I came here about six times in two years when I discovered it and I have to say the kids absolutely love it. The place is clean. The workers are friendly and everything works when we're there. If I can give this place more stars, I swear to Bob, I would. read more

Trust your GPS, or look for the CVS, because you may have trouble finding the Ducks. Walk down the staircase, more or less next to the basement of CVS, and you will enter a very sweet fun zone full of nostalgia and old school entertainment that's been here since 1939. Welcome to Ducks On The Avenue - home of Duckpin Bowling. It's not the full sized bowling pins and bowling balls you're most probably used to. It's not the skinny candle pins you'll find in Massachusetts. This is Duckpin bowling with shorter stubbier pins, a holeless ball about the size of a medium grapefruit, and three balls per frame. This was really hard to play -I didn't crack 60 in either of the two games I bowled. But I was pretty good at tossing the ball into the left gutter. One of my industry organizations held a meeting and charity fund-raiser there last night and we had a blast! When's the last time you went bowling with a revolving disco ball, black lights, and music? Yeah, I thought so. Wanna drink while you are there to enhance your experience? Beers are available for $4 to $8. Since the balls don't have finger holes, you basically have to palm it and fling it. Our techniques varied from smoothly rolling the balls onto the alley as gently as one would place a sleeping infant in a crib, to those who lobbed the ball like a hand grenade trying to blow a hole in the floor halfway down the alley, to the young lady who preferred a two-handed underhand roll (like an old time basketball free throw shooter) who hysterically knocked down all ten pins with her unique technique. We had a ton of fun there! I want to give a shout-out to our host Patrick, who seemed to be running the place single handedly. He was awesome. read more

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My wife I love this place! We go to the Half door down the street and get a few margaritas in us then come here, just a little F.Y.I.to anyone reading this, duck pin bowling over hand is frowned upon. read more

I have been here once before with my boyfriend and decided it would be a fun place to return to with a group of friends before eating dinner in Hartford. Tim was very helpful on the phone, and I was able to make a reservation for a group with no problems at all. Upon arrival, we were quickly given bowling shoes and our lanes all set up. We had a wonderful time bowling a couple games and Tim was kind enough to help us with the scoring. Scoring can be a little confusing because everything has to be done manually. You have to reset the pins for the next person and clear the pins between rolls as well. We quickly got used to it though and thoroughly enjoyed our time here. Fun tip: You can get beer and soda here to sip on while bowling. It is very close to downtown Hartford, so a fun place to go before heading to the city. The biggest downside is the parking. It shares a parking lot with CVS, and if there are no spots left you have to park on the street. read more

Wonderful community bowling. This evening had disco black light fun. Nice way to "Bowl off some steam" on a Friday night! read more

Ducks on the Ave - Davie M and Weezer Crushing it - Bowling Near Me - Hartford, Connecticut

Loads of throwback fun! We took our kids on a Sunday afternoon and there were two other lanes in use. By the middle of our game we had the place to ourselves. I think of bowling allies like roller skating rinks today. Lack of updates is fine with me. The classic hardwood and still-amazing 1950's pin management technology is all here. A disco ball and black lights are also there for cool nighttime bowling. They have beer and food, though we didn't have any and by chance my favorite album was playing on the speakers while we bowled. What's not here? An arcade to distract from the bowling, thankfully. My savvy, 21st century sons loved every minute and laughed when some folks scoffed and left after seeing that it was duck pin, not full sized, bowling. Grab a coupon here on Yelp and give this place a try if you're a local. Let's keep them in business for a long time to come. read more

Ducks on the Ave - Panoramic of the lanes. - Bowling Near Me - Hartford, Connecticut

Tough to find without a spotlight or lit up exterior sign. Cold beers, cheap duckpin bowling. What's not to like? Went on a Thursday night and it was dead, which was awesome. No wait, scoring take a bit of work but overall it's a neat little spot. Will definitely be heading back! read more

Mediocre at best, kind of run down and a bit sketchy but not bad. Drinks are decent price but bathroom was not the cleanest at all.

Very rude management who had contacted me through my personal messenger account threatening to sue me for slander for leaving a truthful review! Dark and moldy smelling. Prices are high and i was told if i returned id be trespassing and arrested all because i left a truthful review. Have a great day read more

Never been duck pin bowling before, it was pretty fun once you understand the scoring. Looks like your standard bowling alley, in the low tech side, but it didn't detract from the experience. Guy running the place was super nice, let us pick our own lane, and was really fast at fixing any technical issues with the lanes. I'll be going back for sure. read more

Ducks on the Ave - Bowling Near Me - Hartford, Connecticut

This is a local business that really is a fun and easy time for the kids and family. No hassles. Easy in and out. It's nothing fancy but it doesn't need to be. read more

Ducks on the Ave - Great for 3-6 year olds. Easy and fun!! - Bowling Near Me - Hartford, Connecticut

Family night out for disco duckpin bowling. We enjoyed our night out bowling here. Was a nice clean place and shoes were in great condition. The place is a little tricky to find. Just park in front of CVS. Their sign is a little hard to see it's not lite up. All in all I would definitely return and recommend!! read more

