What a great place. Had a company event here last night, and it couldn't have gone better. Dawn and her staff were amazing. Great food, great beer, great people watching - just an overall terrific experience. If you want to have a good time, go bowling at Surf Bowl. read more

Great mid week deals. I haven't tried the food yet, but the staff is friendly. Other than being a little outdated this place is becoming a weekly hangout. read more

Kids enjoyed celebrating my 12-year-old niece's birthday by bowling and playing the arcade games. Birthday package included 2 hours of bowling, shoes, child beverages, pizza and paper goods. We brought the cake and furnished the cash for the arcade games. Employees were friendly and very attentive to our party of 16. A good time was had by all! read more

I hate to bowl. Thats my problem. Love the bar. Bartender is awesome.

We had such a great time last Friday night. Didn't know they have Jell-O shots in the bar. Whoot whoot! We will be back!!

Talk about a hidden gem in Oceanside! Fun for ALL ages. The bar is FULLY stocked, they have specials every night, friendly staff. The girls in the snack bar are always so sweet and though at times busy, they always get good food out with the size of the kitchen. The front desk employees are always so accommodating, I have come in with groups of 2 and groups of 15 and they have always given us lanes quickly! There can be a wait at times if there is a league or a busy Saturday night, but HELLLLOOOO that's why there is a fully stocked bar!!! Friday nights have karaoke with Christina and Lexi, which is always AWESOME people watching. I have read reviews about management previously, I think that most people don't know how much goes into running a huge center like Surf Bowl. Calm down, enjoy your night, and have a good time. I know these people work with their heart and soul! Dawn, the manager, is awesome, she has taken care of a big party I had here with friends, and my experience was awesome! Truly a fun spot anytime, day or night, check it out! PLUS it's way more fun than VEC!!! Ha!! read more

Worse bowling alley I have ever been to. All the employees are so rude and act like they do not want to be there. They are also the most cheap bowling alley I have ever been to. Really, who charges $.25 for water or ranch!? And that is after we spent $$ on food and drinks. They could also use a make over. Will never be back. read more

Great place for family fun and exercise. Nice staff. Decent coupon specials make it affordable. Old school bowling alley! Extreme Bowling rocks the house. read more

Been going here to this bowling alley since I was very little & have never had a bad experience with it. Super cheap & has wonderful deals. I love the groupon they have! Check it out! read more

don't let the looks of it's exterior fool you, surf bowl is fun, fun, fun! great friendly service with a variety of amenities in a clean family atmosphere makes for an enjoyable bowling experience. we love the music and the blue wave cafe. we ordered nachos with cheese and they cut up the corn tortillas before our eyes and fried them into chips on the spot! for sure where good memories are made:) read more

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We had a great time! The prices were reasonable and the environment was fun and family friendly. Most of all the staff was great! The were helpful and friendly and I received better service than I've had in a long time...anywhere! We will go back! read more

I went here for the first time this past Monday and loved it. What a quaint little institution. It has a cozy, warm, clean and friendly feel. My husband and I took my 6 year old bowling and it has been awhile for me but I loved that the bumper lanes automatically pop up when it was my son's turn and back down for the adults. Very cool. The only other bowling alley I've been to was the one in Vista and one down in Mira Mesa I think? Anyway, this is going to be my go to alley from now on. Love it! read more

My husband and I decided to go bowling on a date night. We had a wonderful time at surf bowl. It was clean, the staff was very nice, and the lanes worked great. Fun was had by all! read more

Reasonable prices and good bowling alley atmosphere (which is to say divey), but our lane kept malfunctioning and we had to enter the scores manually. read more

It may be old but it's real bowling not glo-bowl for kids. Clean and friendly. Parking might be tight. Will consider signing up for a league read more

