So on a Friday night we were looking for something to do so we bought a groupon voucher and headed over. As soon as we got there we presented the voucher and the woman behind counter made a face when we said we had a Groupon Voucher. The place is definitely a little run down but still ok. After the woman's rude reaction the manager was called over and he was a young tall guy who was super nice and told us there'd be a wait so we can head over to the dinning area and get our pizza first. We did. Marisol, our server was awesome. She was totally positive and patient with us. After food and drinks we went to bowl... and it went down hill. One of our lanes kept having issues and we kept having to get help for it. On one of those instances the woman who initially "greeted" us at the door came over to "help". All she did was push a few buttons then shrugged her shoulders and walked away mumbling something. We thought she left to get help so we waited almost ten minutes... no one came. We spotted the manager and he was quick to help and solved the problem. He and Marisol were great... everything else not so much. We still had fun though... but we would never pay full price for this place after all the mishaps and rude employee "greeting".
Review Source:We came here on a groupn and was super happy with our experience. Â Like others, I was worried because of the reviews on Yelp, but was pleasantly surprised. Â It is older establishment, and like others have said, it could use a bit of sprucing, but I have no complaints. Â Now I didn't see what some of the others saw as far as the bowling was concerned. Â The lanes were well oiled, and I didn't have a issue with the balls. Â One pair of the shoes were bad, but it's not like it was a problem for them to change them out. Â This wasn't state of the art place, but the kids could bowl with bumpers and my husband and I had our own lane, and, again, it was a decent place. Â
The staff was very attentive and the food was decent, as well as the bowling. The restrooms were nice and clean, and the staff was great! Â I'd would definitely go again. Â We all enjoyed ourselves.
After reading the other reviews, now I almost feel guilty that I'm leaving a negative review also, since there are already so many. We went to lunch today at Fatman Bowl, based on a coworker saying how awesome the food was the first two times he went. It was good. I had a chicken finger salad, and really enjoyed it. I'm writing the review because I'm still in shock by our waitress. They didn't seem extremely busy, so I'm not sure why she had a chip on her shoulder the entire time she waited on us. When we were first seated, I asked before we ordered our drinks if we could get seperate checks, since I know they can be a pain to do after the fact from years in the industry. There were only 6 people in our group. Her attitude made me feel like I asked her to do cartwheels across the restaurant. The same attitude continued. After she brought the food a few of us asked for refills because all of our drinks were almost empty. She didn't offer any on her own, or come back to see how everything was until the end. When my coworkers mentioned at the end that their sandwiches didn't come with the bacon on them that they were supposed to, she said she'd take care of us next time. Ok?? I will try Fatman's again since I did enjoy my salad, but will ask for a different server if I have the same waitress.
Review Source:We were really hesitant going after having read all the reviews here on Yelp.
However, the place is right next to our school so our children have begged to go.
First time we went we had lunch first and were not terrible impressed with neither the food nor the ambience. Seemed very worn out.
Out of convenience we have been back a few times since then. We found that if one sticks with the game type food then the food is pretty decent.
Also kitchen is very on top of food allergies etc. KUDOS.
Our children prefer this over Brunswick Zone because they say the food at Brunswick is gross and at least Fatman Bowl offers alternatives to the junk. Had bday party and they are very accommodating food wise.
However, the party organization was miserable. Got several conflicting messages, came in as told and was told to just wait till day of party. The girl in charge of the party kept disappearing. She was friendly enough but we had to run for her several times to get basics. She brought the food too early so by the time we were finished with bowling and needed to eat it was cold and nachos soft. She also miscounted the food so some children only received their food when the others had finished. Her oversight was not acceptable and we didn't even have such a big party.
Also, had to discuss with her to get the laser bowl which we ordered when we booked. At that time there were no other reservations and we were told we of course could get it. Then at the time of the party they suddenly say they can't as other guests may not like it. Shouldn't they just have told these guests that they had a party booked and this would happen? When these people came or booked they already knew we had booked it so I don't know why they had to create so many problems.
Holy Crap, this place is a dump.
Time has stood still in this middle of nowhere location for what looks like ~30years. Â One would think they could pull in some high end clientele from East Libertyville and Lake Bluff and afford a remodel. Â For us: after our first visit, there will not be a second.
