I've been looking for a pool hall in this area for a while. I was really excited to try it out today. As we walked in, we were greeted by a friendly gentleman who explained how things work there. He told us upfront what to expect from our burgers. He recommended their cheeseburgers but all of us went with a chicken burger. For a microwaved burger (as promised) the sandwiches were not bad!!! The Table we played (lucky # 13) was good. A little worn on the surface so control was a little difficult. But cushions were mostly good. If they can put in a cook and a kitchen, I'd be there all the time.
The charge for the food and the tables is reasonable.
AND THEY HAVE A REAL SNOOKER table ....
I'll be back!
I've heard a lot about this place over and over for the past year or so but never actually checked it out up until a couple months ago. To everyone who says this place is ghetto, or sketchy, I don't know what the hell you're talking about. I mean sure, it's not the fanciest place in the world, but what do you expect? It's pool hall! This place has over 20 pool tables, which rate at about $12 an hour, and if billiards isn't your thing, there's also a small area with a couple arcade games, pinball machines, a ping pong table, and a foosball table. The indoor music is operated by a jukebox, so anyone with a dollar can play a song or two. The parking lot isn't made to accommodate more than a dozen cars or so, but there's more than enough street parking especially on a weeknight. Granted, it may most likely be close to empty more than 80% of the time they're open, but I've been here enough times to tell you that this place has its nights. I can't think of any other places I would take a couple of my bros with me, with some females to joke around and play pool, and have a couple beers, and a good laugh at the same time. If you're tired of going to the bar, or the club, or eating out, and aren't looking to spend a lot of money to have fun, this place is one chill spot. As long as you're with the right people, and love to relax and play pool, and maybe have a few beers, then you will definitely have fun here. I love this place. Best pool hall in the area.
Review Source:I've been here a few times with the boys to play some pool. It's a cool place. It always seems like it's packed here but we always get a table without waiting too long so that's good. The rates are pretty standard when it comes to billards. The parking lot is small so most likely you'll have to find street parking somewhere. I always come at night. They also have snooker which is cool, never played that before but I'm not good at all. They also have scoreboards and numbers on the table so you can keep track of scores while playing other games. There are a bunch of Mexicans and Asians so it's a little diverse population. Never had any issues here so it's a good place to come play pool and leave.
Review Source:Dive city, I'm sure the people are nice there but they don't really look it. Â Beer only and the bottles were fairly skunky. Â The best part was the legit foosball tables, but both were clogged with ping pong balls requiring the assistance of the barkeep/manager. Â Also no quarters in the till, that is a policy that should be revisited.
Review Source:I love this place and its staff.
A while ago I had a GNO (girls night out) party here. Â Reserved my tables a week a head of time, they had them ready for me, prices were reasonable and staff was friendly, so when it came time to having a birthday party for my husband I thought of this place.
WOW, the staff was so extremely helpful, the helped me carry in my items, helped me set up, and had my pool tables ready for us. Â The staff came by regularly to see if we needed anything, they were just so great! Â 40 of our closest friends couldn't stop talking about how great this place was, and how great of an idea it was to have a party here and how it was soooo much fun.
Prices are extremely reasonable, the only thing that is tough is parking, but we could all use a little bit of exercise, right ;)
Seriously, I highly recommend this place for FUN!!!!
Great old fashioned pool hall. You guys need to lighten up. There are very few of these left in the world. We should all feel lucky that this grand tradition still exists. This is not your modern trendy place for a hot date with a martini bar. This is old school pool. If you want to play then go. If you want to impress a date, head to the city and a wine bar and dance club.
Review Source:This is pretty great place to kick back a few beers & hang out with the gang on a bored night. They can get pretty crowded late night on the weekends but the atmosphere is fun and you can spend hours and hours here without realizing it. They also have a air hockey table and ping-pong table once you get tired of playing pool.
The only cons would be the parking. The lot is pretty shady and there's not enough of it. Parking on El Camino will get your ride scratched and dinged, so I recommend finding a smaller street in the back. Also, it smells funky (maybe smoke) sometimes.
I was really hesitant to go in for awhile, but I finally decided to go in one day and this place is great. The staff are very friendly, and tables are well maintained. The happy hour special, $1.50 for a beer, you cant really beat that. They also have the Tues&Wed special where you can play all day for $7.50 given that you dont leave.
You really have to sit in the hall for awhile and get to know some of the regular, looks can be deceiving, a lot of them are pretty nice guys.