I am a regular here. I come here weekly for Tuesday nights quarter bowling. However, the service here hasn't improved that much. The service at the front desk isn't friendly. The girl at the front has a serious attitude problem. She'll blast whatever crap music she likes. When you are at the lanes bowling you have to yell just to have a conversation with your friends. If you leave to go outside for a smoke break or anything, she'll give up your lane and put away your personal bowling ball even tho your shoes and bags are there at the lane. That happened multiple times and not just to my group. I do recommend this place for cheap bowling but be aware of the girl at the front. By the way, Sandy the bartender is amazing. She's really sweet and knows my drink. read more

Extra strong drinks are always at the surf bowl bar. Its very 80s looking but a very fun place to come to. I do not like Saturdays too loud and noisy but prefer it on weeekdays. read more

First off I want to say Nikki at the bar was amazing! She was super friendly and it got really busy but she made sure everyone was being served! The drinks were good and the prices where also great! Shannoa at the food counter was also really great, and our food came out fast! The only reason I'm not putting 5 stars is because the place seemed to have some sketchy people there, I'm really glad they have security! read more

Ok I left a terrible review when I was 15 because a lady who worked there was quite mean to my friend. However 3 years later I started bowling here again weekly and it is so great. I don't think that lady works there anymore. They have great friendly staff. One guy at the front remembers me and saves my name when there's a wait which is so great. Yes sometimes the lanes break but they are always quick to fix it. Surf Bowl is classic old Oceanside and I hope it never goes away. (Also sorry for my bad review, you stepped up the service for sure) read more

My son had his birthday party at Surf Bowl since it was the only place with laser tag close by. I purchased the utlimate party, which is $349.00 that was supposed to include a number of items, which most I never received. The hostess never came around, I had to check on the food and make space for the children. It was a waste of money. Had I received all that I was supposed to, like a provided cake - I had to bring; the goodie bags for the kids, which we didn't; the invitations, which I had to make; then I would have had a better experience. Too bad there wasn't another laser tag center, or bowling alley that is more updated, rather than out-dated. I definitely don't suggest it for a kid's party. read more

Wow. I think its kinda funny that the girl who was complaining up there left a bunch of stuff out. I used to go to Surf every Tuesday with my friends until our work schedules changed, but we still usally go on Thursdays, and try to make it on the weekends. The only time Ive ever seen them make people sit at the table to drink (as apposed to drinking while bowling) is when someone is underage drinking, or sneaking in booze or something. Ever. And we'd have trays FULL of beer, and they never made us sit up top. Also, you said yourself that that girl told you 9:30 and you guys got there at 9. It's just like on Tuesday - there is a certain time you can sign up for the special, and you were early. Tuesday it's like 8:45 or something, and the weekends is 9:30. Also, I remember Amy, and she's always been super nice. She works like every day there, and I've never seen her be mean to anyone. We go often and they smile and say hey when we walk in, they know who are friends are, they know my friend always asks for the light ball. I love Surf - they treat you like family there. Just don't go in being obnoxios and expect to get your way. Like the other girl said, everything works a certian way, thats how you know just how things will go. It's great. I also had my birthday party there with like ten friends, and they were very helpful on a Friday. I am not a pizza eater, but my friends really like it. I personally like the cheeseburgers and nachos there. Surf is a great time ... just, you know, follow the rules! read more

love this place, nice staff, very chill hang out and bowl. It is never too packed and I like it that way. My niece had her birthday party here and it was a blast for the kids. Pretty cheap also they have good birthday deals including lazor tag and pizza! read more

Sundays Sundays Sundays! Bowling can be expensive but my wife, daughter and i were able to play till our arms were sore for $20. Really? We go at least once a month now, but get there early to grab a lane. My daughter loves it and approved the 5 stars. read more

WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE! There was a glitch in every round for every single person, which we didn't mind in the beginning because we were just trying to have a good time. The employees came sometimes to fix it, but the manager or whoever the bald guy is with the glasses was RUDE. He blamed us for not telling him about the glitches, which one of the employees said that there was a glitch in every lane. My friend bowled about 10 times in one round and was getting nowhere. It just kept resetting on its own and would at times freeze. The thing that really made us angry is that the bald guy saw the glitch, blamed us, and walked away. If they KNOW that there is a glitch, the manager (which I'm assuming is the bald guy) should AT LEAST apologize. I really don't believe in yelp, especially because I work in the customer service industry, but my experience here was so horrible that no one should ever go through what we had to go through. PLEASE do not come here. We tried being polite in the beginning, but how they treated us was UNACCEPTABLE! AVOID AT ALL COST!!! Their lanes are also extremely greasy. read more

