Tried planning an event with Bayside Bowl. It was pretty clear they had no plan for dealing with event requests that led to a lot of wasted time and culminated in a rude one sided confrontation with condescending staff members.
They made some assumptions about the event that I found pretty astounding. My favorite part was the unsolicited lecture about over drinking.
I actually miss the over priced bowling, and the good food, and the majority of friendly servers and hardworking staff, but I will most likely never set foot in Bayside Bowl again.
Convenient location for bowling right in Portland. This place also has incredible food, for a bowling alley and great beers/drinks.
I would probably give them 4 stars if not for some of the most obnoxious, pretentious and rude staff crammed into one facility in Portland. Specifically those who work the front desk side of things. Waitstaff and bartenders are good, just to clarify.
I recently came in with a group and after being told earlier in the day that I would not need a reservation for lane(s), I was told at the counter this was false informatino for a group this large. Additionally, the wait time was 3 hours. There seems to be some miscommuncation among information delivered. I have also had some questions that upon asknig, I was cutt off and given a hostile response. I was playing there skee-ball game and the game stopped taking my quarters. I got a staff to fix it and after he took the stuck money out, looked up and says, "Whats the problem, its working fine for me" and walked away. The staff need some etiquette training.
To add another annoyance of this bowling alley, they will only take reservations if its 1week in advance and you must pay a deposit. They also refused to give me even as much as a ballpark wait time for a lane stating "You need to come in for me to give you that info".
Being a fan of both the old-school family-friendly bowling alleys I grew up with in suburbia and the above-average food and drink you can get at swankier bowling lounges in NYC, Bayside Bowl is the best of both worlds.
My boyfriend and I came during Viva Lebowski, so we got lucky and didn't have to pay for a lane or shoe rental (it came with the small amount we paid for admission). We split the lane with this super cool couple (one member was decked out in full Dude attire) and played/gossiped for two hours over Maine brews and gnarly cocktails. Aside from that fantastic White Russian I had to have (it'd be wrong if I didn't drink at least one on Lebowski night), I stuck with my Brooklyn Brewery lager. Since it was was their Beer of the Day, my pints only ended up being only $3 each! You definitely can't find that price in the BK.
After we finished our games, the couple told us that we HAD to get the mac & cheese with pineapple and bacon. They vouched that it might be the best of the best on the East Coast. BF and I decided to split a bowl, which was the right choice because it was HUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE. With the addition of crumbled Ritz crackers on top and a bath of hot sauce mixed in, I can definitely say that it was, indeed, the best mac and cheese I've had in a long ass time.
Bayside Bowl is the best place in Portland for the complete bowling experience. The staff is friendly, they have great music and an energetic environment. I usually go with a decent sized group and getting multiple lanes can be challenging on certain nights so if you are planning a group or company event you will want to plan ahead.
Review Source:I'm a fan. Been involved in bowling leagues here for the past 2 years. Always a good time. Have come on other nights besides league nights and it can get packed. I've also seen wait times well over an hour. Good thing they have a bar and some pretty damn good food. I've only eaten here twice but both times I remember the food being good. I think I had the pulled pork sandwich the last time I ate there with the sweet potato fries. Pitchers of Moosehead for only $10. Yes indeed.
Since I'm a leaguer here we usually have the same 1 or 2 waitresses who serve us. They are awesome! Always friendly, prompt and cute. I've never had any trouble with the staff and everyone has always treated me well. Keep up the good work.
My only gripe is in the bathroom. They are almost always out of paper towels. I like the shared sink concept but who the hell ordered the air blowers in there? They are GARBAGE. Useless! They need to either remove them or replace them with the really high powered ones that every other place has.
They recently added an outdoor seating area with 2 full sized bocce courts and cornhole. They show movies out there as well on Wednesday nights in the summer but have never been myself. Bocce and cornhole are free to play as long as you leave your drivers licence with them. I didn't think this place could get any better and then it did. Props to you Bayside. I should have bought in when you were still looking for investors.
Hey - not bad! We ventured down to Bayside Bowl on a Monday night during vacation. I haven't bowled in YEARS and I don't think hubs has either. We got in and were greeted by a slightly apathetic hostess... We asked if we could bowl she said "it'll be about an hour and a half". Welp, okay, looks like we're eating at the bar then.
I had the chili and hubs had a veggie burger. Yummy fries and my chili bowl was E-NORMOUS. I've had better corn bread in my time. It was pretty loud so expect to speak up whilst ordering.
We got a lane and got two games in with my hubs and my father in law. All in all, we had fun and the food was a-okay. $25 for a lane, $33 total with three pairs of shoes.
You probably won't bowl. Bad Service.
I specifically created a yelp account to log in and leave this bad comment for this place. I posted on their Facebook wall to see if they would do the right thing but they just deleted my check in and comment about how "it would have been nice if we could have at least finished our 1 game of bowling" before they kicked us out for a larger reservation. By the way- they told us when we called we couldn't make a reservation. Go figure. Party of 15 or so - we won't be back.
The bowling here is too expensive. Also its by the hour which is stupid. The pizza is pretty damn good. Its like, all grilled up and stuff. The nachos suck. Toppinged chip to toppingless chip ratio is like 1:1. Guess thats what happens when you make nachos in a bowl. The live music can be good. I have seen some really good bands for cheap. More reasonable pricing would be better for the bowling.
