I like bowling here! This place has great customer service, good prices and has a full service bar and mini arcade. Good place for adults and kids. read more

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I have been going here for years, recently the drinks are so expensive it's like drinking in an airport. The food has gone from great to awful overnight, I'm not sure what happened, but it isn't good. read more

The operations manager, Phil Rodriguez, is a liar. I lost money in one of their machines in the bar area of the establishment and Phil took my name and address and promised to send me a $20 check, the money I lost there. I wrote him THREE emails with no response. He never followed through on his promise. Terrible business and management. read more

It is sad how far downhill this place has gone since being bought out by Triple Shift Ent. We had been playing volleyball there for years and used to love it (people and food) until it turned corporate. The food is terrible now and all of the old bartenders we enjoyed year after year left because of the new, disappointing, corporate "leadership". These are the nachos. A tiny pile of chips with a spoonful of queso, pico and cold chicken. $15.50 for these!!!! These cold chips and the curds pictured came out to $29.54. So if you want to eat terrible food for an astronomical price, this is the place for you. Thanks Triple Shift for ruining a perfectly good place. read more

Bowl-A-Vard - Nachos, cheese curds - Bowling Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Called and asked what time the pro shop closes because i needed my ball redrilled they said 8 got there at 7:25 and the pro shop was closed because he left early. read more

bartender today was so rude, hates her job, hated waiting on us at noon, total bitch face. I wouldn't hire her to clean the toilets. had to ask for menus which she basically threw on the bar toward us. Party of 10, 2 menus. read more

A good bowling alley for fun and food! Great selection of food and tasty, too. I liked the arcade as well. Sometimes you'd have to wait a few minutes for an employee to be free but that's understandable. Clean facility and fun place to hangout no matter your age:) :) read more

The staff is very friendly and always willing to help. The lanes are always clean. Overall, the whole place is pretty clean. The food is pretty darn good as well. read more

I like Bowl-A-Vard for the most part. It's kept up really well. Always seems clean and tidy and the lanes rarely ever malfunction (at least in my experience). Staff has always been awesome. Just yesterday, we arrived with some Bucky Book coupons, and the guys said sure no problem, but also pointed out to us the current "special" which was a much better deal than our coupons would have been. Told us to hold on to the coupons for another time and gave us the special. He could have easily just taken the coupons and made more money off us, but didn't. I really appreciate that sorta thing. The only complaint I have, and it's minimal, is that I really having space around me, and when it's not busy, I prefer lanes to be spread out. The guy was doing a good job of doing every-other for the most part, but it was super empty when we arrived and I would have liked even more space. Unfortunately a loud group of bro's showed up shortly after us and were given the two lanes directly next to us. We ended up leaving early 100% because of how awful and annoying they were. Had nothing to do with the service or bowling alley. Just.. ugh. Bro's. Loud, drunk, shouting at each other, one of them wearing street shoes on the bowling floor (HUGE pet peeve of mine.) This alley offers a decent sized bar, a large arcade area, bowling leagues, volleyball leagues, a pro shop, and probably other amenities. Overall, it's a pretty legit place. I've been in many times and will certainly return! read more

Bowl-A-Vard - Bowling Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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Always a good time! Clean with friendly personnel & a nice bar. You can play pool & bowl while enjoying some favorite local brews & cocktails. read more

We've had probably 10 birthday parties during open bowling for my kids at BAV over the years. This year will be our last. In every instance, we've given them our credit card, took out however many pairs of shoes we needed, threw as many games as we wanted, and then settled up when we wrapped up. This time around, everything had to be prepaid - lines and shoes. We had to estimate how many bowlers we were going to have and ended up coming in too high. Setting up all of the bowlers we originally estimated seemed to screw up everything. We had to skip bowlers that weren't actual people. The skipping caused more problems abruptly ending several games that needed fixing by the less-than-accommodating staff. When I asked why we can't just open a tab, I was told that everything was now prepaid. When I asked when that changed, I was told at least two years ago. That's a line of bull because it wasn't that way when we were here last year. It's one of the reasons we came back this year. Between all of the prepay garbage and the games ending before completion, we're done. There are other houses in the area - one of them will get our $300+ business next time. I will say that the food was on point this time. The worker handling that area was quite accommodating attentive to us. read more