I am absolutely shocked by this terrible customer service. From the minute my friends and I walked up to the counter we the woman was very rude. We asked about the prices and was told that "it's pretty straight forward" and our question went unanswered. Also one of the employees who was getting our shoes was eating wings at the counter which we thought was very unprofessional. One of my friend who is 14 went us to the counter and asked for bumpers and she simply said "no" with no explanation. My friend younger brother (who is 10) decided to try again. He asked if he could get them and she said "no" he asked if it costed extra and she said "bumpers are for 10 and under" he said I'm 10 and she said "you see that kid over there? He's 10 and he doesn't need bumpers". She never gave it to us. Later, the brother went on the alley about a foot and a half to do his shot (which he wouldn't have to do if we were given bumpers). The same woman (Rose) came over to us GRABED HIS ARM and pulled him over to this tiny sign that was posted on the ground! Don't touch a 10 year old kid Rose! We all left feeling very upset and disappointed. Our mum called the next day and Rose lied and denied it all. We will be talking to the owner/manager read more

WORST EXPERIENCE EVERRR. Bad customer service, the manager and employees were so unprofessional. Never coming back here ever again. They treated my boyfriend like crap just because he tried getting beer with an expired license and they watch him the whole rest of the time to make sure he wasn't drinking beer. The bartender even yelled at my friend for getting my boyfriend a water cup thinking he'd use it for beer. Also the Manger can bowl in flip flops and wears inappropriate t-shirts. So unprofessional. read more

Where do I start...either the lane or the ball is lop sided. The ball would be going straight then right at the end would dodge right (lane 25). Almost every arcade game was out of order and I can't even believe anyone would order food from this establishment. Never come here again. read more

We usually go to Vista Entertainment Center since it's close to home. But now that it's closed we decided to give Surf Bowl a try. We had family visiting and decided to have a bowling night. We enjoyed every minute of it. Very old school place but when a big family like ours can all come together and enjoy a night of bowling at a pretty decent rate with good food we are one happy bunch. We were so happy we came twice in one week. read more

There were many problems with our experience at this bowling alley... We went on a Sunday afternoon, and our wait time was about 40-45 minutes. No problem at all... But with 3 kids to entertain, we went to play some arcade games, and only a few were in service. Both token machines were out of service. And I only learned about one of them after I lost my money to it... Front desk would not refund my money. Still... No problem, we were excited to bowl. Upon getting our lane, we signed in and set up the lane for the lane bumpers to go up and down so my kids could get a decent score... We had problems with the bumpers throughout the 2 games we played. Sometimes they never went up, other times they didn't go down. They seemed to have a mind of their own. About 75% of the time the "pin setter" wouldn't clear the pins and reset them. Also about 6-7 times the balls wouldn't return, so it built up about 5-6 balls before we had to report it. Other times it would put the wrong score up, making me need to fix it. The button to call the attendant was broken, so every time we had a problem I had to go to the front desk, sometimes waiting in line for up to 10 min to report the problem. The lady at the front desk was very nice. Overall, we paid for 2 hours (had I known we would've paid per game, not per hour). I spent about half of that time up at the front desk waiting to get something fixed. I asked for a different lane and she said sure, but I would have to pay for the full 2 hours (although I was only there for 1 HR and 10 min) at this lane and get back to the end of the line to wait for the new lane, which was about another hour wait,... No thank you. Overall, the people were very friendly but the place is old and falling apart. It seems like the owner doesn't want to fix anything. Just put band aids on problems and hope nobody complains Ps we were playing on lane 27 read more