Review Source:Piss poor customer service. Â Walked in during the afternoon to inquire about coming in that evening with a large group. Â They were not willing to set up a reservation, which is understandable, however they were also unable to speak in complete sentences. Â When asked what time it starts getting busy, the man stuttered and said "I won't be here then". Â OK... not what we asked.... so we said we would call about an hour prior to our anticipated arrival time and he said that was a good idea. Â
Unfortunately, they don't like to answer the phone.
After calling 10 times w/in a 1/2 hour, someone finally picked up. Â "How long is your wait time?" i ask. Â "I don't know, i can't tell you unless you come in. Â it changes all the time." says the clerk. Â "If i were to walk into your facility right now, what would my wait time be?" I don't know guy, you just have to come in" Â Â
I finally got him to tell me 1.5hrs after a 8 minute argument. Â
We'll see if anything gets any better if we decide to go spend our money here.
I really like this place. It's fun for everyone! Kid-friendly, adult-friendly, wallet-friendly, just maybe not car-friendly (parking is a nightmare, especially in the winter when the City of Portland seems to stop plowing around this tucked away gem).
Two things that really have stood out for me about this place:
1) Clean, clean, CLEAN! Bowling alleys can sometimes smell and feel skanky, but this place is continually spotless. Bravo.
2) Their VEGAN FOOD! Bayside Bowl is home to the best hot vegan sandwich I have ever had. Just mind-blowing. Try it even if you love meat.
A non-scuzzy bowling alley with a great bar and food. No joke. It's for real! When I think of bowling alley cuisine, images of slippery pizza, pig lips and arse hotdogs, "nachos", and greasy burgers and fries that slime up the bowling balls come to mind. Not at Bayside Bowl! This place has a great pub with delicious food. I get the Rachael, which is a vegan tempeh reuben. Love it! I've eaten here several times, but have never bowled. One of these days... for now, I'll just continue to enjoy the food and admire the modern, clean bowling alley.
Review Source:All bowling alleys should aspire to this level of awesomeness. It's more a cool and casual bar with a bowling alley attached to it, rather than a bowling alley that also serves beer. Purists might not like it for that reason, and I can sympathize. But for a good time out with friends that might not have their own custom bowling balls this place is more than appropriate and fitting. Let "The Big Lebowski" quotes flow like White Russians! There's nothing foul about this place.
Review Source:Going to Bayside Bowl was the highlight of my weekend in Portland. Cheap beer and bowling. It's the most up-to-date and fun bowling alley I've ever been to. All the machines and lanes worked and they played good music.
Boston has a bunch of nice bowling alleys, but they're all really expensive, so this was nice. An hour rental with shoes was about $25. I would definitely go back. It would be fun for a date or just to hang out with friends.
Love it! Â
Loud for my kids, $2 beer, and yummy food!
I had to get the bbq pulled pork sandwich. Â It is the best bbq pulled pork I've had in a long time! Â YUM! Â The fries were great too. Â They are fresh shoe string type fries. Â My kids LOVED LOVED them.
My hubby got the double cheeseburger... he heard they were good and he wasn't disappointed. Â My kiddos shared a kids' menu cheese pizza. Â It was more than enough for my three little ones. Â I don't think I would of been able to finish it! Â It was great pizza too. Â My oldest son ate three slices (which he normally doesn't do).
We also got some chips and salsa to start off with and I was impressed. Â Hot chips and good chunky spicy salsa.
We will definitely go back again, and hopefully go bowling too! Â Bowling alley side was packed. Â You can also order food while your bowling. Â There was only two servers for the whole place (even serving the bowlers) and our server was attentive and nice. Â Impressed!
Rock. Â I liked this place a lot! Â I thought it was gonna be like a gross dowdy old normal bowling alley, but it was a cool hip sexy bar-bowling-alley instead. Â We had a lot of fun, the drinks were strong and well priced, the bar area/dance floor was pretty cool, and although I didn't eat anything here their menu actually looked pretty awesome and cheap! Â I definitely plan on coming back.
Review Source:Did I come on an off night? Â Sure, there was a wait for the lanes (and we never did end up getting to bowl), but the bar area was dead, save for our small gathering and one dude typing away on his laptop at the bar.
They tell me this is a rather happenin' place for "hipsters" and the like, with a live band on the corner stage and the vast bar area packed to the gills. Â I, however, witnessed none of this on the Thursday evening I visited. Â Instead, I only saw a large, cold, empty bar area and lonely, unoccupied stage.
No matter, I saddled up to the bar for some food and a beer. The beer selection is generic, and the food is standard pub fare. Â I went with a steak wrap with caramelized onions, which came with a side of fries. Â Both the sandwich and the fries were greasy and limp, though the dish did come out in mere minutes - bonus points for promptness.
The bartender was *incredibly* friendly without being intrusive...wish I could remember her name but she was a sweet blonde lady. Â I may just return for the sole fact that she's a nice lady. Â
I'm crossing my fingers that it was just a dead-night, and I'll certainly give it another shot the next time I'm in Maine.
Downtown Portland has a swank new place to check out! Yeah, it's a bowling alley, but it ain't your dad's bowling alley (unless your pops is a svelt hipster who rolls 10-pin in the Portland area).
The place has twelve lanes to bowl on, 14 beers on tap, and nice, big bar for when you are done throwing rocks. They often have live music playing, including a live karaoke band on Wednesdays. The food is pretty dang good here, too! Eat while you bowl or eat before/after, either way works at Bayside. Hell, you could even come in and bowl/eat on your lunch-break from work!
Mondays are the day to hit up Bayside for bowling deals (before 6pm).
  League bowl begins at that time.
Wednesdays is live karaoke.
Weekend evenings are pretty busy so far.
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