I'm so MAD at this place and there Thursday evening live music event because I live in behind this place and the music is vibrating the walls of my home. This place DOESN'T care about people's well-being at all. Don't do business here at. Also the having really bad customer service too because I when call about the issue: the person who answered the phone just brushed me off and sounded like they were on something too read more

Sticky lanes. And staff that acts like you're bothering them when you order food. Really really subpar lame

$8 onion rings which had about 6 on our plate and $9 slider plate. Food was good and value for sliders good. But seriously $8 for 6 onion rings. Disappointed. read more

Bowl-A-Vard - My meal - Bowling Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

The place is relatively clean. It can get crowded during big events with not much room to walk from one end to the other - you do your best. The staff are friendly. Food comes out quick, but you have to go to the counter to get it. That can be a challenge during big events - just to hear your order being called up, but then to get there to pick it up. They do a good job with the Special Olympics bowing events. It's a challenge to keep things moving and operating smoothly, and they manage to handle it well. read more

Bowl-A-Vard got the job done. We had booked a party there which was for 5 lanes, pizza, breadsticks, salad and 1 pitcher of beer per 5 people. The value for what we got was pretty good I would say. The food was kind of what I expected for bowling alley food. The pizza was average and the breadsticks kind of lacked all flavor but it fed us. They seemed to have a much younger staff working who weren't the most helpful but definitely had some hustle. They wiped down all of our lanes between parties which was nice to see them do. The computers to enter our names were user friendly and the scoring was accurate and the pins all fell properly and didn't get jammed. All in all it got the job done, but I have definitely been to nicer bowling alleys! read more

What struck me about this place is that is it HUGE. 30+ Lanes, and also an expansive bar (21+ to enter) area with two bars, tons of dart boards and at least 8 pool tables. It was bumping on a Saturday night. We got our name down for a lane, and waited in the bar, where they have at least 10 beers on tap, a couple of them local brews. The pitchers are cheap ($7-11). Regular drink specials are advertised. We were bowling within 20 minutes of arriving. It was a Saturday night, so shoe rental was $2.50 and games were $3.75 each. If you were to go in the middle of a weekday, you'll pay $1 for shoes and $2.50 for a game. I'll admit, my star rating is a little arbitrary in this case, as I am no bowling aficionado. The lanes seemed dandy to me. We had no problems, and the computer interface was easy to use. We did not have anything to eat at Bowl-A-Vard. It looks like they offer more than the standard bowling alley pizza and fried food. Someone else will have to tell us how the snacks are. read more

They have very friendly staff! The lanes are nice and all is well maintained. But I must confess that what I love the most about B-A-V is their Cuban sandwich! I've made it a point to try a Cuban sandwich, when it's on the menu, everywhere I go in the world in search of the best and most authentic one. Being that B-A-V is in Madison, WI its not something I'd expect to see...but let let me tell ya... it's a true Cuban with great quality ingredients and incredible bread! Give it a try.... you won't be sorry! read more

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I wold go somewhere else. Very poor management. The people in charge of the bowling area were just plain rude. Lanes hadn't been oiled in sometime. $5.50 a game of bowling?!?! Over $10 for smalll pitchers of beer? In general, this place sucks. read more

Lady working at the front counter was rude. I don't expect above and beyond service anywhere I go, but this was well below standard. Basically threw our shoes onto the counter, gave me the wrong size & I had to wait 5 minutes for her to show up again. Can't imagine what excuse there'd be for that- there was barely anyone bowling. Several other people walked up while I was there and also waited 5+ minutes. Bumpers wouldn't work & I didn't even want to bother asking the chick at the counter for help. Will just go somewhere else next time. read more