The floors are filthy, every single ball is chipped or cracked and the bowling lanes are CRACKED! Â Â It's almost comical that some balls have initials, probably discarded by previous owners decades ago. Â Most balls are not properly marked, so my kids walked around trying to figure out if 6-8 lb balls are available.
The booths in the bowling area are filthy and there are rips and tears in every one. Â Some are patched, some are just left as is.
The electronic displays are antique and are falling apart, with the back panels falling off and hanging behind the unit.
I am at a complete loss of how this place has not shut down.
I was here for a friends birthday last night and not sure what to expect prior to arriving after all of the negative reviews! I was pleasantly surprised. Drinks were reasonable, pizza was good and an overall good atmosphere. It was nice that the bowling and bar were separate. You honestly wouldn't even know you were at a bowling area when in the bar. We spent most of the night in the bar and an hour bowling. They turned on the cosmic bowling for our group and we had a great time. I have pretty high standards and I really didn't have any complaints about this place. Everyone in our group had a great time! I'd come back!
Review Source:I'm surprised by the one star reviews of Fatman Bowl. Â I've been here three times, once for cosmic bowling, once for a private party downstairs and once to watch football on a Sunday afternoon in the bar area.
Each experience was good. Â I do agree with the other reviewers that this place could use a little sprucing up, but I didn't think it was gross by any means and the service was good and the food okay.
I did notice on each occasion, that it was on the quiet side - not many other customers so maybe it's not popular with the locals. Â If I lived in the area it would not be my go to spot but I consider it A-ok.
I've heard so many people talk about Fatman Bowl it almost sounds like an institution. And to be honest, that would be the only reason to go. We went there for a kids' party, and I'm more than pleased that we didn't actually spend our own money here.
The place was unbelievably run down and dirty. I felt gross just sitting in the chairs around the alley. The screens, which were on the console, were from what I remember from the 70s (did I just age myself). The lanes were the old kind from the 70s (maybe 60s?). For the bumpers for the kids, they raised up from the sides and kept sticking. Try explaining to a hyper excited kid why the lanes aren't working and that they'll have to wait again for the management to come fix the lanes. And it took WAY to long to even get help.
The shoes the kids were wearing were so dirty I actually thought for a moment -- "Do we have foot anti fungal cream at home?" Yes, that thought actually passed through my mind. I also noticed that they charge by the hour, not by the game. So if you're not done, the lane goes black and that's it.
The party room was adequate but they had way too many people stuffed into the back. They should have been allowed to hold it in the general common room. Instead, we were stuffed like sardines. I kept bumping in to people just trying to make it across the room it was so tight. Isn't that a fire hazard?
The one good thing that the kids got a complete kick out of was the day-glo lighting. And when they turned on, you couldn't see the worn out shoes but rather the neon bright oranges, greens and yellows on the shoes.
I'm not an avid bowler (and that is putting it mildly) but my kids are getting old enough that a bowling outing is not out of the question. Trust me, we won't be going here.
This is a great spot for bowling, especially for families with little kids. We had lunch in the bar side before hitting the lanes for 2 games. The staff was very accommodating to our rambunctious bunch and helped us on a number of occasions in figuring out how to program the bumpers. We will definitely be going back now that we have found it!
Review Source:This is one of those times (and there are few) where I wish there was a negative star rating. Just thinking about this place makes my skin crawl and gets me upset, it's that awful. Truly, a terrible place. It's a bowling alley/bar/restaurant halfway between Libertyville and Lake Bluff (basically Rondout). It attracts the worst of the worst individuals on Earth. The type of people who bust down the glass doors at the front entrance. Yeah, totally happened.
The food is unforgettable and I can get a beer next door at Rita's for the same price, but in far superior surroundings. I don't know how this place stays in business with the management they currently have.
I would advise anyone to avoid this tawdry place at all costs, unless you enjoy having beer bottles thrown at your face.
So I was sitting at home one day thinking "know what I want to do? I want to go some place that smells bad, is expensive, has terrible service, with sticky floors, torn and unsafe booths and chairs, dirty glasses and plates, and is staffed by people who hate me, their job, their bosses, and every moment they're at work. I know, I'm going to Fatman's Bowl!"
