Thunderbowl Lanes

4200 Allen Rd, Allen Park, MI 48101, USA

Address:	4200 Allen Rd, Allen Park, MI 48101, USA
Phone:	+1 313-928-4688
Site:	thunderbowl.org
Rating:	3.7
Working:	5PM–1AM 4:45AM–1AM 4:45AM–1AM 4:45AM–1AM 9AM–2AM 9AM–2AM 4:45AM–1AM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 5

Jon Boyer

After many years of bowling at Thunderbowl, this will be my last frame. This place is a total ghetto full of wild, crazy, pigs. (I cant even call them bowlers, because a bowler has common courtesy for other bowlers.) It started when my party of 6 was put on ONE lane. (Lane 80) I understand that this may be your policy, but for 6 people?! Really? Then, after we got to our lane, the party next to us, was a large group of people who were loud and rude and had no consideration for anyone else on the lanes. I immediately asked the front counter if I could have a lane change, and with 2 lanes this time so my group could actually bowl. So we were moved to lanes 51-52. It turned out to be 10X worse! We were in between two large groups of people, who were again loud, rude, and all over the lanes. Some were bowling in their socks!!! Some were bowling in boots! Kids were running out onto the lanes and rolling around on them. Kids and younger teens were playing on the floor. Some kids were actually rolling around on the tops of bowling balls on the floor! Bowlers were throwing the balls overhand, and when the ball would stop mid-lane, or in the gutter, kids were running out onto the lane or in the gutter to retrieve the balls! (In street shoes, too) We also could not sit down by the lane because the other two parties decided that they could use our seats. I believe there are 4 bars in the building, and only 1 ONE was serving drinks, and with only ONE bartender! I wont even go into how long it took to get a pitcher of water and beer. Its not the bartenders fault. Its the lack of planning and staffing. (I help run a business, so I know what its like to require adequate staff members, at the right time. Keeping customers waiting is very unprofessional.) The frustrating part of about this, is that Cloverlanes, which closed back in May, 2015, had the EXACT same type of crap going on inside. Ghetto atmosphere, wild guests, lacking any type of security monitoring the lanes to keep the crowds under control. They CLOSED. The "guests" ran the facility, just like they did tonight at Thunderbowl. Its just sad, because I last bowled at Thunderbowl 6 months ago, and it was nothing like what it was tonight. As we were finishing up our final game, the lights were turned down and the music turned up. You cant turn the lights off with this type of clientele out on those lanes. In my book, its just not safe. By the end of the night, we just wanted to leave. I did make it a point to go to the front counter and speak with the Night Manager, who was very professional, but as I figured, she was short staffed and there wasnt much she could do. I will say, that she did offer me a place in the Arena either tonight or during my next visit, but sadly I will not be returning to ever take advantage of that opportunity. She did encourage me to rethink my decision, but my mind had been made as soon as I started to bowl. I understand it can be hard to monitor each and every lane, (Its a large bowling alley) but something needs to be done. It cant be avoided or ignored. If it is, Im sorry to say, but you will most likely end up like Cloverlanes. "Closed". The fact of the matter is that I will not be returning to Thunderbowl ever again. My party was not pleased with the experience, and they couldnt wait to leave the building. Tonight turned out to be a regrettable experience, rather than a fun and memorable one with family.

A Private User

This place is terrible. We went for the 5 dollar special from 9-12am, we were in the smaller bowling alley. 70s music was blurring throughout the place, and then they decided to change it up and play nothing but heavy metal/classic rock on their sirius radio THE WHOLE NIGHT. The guy working only played music he enjoyed, and not what the customers enjoyed. The employee let us play 10 minutes early before the special started, we then had some trouble with our lane so we had to move (which took awhile to fix). They ended up shutting off our lane 10 minutes early, when a friend of ours showed up later on and paid the money. Also, there were people smoking and the employee did NOTHING about it. The bathrooms are disgusting & unsafe. Did I mention when I asked if they sold water at the concession stand, the employee (a different one) stated they didnt sell water because there was a "jug" at the other end of the bowling alley. Later on that night, I found out that it wasnt a "jug" it was a vending machine. I think the atmosphere is ghetto (and when I say "GHETTO" I mean RUN-DOWN, it has NOTHING to do with RACE" I didnt mention anything about RACE) and unprofessional. And to "brock of avenue talent agency" you have no idea what race I am, or any other persons for that matter.. So you have no idea, what we mean when we say "ghetto." Dont go jumping to conclusions.

Maria Brazier

Love bowling here! Owner is a great guy and very friendly the bartender and food personnel are also very polite, two concerns for the establishment is understaffed, the service for receiving shoes, front counter, and especially the bar your almost always waiting because that crew member is busy doing other jobs and you must wait for them to return and sometimes can take up to 30 minutes just to get a soda from the bar. Also 1 worker in particular. There is a lady at the front desk whose name badge says,"Ms. Thang" this woman is very disrespectful and rude. Multiple times when your lane is having an error you must speak with her at the desk to fix the problem at hand. Ms. Thang will blame you saying you did something wrong at least she has to me on numerous occasions, she will argue you and when she finds out she is wrong she will not apologize, she talks down to people when she speaks to them which is not professional and this establishment could find a better person for the position that is polite as well as faster paced because this woman works very slow and does not seem to try to speed things up even when there is a crowd of people at the counter waiting on her.

Trish Toth

This place is for bowling only. If u want good service forget it. I was there on black friday at 6 p.m. & surprisingly it was not busy. The staff does not seem to know what they are doing or care about customers. Two of them argued about how to do their job while in the middle of helping us. There are 2 bars. Good luck finding a bar tender. The food counter is like something u would find at a sporting event and didnt open til 6 p.m. We wanted to order pizza but they said they didnt have enough dough because of another party booked. The ladies working the food counter where very nice and did the best they could with what they had but if u have a party booked wouldnt u order extra dough? The management of this place truly needs an overhaul.

Alexander Lopez

This place is an ok bowling alley, a bad pool spot, and has the longest wait for drinks. I gave it 3 stars because it all depends on what days and time you come. Ive been there early morning and it was great. Late at night on the weekends there is a line out the door, and lanes breaking down constantly. I went there 2 nights ago just to play pool because there was no way to get a lane. The machine for quarters was broken so I had to go to the bar for change. It took 15 minutes to get change for a dollar because they could only give a dollar in change at a time for some reason. I like the lanes but they break down too much. Wouldnt recommend on weekends but if your patient then go throughout the week and check it out.