I really want to give them 5 stars because we always have a great time and the staff is super friendly...but...we were there yesterday around noon and they have no food service! There were about 40 people there and I just kept thinking how much money they could be making! We had 7 kids with us and had to get $2 water out of a vending machine and crappy chips :/ Summer is a great time to take kids bowling especially when they promote the kids play free program but they don't allow you to even bring food in which is ridiculous when they don't provide food. We would have been there for hours but instead we left after an hour and spent our money elsewhere. read more

Rude staff, poorly maintained equipment and food/beverages left out over night and sold the next day did not make this a good experience. The topper was the refusal of the staff to allow the use of bumpers for the small kids in our party that were bowling. read more

I used to be a semi usual at surfbowl, up until about a month ago. I used to go bowling a couple times a month religiously with friends there for a bit, until I met the manager. When I spoke to her about problems we were having with the lanes she acted as if I was taking up HER TIME and BOTHERING HER. I was appalled! You better believe I will find out who's above her and contact them. But she's not the only one, the ladies at the snack bar also had a attitude problem, again acting as if ordering food is a CHORE to them, that's what their PAID to be there for. And the best part, as I sat at the counter waiting for my food I see dust floating from the ceiling fan above the kitchen falling onto my food as it's cooking, and it's getting on the board where they cut up my veggies to put on my dusty burger, yum. I saved it for my dog. This was not my only horrible experience with the manager and surf bowl, everytime I've spoken with her she's been unprofessional and above and beyond rude. Look at all the horrible reviews of surf bowl, you would think the manger would look at these but nothing's ever changed and I don't think it will, that's why I'm telling you if you want to bowl DO NOT GO TO SURF BOWL don't waste your money, the lanes break everyone ten minutes and they use shoe cleaner from the 99 cent store, just look at it. If you want to bowl, go to the Vista center, way bigger way more updated and much nicer snack bar, for a bowling alley. And above all, do yourself a favor and don't waste your breath speaking the manager at surf bowl. read more

I bought a Groupon package and took my daughter and her friends there for a casual birthday outing. My husband told me he remembers it being a dump but it was a long time since he had been there. I figured who cares - its bowling and much cheaper than other bowling alleys near our house. We were pleasantly surprised! It is nice and clean inside, well lit, played music of all genres, the scoring machines worked without a hitch, and the service was fantastic. Frank was super cool - very friendly and interacted with the kids the whole time. He walked around passing out candy, congratulating them on good throws, cracking jokes and teasing them, etc. He was awesome about helping the kids get their shoes and find a ball that worked for them. WAY better service than I expected. The package came with appetizers and drinks. The food was...well...bowling alley quality food but the kids still ate it and the gals in the kitchen were very nice and brought everything to us promptly. Don't go there expecting a gourmet meal, but if you're hungry they have plenty of options. I will definitely bring my kids back here. They have great specials so check their website before you go. read more

Nice place , clean and friendly staff. My son had a great 9th year birthday party with his buddies and family Thumbs up !!!

I used to bowl here all the time as a kid and teenager. I went back on Sunday to practice for a league. The hourly rates are much better priced than Vista Entertainment Center and with seven of us two lanes ran us $22 for an hour on each. VEC has the same time rated at $18 and hour per lane. Sunday mornings are great, it was a bit disconcerting that the place was a wreck from the night before. The approaches hadn't been cleaned and were sticky from soda and beer the night before. There was chewed gum sitting on top of our lane's counter. We had been assigned a pair, then they moved us so they could do some work on the ceiling above the lane. Then they moved us again because the approach wasn't clean (the lanes they moved us to weren't clean either). The front desk clerk didn't seemed surprised which is sad. Service here has always been hit or miss. They're either rude and seem bothered when you ask for something or they're very accommodating. This guy was very nice seeing as we had so many issues. As a league bowler, I know that Surf has always been a bit rundown. Even after they repainted and "renovated" the lanes, there really wasn't that much you could tell had been changed. If you don't like dirty, I'd go to one of North County's other two bowling centers which are significantly more hygienic, but expect to pay more. We came to bowl and the deal was too good to pass up. The cafe is a rip off. I don't want to mince words but there is not a nicer way to put it. Large drink run $3.50 (about the same as a ball park). Two large sodas and an order of chicken fingers for the kids there came to $15. A large at Vista is $2.00 and though a little smaller, has less ice. Chicken fingers run approximately $5.50. I was so appalled with the prices, I checked Vista's website to do a comparison (since I never eat there). Frankly, if you want to bowl and don't buy anything else, go to Surf, it's a better deal. But food and drinks will easily outpace the other centers in the area. Monty at the pro shop is the best in the county and the only guy I trust my equipment with so if you want to join a league and buy shoes, bags, balls, etc., Surf is the best place for that. read more