Awesome place! Just wrapped up playing in two volleyball leagues and will be back again next year. They have three courts with lots of seating and the courts are laid out in a way your friends and family can easily see all the action. They have a huge outside bar with multiple TV's that's protected from the elements and positioned roughly in the middle of all three courts making it easily accessible. Great food and drinks. A very loud shout out to the bartenders that took care of me all summer long. Justin & Brandon Wednesday nights, and Connor & Jenna Thursday nights. They did an amazing job! read more

This place is BIG and doesn't feel run-down like most bowling alleys I've been to. There's 30+ lanes and plenty of worn down house balls to choose from. There's a bar attached to the bowling alley, but I haven't been in it. I can tell you that later at night, even during the weekdays, folks from the bar will spill out into the bowling alley and they get quite noisy. The distraction isn't the best thing if you're still learning. I didn't have any issues with programming our names in. There has been some issues with getting the right sized shoes. There's nothing more exciting to do on a weekend night than standing around and trying to get the attention of an employee who gave you shoes two sizes bigger than you asked for. They might be understaffed, but we always have to wait around for someone to put us down for a lane. The prices fluctuate a lot depending on the day you go and what kind of deals they have going on. We always call ahead to see what the prices are that night. There was a deal listed on their website on the second to last time we were there but they told us it had ended and that they wouldn't honor it anymore. read more

Fun atmosphere, reasonably priced drinks, lots to do, and awesome service. But -- food is not great, and I would never go back for a fish fry again. Very blah. Commercialized. And cold. It's a Wisconsin staple -- you have to get it right! read more

This place is huge, and that is good because it can get packed pretty quickly on the weekends. This is especially true when the weather outside forces us to look for indoor activities. Unlike the previous poster, I initially had a hard time figuring out the computer seated at the table. I kept jamming my fat little fingers onto the screen expecting a touch screen response. Fortunately the other bowlers in my party realized that my genius was showing and helped me figure it out. Durrrrrr. The bowling was fun, even though I probably should have had the bumpers on like the minors in our group did. At least then I would have not looked liked the biggest dork in three counties, just a weeny. We ordered deep fried cheese curds, and deep fried macaroni for snacking. No healthy eating here!!! They were yummy, and just as good as Culver's. But since I've said that, now I'll have to hide from rabid Culver's fans. Yikes! We'll go here again, and I can once again provide comic relief with my mad bowling skillz. Werd. read more

One liner: If you have another option, go with that first. We went for a Friday Night fish fry. Service...not so good. Food...not so good. Best part? Many options for the one non-fish eater in our party. They also had a salad bar that accompanied the fish fry. Sad thing about that was that most of the options were empty or VERY messy. The manager was even looking at the salad bar and did nothing to address it the entire time we were there. Very odd. read more

I don't know much about bowling, except that I'm not very good at it. Huge place with many lanes for the bowlers. The terminals at the lanes seem pretty modern. The animations on the monitors above the lanes are quite entertaining. Huge bar and entertainment area for the non-bowlers. There are many tap lines including craft beer selections. I didn't eat while I was there, but those in my group did and quite enjoyed the food. read more

Bowl-A-Vard - Hibiscus saison from Vintage Brewing Company and bowling - Bowling Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

We went to Bowl-A-Vard last night as part of our date night in hopes of bowling two games. We had been aware that they were having an event tonight and planned accordingly to avoid it. When we arrived, maybe 10 lanes were in use out of 40 and we were told there was nothing available because they weren't "clean" or anything and it would be about a half hour. So we stuck around and checked back in a half hour later, and the staff seemed annoyed with us asking to bowl. They were rude and snippy and said they still didn't have anything and wouldn't for awhile. We promptly left. Very terrible service in the bowling alley area. read more

This place is over priced, the balls are to greasy so they get stuck in return, they stack lanes together when over 1/2 the place is empty so should do every other lane, they start time when u lay not when u throw 1st ball, they didn't comp any time for the down time we couldn't bowl when their house balls would get stuck in return. read more

