Chicago. Small alley, 12 lanes I believe. Good sized bar area next to the lanes, with windows looking on to the lanes. The seating area on the lanes...
yelp.com - user review - 04/24/2007
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4.0 of 5 stars.
I just got back from a night of bowling here. I hadn't been bowling in years, since a night of bowling is crazy expensive. My friend turned me on to this place, it is a reasonable price and not that...
yelp.com - user review - 04/19/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
You can park in the lot relatively unscathed after 6pm. It is shared with McDonald's and ACE Hardware. The first company event I planned in the new location was here and it was awesome. The lanes...
yelp.com - user review - 04/09/2007
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4.0 of 5 stars.
I would liken this place to a Miller Highlife:Wood paneling, a bizarre layout that "bottlenecks" easily, scoring by pencil and paper, people trying to smoke secretly in the bathroom next to the...
yelp.com - user review - 03/25/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
I would call it more of a bowling alley with a dive bar... but who cares? this place rules, my favorite bowling alley in chitown. decent prices, a giant painting of Lincoln in the background, the old...
yelp.com - user review - 01/18/2007
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5.0 of 5 stars.
This is what happens when you f_ck a stranger in the a$$! When I come here, I spout Big Lebowski-isms. And maybe I have a caucasian or two. But I never roll on the sabbath.
yelp.com - user review - 12/20/2006
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5.0 of 5 stars.
A bowing alley? Upstairs? No way. How would you like to live below that!?! This was a great find for us about a year ago. There's a nice wide-open bar area, a very friendly bartender, a welcoming...
yelp.com - user review - 12/10/2006
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5.0 of 5 stars.
Yay! The best place to bowl in this city or any other! And yes... probably the crappiest. No fancy machinery here... it falls just above making you physically re-set your own pins. yes... you are...
yelp.com - user review - 12/10/2006
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3.0 of 5 stars.
I've been here only a few times, usually meeting friends for a birthday.I like the feel of the place. Old fashioned. No frills.Refreshing. When crowded with various large groups, its like sardines...
yelp.com - user review - 10/30/2006
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4.0 of 5 stars.
This is my favorite bowling alley in the city. I love it's old school vibe. The bar is great, and so is the Irish bartender. You have to know how to keep track of scoring, as there's no computer to...
yelp.com - user review - 10/17/2006
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3.0 of 5 stars.
Sometimes, just SOMEtimes, I forget that I'm in the Midwest when I'm in Chicago. Fortunately, places like this prevent me from completely losing myself in that fantasy. It's like they combined...
yelp.com - user review - 09/24/2006
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This place is easy to get to by bus or train, and parking is not bad.It also feels a bit kitschy--with the "stone wheel" of pencil and paper scoring. It reminds me of growing up in Wisconsin (ins...
judysbook.com - user review - 05/19/2006
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5.0 of 5 stars.
Yeah this places rules. It has the vintage ball-retrieval systems and pin-setting systems. It's pretty retro and very fun. Join a league for the ultimate fun! The only drawback- it has recently...
yelp.com - user review - 04/21/2006
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4.0 of 5 stars.
I love Lincoln Square Lanes. Don't go here on a weekend night or else you WILL wait for a lane. Call ahead to have a lane reserved if you absolutely must bowl here on a weekend night. Sunday...
yelp.com - user review - 03/26/2006
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Bowling here is really really cheap. I like that. However there is a reason for it. Unlike most other places today that automatically keep track of your score, at Lincoln Square lanes you are handed a...
judysbook.com - user review - 03/17/2006
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This place is great for a party. Small place, cheap beer and just a lot of fun. I had about 10 people out and could get 2 lanes no problem. Getting beers the whole night, never a wait.
judysbook.com - user review - 11/03/2005
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3.0 of 5 stars.
This place is always crowded and I hate the long waits to bowl. But the bar here is great and makes for a cool hangout on weekend nights.
yelp.com - user review - 10/13/2005
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Lincoln Square Lanes is a great place to bowl. They don't have leagues so it's usually easy to get a lane. The place is not very big so there aren't a lot of lanes but the turnover is fairly quick....
judysbook.com - user review - 09/28/2005
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2.0 of 5 stars.
I have only been here once and had a bad experience. We waited for a long time for a lane and nothing ever opened up. The service was rude as well. They did, however, have a great blues band playing...
yelp.com - user review - 08/15/2005
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3.0 of 5 stars.
This is definitely a dive bar, with a bowling alley! The drinks aren't any cheaper than normal bars but its a good place to watch sports and bowl.. the place is pretty big so there's space to hang...
yelp.com - user review - 08/13/2005
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