Surf Bowl is located in a great location, South Oceanside right off the 101. They have daily specials to look out for that are really great deals you can find on the website. Music was good every time I've been there, classic rock. It's about everything you would expect for a good bowling alley near the beach. I don't bowl very often, but to my knowledge the prices seemed very reasonable at least, and good prices for a pitcher of beer. read more

Love this place for the 10pm-1am $20 bowling!! Looks shabby but very fun and plays good music. I've gone several times and loved it each time! read more

I always go bowling in San Marcos, but this time we decided to go to Surf Bowl in Oceanside. I have never been treated so rude before. Me and my family were having an amazing time, come the second hour, Debbie made it HELL, we ended up getting our money back and leaving. At first, she was a little rude when she was giving us our shoes, but I thought it could just be stress of being busy so I ignored it. I understand that it was a busy day, but being rude to people will not help. After having some issues with having to reset the pins because they kept getting stuck, my sister went up and let someone know our issues & they called over the intercom (no one ever came to check & they went twice), honestly we were enjoying ourselves way to much to even put too much attention to the issue (even though we reset the pins at least 10times). So we decided to add another hour because of the amount of fun we were having, we go up to the front & as we were paying i let Debbie know that our machine was kinda glitching (not a big deal, but just so they know so they can fix it after we were done playing) she then says well you need to tell us & not just reset it, to which my brother in law responds that he let one of the employees know already & she got mad, puts her hand on her chest & says "But did you tell me", he says no, i told your.. before he can finish she interrupts him & again says "But did you tell me?!". Not going to lie, at this point I was mad, but I thought, whatever, my family is having fun, lets ignore her. We handed her a $100 bill & she gave us change, we just bundled it & walked away mad. As soon as we got back to our spot, she came over & says she moved us to another spot (we never asked to be moved, like I said, the fun we were having trumped the glitching) we said okay & moved. She says I added half an hour to you game & then you are done(basically we were not welcome to stay any longer even if we were paying). So once we get settled, we unbundle the money to put away & realize she shorted our change. We get back in line & I think, dammit, we didn't get a receipt from her & for sure she wont believe us, then i saw the camera right above the register & think THANK GOD, there is proof. So as I thought, she didn't believe us & i simply pointed at the camera & said you are more than welcome to check it. She looked up & seemed surprised, as if she forgot it was there. She then says shes going to give us our money back & we have to leave. I was definitely planning that, but at the same time she was kicking us out for her mistake. Yes, we should have checked the change, but we were so mad with her rudeness, that when she gave us our change we just wanted to be away from her & bowl with our family. So as I stated before, the first hour was fun, and if it were not for the rudeness and attitude we got from DEBBIE, we would have done a second hour & had a blast. read more

Used to come here alot as a kid, still fun and very affordable. Staff is very nice and helpful. Got an Awesome deal on groupon. Kids had a great time, it is fun for all ages. read more

The old lady at the end of the night is rude and inconsiderate. The place is fun but it all changes as the night ends. Bad attitudes in the workers and bad vibes. As long as u have a good group u will have fun but end on time or else u will be hassled and have degrading comments made towards u. They will not give u money back for unplayed games either. read more