Awesome place to bowl. This has been around for decades but they've constantly made upgrades along the way so it looks newer and everything is kept clean. Staff is great and helpful! Bowling is always fun, they keep the lanes well oiled and the machines work great. They host a variety of leagues here, everywhere from ultra competitive school competitions to the chillest family leagues and birthday parties, as well as just plain old open bowling, so there's something for every skill level and age. They also have an arcade, as well as a bar and grill. I have never said or typed this sentence in my life, but ORDER THE CHICKEN FINGERS! You will not be disappointed. They were probably the best I've ever had in my life...hand-breaded perfection. This is the bowling alley that showed me how fun bowling could be when I was a kid, then as a student it hosted leagues where I made a ton of friends, and now I get to come here to make memories with a family of my own. It's not as cheap as it used to be, but what is anymore? About the same price as a night out at a movie. Would definitely recommend this place! read more

I've bowled here in the past, but how this business treats people online changed my opinion. I made a joking comment on Don Carter Lanes' Facebook post about the AI-generated art in their lesson ads. Their official business page replied with an AI-generated cartoon of me, with my name on it, rolling a gutter ball. When I said I hadn't given permission for my likeness to be used, I got no response, and the image is still up. The general manager shared that same post on his personal account and appears to be the one running the page. As a working artist, I take the use of someone's face and name in AI images seriously, and using it to make fun of a customer in public crosses a line. My last several visits were also disappointing because of management's brash attitude. There are better places in Rockford to bowl. read more

Don Carter Lanes - Don Carter Lanes' official Facebook page replying to my comment with an AI-generated cartoon, using my likeness, without my permission. - Bowling Near Me - Rockford, Illinois

I haven't bowled in years! Came here with my sister. Gotta say the lanes are still amazing and everything was very clean. We both had a great time. read more

Don Carter Lanes - Bowling Near Me - Rockford, Illinois

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Good bowling alley! It has an unlimited for 2 hour deal, which felt pretty reasonable. And an arcade. I would come back! Good beer selection too, lots of NA options. read more

Went here on a Saturday afternoon after we were informed, there was OTB inside. The bowling alley in itself is very large, and can accommodate large groups for league bowling. Saturday afternoon was open bowling. Slightly crowded. They have a large game room for the kids as well as adults. The snack bar has a wide variety of grill items, snacks, and drinks. Slot machines are also available but very limited. The OTB area was very clean and organized. I counted at least 10 race courses on the monitors that you can bet on. Very automated betting machines, and smoke-free environment. read more

I took the family here for some fun over the weekend. We had received in the mail a coupon for 2 free games for up to 4 people. We decided to go play three games. When we arrived, the place looked packed, but there were a lot of empty lanes. It was about 1 PM on a Saturday and I knew they had some leagues going, but I didn't think it would be a problem to get in. I guess I was wrong. First I stood at the counter waiting to get acknowledged for a good 10 minutes while the staff talked to each other or to members in a league. When we finally were assisted, the lady that helped us was very nice. She explained that they had leagues going on and birthday party's and that it would be about a 30 minute wait. We were fine with that. They have a large game room area for the kids to play in. Sure enough with in 30 minutes our name was called and we were assigned a lane. They have great state of the art scoring systems and electronic displays with animations. You can even pick different themes. There is not a lot of seating though. For four of us playing, we had room for two to sit while everyone else had to stand. Unless they left the bowling area, which is fine, but when you have a child that is 8, you don't want them wandering alone. We were having a good time when an employee came over to us and said that due to a party, they where going to have to move us two lanes down. That would have been fine, if not just an inconvenience if it wasn't for the fact that the lane they where moving us to was still occupied with the participants of a birthday party that had been there. We waited patiently, but they were eating cake and talking. Finally, *I* had to muscle my way over because no one that worked for Don Carter's would say anything. Then I had to clean up the extra balls the previous party left on the ball return so there was room enough for our balls. Once we got resettled, we discovered that there was even less seating at this lane. The lanes are good, the place is well maintained, it's clean. The staff just needs to work on taking care of it's customers a little better. read more

Seems like a nice place, just didn't have a great experience. Felt the bowling machines were a bit clunky to use and that they put way too many people on one lane when there were still plenty of lanes open. This made it so I had to stay longer than I wanted. The music was good through read more

Never had a problem ordering a drink till today. And bartender refused to serve cause she couldn't take a joke. Smh

Had the worst customer service experience here, ever. Though the manager handled it in a professional manner, I suggest the young workers here get some training on customer service skills or an attitude adjustment. I was with my family this evening and we purchased a Groupon deal and decided to use it this evening for a family night out. Prior to purchasing the Groupon, my husband called the bowling alley directly and asked them when we can use the Groupon. We were told on the phone that we can use it anytime, including weekends, just as long as there are open lanes. Now we were told on a Saturday night we couldn't use it because they had a special going on. The young gal that explained it to us was rude til the end. I event felt belittled as a customer and a bit embarassed because I was with my young son. I stepped to the side and asked to speak to the manager, just to clarify some things since we were told one thing and now told differently when we arrived. We were waiting maybe close to 10 mins as a gentlemen worker there said he would ask the manager to come speak to us when she gets off the phone. Then I am unsure if we did something, but another young female worker at the counter disinfecting shoes looked at my family and said, "What do you guys want?" I told her we were waiting to speak to the manager and a gentlemen was going to get her for us. She began to tell us that there wasn't a manager on site and she doesn't know who he would be grabbing for us. Yet in a condescending tone, like we were idiots! I am not one to assume anything & have been here plenty of times, but this particular experience was uncecessary. We even told her that the guy told us she's on the phone and would tell her to come talk to us when she's done. Then she looks back and sees someone on the phone and says, "Well she's on the phone, I don't know if she's the manager." I don't get it? Again, was that necessary? Finally, the manager came to clarify with us how the deal works and advised us if we wanted to use it on the weekend, when to. All I wanted was the clarification as the workers there aren't all consistent in their answers, that's it. Hopefully it was just a bad day for them. Though it's still not an excuse for me. Lose the tude. read more