This is the worst bowling alley in the world. Not just Lake County, literally, the entire world. The decor would have been tacky in the 1970s, which is when it looks like this place was last remodeled. The bowling balls have chips, divots, or gouges in them. The pins are mis-matched and unbalanced. The computers -- that's a gracious term for them -- are older than the water sitting under my fridge.
And did I mention that they're really expensive?
Yes, they're really expensive. You'd think that, with the cost to rent shoes, rent a lane, buy a beer, and so forth, that the owners might have the free cash to do something like, I dunno, hire a janitor. Fatman's Bowl is the place you end up when your night has gone horribly, horribly wrong.
This is the kind of place that you end up going to because your friend who has never been thinks it sounds like a fun place on paper, but you don't talk them out of it because you hope this time will be better than last time you went and besides, they are sooo excited to try some place new, but in the end they get pissed at you for not setting them straight because everybody just wasted a whole night waiting in line at the bar for drinks and didn't get to bowl anyway and almost got in a fight in the parking lot with a bunch of coked up underage boys with spiky hair and leather coats.
Why It sucks:
The drinks are expensive. The food is not terrible, but only acceptable at best. The service can be hit or miss (unless it is packed, which is inexplicably common). The bowling/video games/amusements are a total cluster: organizing who gets to bowl is always poorly managed, and there is not enough room to do any of it. Worst of all is the crowd: extreme DB's and the obnoxious skanks that go for their sort. Compounding this problem is the fact that they are apparently unwilling to cut people off and people get absolutely hammered at this bar. I can only imagine the # of DUIs this joint is responsible for.
Why (on paper) it does not sound bad:
Location: it has a central Lake County location, and is close to 94 and 41 and is on 176. It has lots of stuff to do. It has food as well as booze and it has (not quite ample) parking. The food prices are not outrageous, and the menu items sound good, until you eat them.
The bathrooms are pretty good, but they cant justify adding a star to this this regrettable crap trap.
Definitely a difficult place to review. Â The wait staff was as attentive as can be. Â The bartender was knowledgeable and our waiter was nice, but a bit overwhelmed. Â We rented a room out for NYE and he was our only server for 20 people. Â I had to go into the bar to get a drink. Â The $15 we paid for Beer and Bowling was a great deal. Â
Now comes the bad part. Â The management staff was inattentive and indifferent. Â When our lanes got stuck it seemed as if we were bothering them to come fix it. Â We also were cut off from bowling after a predetermined amount of time. Â With four lanes (two of which did finish), only have of our group finished up. Â It was a trek from Glenview to get up to Fatman. Â I would return for a special occasion, but I would definitely not go out of my way for the Fatman.
RUDE, RUDE, RUDE! Â A fellow co-worker and I went in there to work a promotion for a certain hard liquor company. We attempted the find the manager, and after four different employees claiming they were the manager (just blatantly trying to f*ck with us) we finally found the "real" manager, who, upon our introducing ourselves, greeted us by saying "GIMME FREE SHIT!" and walking away, completely ignoring our introductions. We were convinced that there was no way he could have been the manager, so we attempted to find the "real" manager. Apparently this man WAS the manager. We found another manager as well, attempted to introduce ourselves (as per protocol for our position) and he ignored us. We waited at the bar for 15 minutes for our trays to be filled (even though there were only 11 people in the bar) whereupon the first manager came up and yelled at us for "not working" and said that his friends were pissed off that they hadn't gotten free liquor yet. WTF?! Â We explained to him that the bartender seemed to be ignoring us, and he just snorted and walked away. Mind you, bartenders usually BANK when we do promotions with them. In this instance, Mr. Douchebag Bartender got a $40 tip off of filling our tray a whopping 3 times (our bill was $110... you do the math... he received abt 40 percent from us)
As we were leaving, another patron was outside smoking, and was overheard our conversation about how offended and upset we were at our treatment, and she agreed that she'd never been to a place where she'd been treated so poorly.
AVOID THIS PLACE LIKE THE PLAGUE!
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