I normally don't give 1 star but this place is located in a basement, smells like cigarettes (employees are smoking after hours I'm guessing) the lanes are run down and old and what ever you do, do not eat any food they have there. Wouldn't feed it to my dog. I would just skip over this place and go to the next place on the list. Don't make the same mistake I did by going here read more

This place is below CVS on Farmington Ave - yes, that means it is located in a basement. However, this place was surprisingly fun. It was a good way to spend an afternoon on a cold day. There are limited employees, so the one guy working the place could get a little bit busy at times. There are also limited services in terms of snacks and drinks. However, they did have some adult beverage selections for a very reasonable price. I would definitely go back! read more

I went with two other people on a random weekend afternoon. We are all in our 20's. It was a great experience! The guy who owns the place was really friendly. I hadn't been duckpin bowling since I was a kid. When you first walk up to the place, it's a little strange hole in the wall right next to the CVS. However, you walk down some stairs and its a lot bigger than I anticipated. We grabbed a lane and we ended up playing two games, we were enjoying ourselves so much! I was absolutely horrible at it but so was everyone else I was with so that made it more fun too! You have to enter your score in manually which wasn't a problem at all. I thought it was pretty inexpensive for the amount of fun I had, $9 for shoes and the first game, $14 for two games. It is great to support local businesses and this is a place I'm going to support again! read more

We had a 7th birthday party here today. A mixture of boys and girls attended. The alley is charming and duckpins are perfect for this age group. All of the kids really seemed to have a blast. Several parents said that they weren't aware of the alley before this party, but they seemed to have a positive impression and I hope they'll return with their kids. We wanted to have pizza along with our brought in cake, so they ordered it for us and brought it in. We got a "party pizza" for the kids, which was a sheet pizza - about 32 pieces for $20 (cheese only). It was just about perfect for our group of about 15 kids, and we got an additional large pizza for the adults. The reason I didn't give it five stars is because it's a little lightly staffed and there is no party helper as you sometimes have for kids' parties. As a result, my husband, myself and some of the other helpful parents really had to take an active role in managing the party - getting the kids organized, telling them how to bowl, helping them keep score, serving food, etc. It was a little chaotic until the kids got through the first few frames. Also, there were a few little odds and ends that we needed during the cake and pizza time and we had to keep going back to the owner and asking for help. Don't get me wrong, he was absolutely helpful, kind and friendly, but he was running the show and trying to attend to the other bowlers who were there as well as us. To summarize - I would recommend having a party there, but I'd make sure that several parents understand how to score and can help manage the kids if they are on the young side. I'd also recommend you bring everything you think you're going to need - knife, spatula, lighter (for candles), whatever else, so that you can minimize the back and forth during the party. One final note, plates, forks, napkins and table cloths are provided, but they are plain white. No problem for me, but if you want a theme you should buy and bring your own. read more

So awesome!!!!! The staff (Patrick) was helpful and showed us how to bowl. Reasonable prices and a great time! GO GO GO!!!

Love this place! Totally old school and classic. Simple and inexpensive and a good time. Would recommend for a low key bowling night!

$5 for the first game then $3 per game after. Me and my boyfriend had 5 games in total. Firs time we played small bowing balls. read more

Ducks on the Ave - Bowling Near Me - Hartford, Connecticut

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It was a nice place to go. Took the family here, only down side was that the technology was pretty old. Other than that, we had a blast and would come back again! read more

Do not go here with small children. And I honestly wouldn't step foot in this alley again, even with only adults. We were having a great time with our kids and another couple with theirs until we were screamed at by the man working and told to leave immediately when we were about 1/2 way done with our game. He was swearing and screaming and we had no idea why. It was by far the worst experience I have ever had, especially in front of our small children. So completely unprofessional, disrespectful and unwarranted. And our kids were in tears because they didn't understand why they were being yelled at when they had been very well behaved. read more

I live in NC where there are no duckpin alleys, so whenever I visit family back in CT, I make sure to go to DOTA. What a great place with friendly staff/owners. It brings back many great memories of duckpin bowling with my family growing up. I'm so happy that now I can introduce my nephew to the game that was passed down to me from my father and my grandfather. If you go at night, DOTA creates a cool club feel with neon lighting and throwback tunes. A fantastic experience that I hope folks in the Hartford area will support. Duckpin bowling is the most pure form of bowling and is great to do as a family (sorry, 10-pin doesn't cut it). I've found that I'm an even better duckpinner now than I was back when I lived in CT. The only criticism I have is that the automated scoring feature is dated, but this is probably an easy thing to upgrade. Please support DOTA and owners, please get the word out about your alleys; advertise and get some leagues going (if they're not already). You are at the top of my list of things to do with my family when I'm in CT! read more

Great spot! Like your favorite dive-bar... not flashy, but gets the job done at a great price. Great place to hang-out with your friends, have a few brew and bowl a few games. read more