After some honest reflection, this the best bowling alley I've been to. It's large, has plenty of lanes, they recently remodeled and now includes OTB, there's a decent bar that caters nicely to bowlers and they consistently have special events and deals running. On a Wednesday night, we got buy one get one free games and it was not busy at all. We were literally surrounded by empty lanes. They were more than willing to accept the Yelp check-in buy one get one free game deal, but they were already running that special anyways (nice to know they would be willing to take it, though.) We also got a pitcher of Coors and Blue Moon (including a cup of orange slices) for reasonable prices. If you don't remember socks, they have vending machines with baller socks for a dolla, and a free game coupon included! Best deal and time? Cosmic bowling, Saturday night. One price ($11), unlimited bowling and then you sign up to win prizes that they call out all night. Our foursome won a free 'za and pitcher of beer. And as the name suggests, tons of black lights, special lights, disco balls and some fun music. Awesome. And, if you're looking for the teen hang out spot, that would be Rock N Bowl on Fridays, 9pm-midnight. read more

Came here for the 39 dollar bowl package which includes 2 hours of bowling for 6 people, a pizza and a pitcher of pop or beer. Sounds pretty good right ? Well the while the bowling was cool the pizza was cheap and the pitcher of pop only filled 4 cup They give refills for $5.70 rip off !!! I would of forgave all of this but on tip of everything the service was RUDE !! everyone had a stick up there ass. They staff suck. Like why so rude. Very poor customer service. This one fat lady with short hair was very rude when I asked a simple question. I always says the employees make a place and the employees here suck. read more

Good bowling lanes but poor selection of balls. The alley is good but the customer service is the worst I have ever seen. When I went there last week the lane my friends and I were given had a problem with the scoring system. Everyone's scores were screwed up. When we complained we were told to "deal with it". No apology! Just "deal with it"! Not coming back here for a long time! read more

Cleanest and best alley in area but the others are really bad! They do a lot to bring in people from concerts to OTB to an arcade inside. The food isn't that bad and cheese curds are actually pretty good. Staff is always very helpful even with kids who always get the balls stuck or drop them all together. Only complaint, I got a shoe with a big hole in toe. They switched it out and gave me free game passes. Love that they participate in the free summer bowling for kids. read more

Good bowling fun! They have plenty of lanes and they charge for a lane by the hour as well as by game. The building is well used but taken care of. The whole family had a great time. read more

Worst service ever. We were with a group, and had called earlier in the day to check if we could bowl or needed to make reservations. Told that we could come in at any time. When we arrived, we were initially told we couldn't bowl because there wasn't anything available. At this time, 7 lanes out of 42 were being used. When we said we had called and told we could, they said well you will have to wait 20 minutes until a lane opens up. We waited and saw other groups finish up and were never called. An hour later, we were finally called. During this time, there were never more than 8-10 lanes ever being used. Even halfway during our one hour of playing time, less than half were open. At one point, I went to the snack bar to get a bottle of water. I saw on the menu that there wasn't any bottled water available plus nobody was there. So I went to the desk to find out if I could get change for the vending machine. When I walked up, two people were on the phone and two were standing there talking to each other. I waited, and the one man finished the call. He looked at me, and when I started asking my question, he actually walked away mid-sentence. So, I moved over to the other station with the two people talking - basically one foot away from them. They never acknowledged that I was standing there. After a few minutes, the fourth person finished on the phone, but still did not say anything. I finally said something about standing there all of this time with a simple question, and the 4th person finally addressed me. When we left, there was a huge line of people waiting to get service. There was one person at the counter handling everything, and two people standing in the back eating pizza. We just left shoes on the counter, because there was nobody to take them. The bowling area seemed clean. There is limited seating for bowlers (two seats per lane), so be prepared to stand your entire game - unless the lane next to you isn't even open. There is an arcade for kids, but I did not go into that area. read more

Havent been here to bowl in a while. Went here with my family. It was $18 per hour to bowl for the four of us plus paying for shoes. Wasn't too crowded. Would have been happier if they weren't playing country music the whole time but I suppose its kid friendly since it was around 2 and most of the families there had kids under 10. Didn't get any food so can't review that aspect of it. Overall had a good time with no problems. read more

This place has horrible customer service. In fact worse than any other place in Rockford, of any kind. The place itself is ok but for this I'm never coming back. read more

Let's start with the people that work the bar are exceptional . The manager has a vast knowledge of hops & barleys along with being probably the best bar ( food as well ) manager in Rockford period ! If you like to drink beer you won't be disappointed with their beer list ( every style and type imaginable ). Let's not forget the food and yes it's a bowling alley I know ! The food is really really good . Great pricing and the portions are humongous . They also have one of the best breakfast menus around and delicious . All of this at a bowling I know tell me about it for I was shocked as well . This place is really big so there is ample room and you won't be disappointed ! read more

We had a Groupon for this place and it so happened that it was their league night. So instead of us bowling for 2 hours we could only do 1 BUT the guys were soooo nice. Even called other places to see if they could accommodate us which was awesome. Even an hour was enough for us but their customer service is FANTASTIC! Thank you! read more