I'd stay clear of the nachos... Huge portion but super whack. Definitely not worth the money. Bartender was nice, his name was Mike. I'll give the good another try and update after. read more

Wont refund time from bad service at the bar. Took 15 minutes for a single drink from bar. Will never come back. Highly recommend schwoglers on the west side. They can actually get you a drink and the lanes aren't broken. read more

Horrible customer service, horrible staff. It wasn't busy when we were there at 11 am on a Sunday morning. There was a boy behind the counter who wouldn't help us even though he wasn't doing anything but looking at his phone. Technologically a great place, service wise horrible. read more

VERY Bad Customer Service. The Girl With Right Side Of Head Shaved Was Very Rude And Disrespectful. Manager On Duty Was Very Rude And Defended Her. I Asked If Her Employees Were Trained In Customer Service She Did Not Answer. The Families Around Us Were So Disturbed That They Told Us We Should Received A Refund For The Game We Were Playing Since They Just Shut U read more

Best bowling alley in Madison...hands down. Hourly lane rates, good drink specials. My boyfriend and I come here almost weekly...no other bowling alley will do! read more

It's currently June 2020 in the middle of the COVID pandemic. I also live behind this place and have called to complain for years about their live shows and was met with a rude response but I honestly didn't expect them to continue to hold crowded events in a pandemic. Staff isn't just rude they are nasty when you call. Never been here and I wouldn't if it was the last bowling alley on Earth. No regard for people normally and blatantly doing anything for money in the middle of a pandemic. Disgustingly unprofessional read more

Awful, just awful. Was doubled charged on my credit card and brought in statements to show them. They refused to credit back, saying it didn't happen. The one that was put through, was put through manually, while the other ones were put in by sliding. Crooked, crooked, crooked! read more

Turned away a large group of us on a nice day when we wanted to play volleyball. I believe their league started the next day and there wasn't a reason given other than we were not allowed back there. The manager must be allergic to sales and money. We came ready to eat and drink. The league is fun. Only reason they get more than 1 star. read more

Love the place when we visited family.it was great for a Sunday night with better deals

If you bowl this place is for you! Bowl-A-Vard Lanes was the last place my Dad and I spent quality time together (mid Jul-13). He enjoyed bowling and pool in his younger days so it was the perfect place to take him. He was amazed and impressed with their 40 bowling lanes. I'd have a beer and bowl a round there any day. read more

I am a teacher and had 24 middle schoolers out on a camping trip. Lightning started and we had to move indoors. We chose bowling and Colleen, the general manager of Bowl-a-vard lanes, was so supportive and flexible with our group. She accommodated our last minute requests early on a Friday and helped us salvage what would have been a ruined adventure. The alley was clean and spacious, and the other patrons were very nice and not bothered by 24 11-14 year olds. The students had a blast and we appreciated all of the ways Colleen and her staff helped us out. Thank you!! read more

Went for a fish fry last night. Food was average, service terrible, drinks flat. This place is either run by interns, or they just don't care. We try different fish frys every week. This week was a disaster. Sat at a table for 10 minutes- watched a waitress pass us THREE times without acknowledging us- later to find out it was 'because it wasn't he turn'. (how about basic courtesy?) Catch of the day advertised on the menu, waitress had no idea that was a thing, as it turns out, it's not. No such thing as 'catch of the day'. We ordered cod w/fries, walleye w/baby reds. Both meals also come with soup (clam chowder) and either salad or coleslaw. Clam chowder tastes like it was poured from a plastic Sysco bag into a crockpot for a week. Salad lettuce was limp and sitting out way too long. Food runner drops off fish, but leaves dirty salad/soup dishes on the table. Food comes out, no silverware, no salt/ketchup, no tarter sauce on on one plate, and a side of potatoes missing. Waitress nowhere to be found. Fish was fine, but by that time we were ready to leave by the first few bites. Waitress was clueless. They have a decent beer list. Ordered a Bacardi/diet- $6 for a "double" (double-not-a-double), weak drink, flat overly sweet soda. read more