This place is pretty empty during the day (go figure) and during weeknights as well, but it does get pretty close to full during weekend nights. Â There're a LOT of pool tables here by the way, so even during busy hours I've never had a problem getting a table. Â Also, if pool doesn't quite suit your fancy, there's a small arcade, foosball, air hockey, and ping pong in the back as well. Â And hey, you can always just grab drinks at the bar. Â
The crowd here can be a bit shady... or at least look the part, but I've never had any problems with any of them, so I wouldn't worry about that. Â The music is from a juke box, so I guess it basically differs based on who wants to pay for some songs.
A great place to relax with a friend or two (or even a whole group) and play some games while you drink (even if it looks a little sketchy).
Came here and was pretty empty. Only came here because my friends and I were depressed that the air hockey tables at bel mateo bowl was broken. Played for half and hour (minimum) until we saw the air hockey tables on the side. Two that were not broken!! 75 cents a game was a steal and we played until our arms hurt. Saved the night!
Review Source:After an epic trip to even get to this place I was expecting a modern amazing pool hall. Not to come off as if I was expecting much, but this is a typical pool hall. But not sketchy, I felt safe to be there. You have to walk pass the bar to get to the pool tables, but you actually purchase your games at the bar. Great strategy, if you ask me. Kind of tempts you to buy a couple of drinks before getting your games started!
Drinks are cheap, but to use your debit card, your purchases must be a $10 minimum.
Overall, the tables are clean and lots of chalk it provided. Other games are available too- air hockey and foosball.
Everyone who comes to this place seems to like it. Â As for me, its not really my thing... BUT that being said.. there is alot to do here. Â There are ping pong tables, air hockey, foosball, pool, video games, and many many pool tables. Â
They serve junk food and some beer as well as sodas. Â
If you're looking for games... they are definitely here.
Used to come here a lot during the summer, usually to play Billiards. I'm not sure what it's like during the day since I usually come here late nights after dinner. It's cheaper definitely than bowling and I usually fork over $5 for 1-2 hours of play depending on how many people are with me.
It's not too crowded and even if there are a fairly good amount of people, the noise isn't unbearable. Never any noise complaints while I was there. There are lots of tables so no need to wait! I like the tables in the middle because they are smoother than the ones on the sides or the back. Probably because when the fill up tables, they start from the back and sides?
I love that they have a Juke Box and some groups of people would jokingly play songs like "Barbie Girl" to tease their friends with. That totally brought back childhood memories!
If you're not into billiards, there's also a ping pong table, a foosball table, and even a mini arcade
Completely affordable and a great place to just chill with friends!
If there's Flynn's for video games, there's Great Entertainer for billiards.
This is what I call a pool hall! Â What you see is what you get; pool tables, pool tables, pool tables. Â Pool tables covering the entire floor. Â (Literally from corners to corners) Â There's a small arcade and their ping pong table is kind of hidden next to it. Â
The place is kind of dark, but each tables are lit with its individual spot lights.
Drinks on tables that are accompanied near pool tables, and music's in the air. Â
Cigarettes, take it outside.
Tuesdays are ladies nights, Wednesday are special set price for the entire day.
It looks grimy but it's actually a really cool place to be at. I recently became interested in billiards and have been coming back at least once a week on the weekends. It's relatively cheap and the people behind the counter are usually pretty nice. They might seem a bit unfriendly the first few times but once they begin recognizing you, they'll warm up.
I'd recommend using the pool tables near the middle more rather than in the back because those are ridiculously smooth, so your balls roll all over the place and makes it really hard to play a decent game. Around the tables are numerous small tables with chairs for you to put down your stuff, and they're close enough for you to keep an eye on your possessions yet far enough for you to play comfortably. Admittedly, the pool tables themselves are a little too close together so you might have a clash with another group of people playing at the table adjacent to yours, but it's usually not too much of a problem.
The bathrooms are also really nice, by the way. Kind of unexpected because the place does look janky but the bathrooms are clean and bright. There's a convenient parking lot next to it that's usually able to accommodate for the typical Saturday night crowd as well. I like this place, definitely a go-to for when boredom strikes.
ok people, get over it. you're going to play pool, not see a fashion show.
the ge is great, especially if you wanna play snooker at one of the only tables in the bay area. if you want fancy schmancy (and highly expensive) pool, go to california billiards -- full bar, food, etc.
but if you want a real billiard hall experience, check this place out. it's fun and inexpensive. paul, paul and frank are really great guys too.
and it's safe. i've been there at 1 am and didn't fear for my safety at all...
get over it, people!
Yeah, The Great Entertainer. . .
My daughter has taken an interest in pool recently, so I've been taking her here so we can shoot a bit. Â The spot's got a lot of tables and the customer service is friendly. Â The bathroom is sketchy, and the parking lot is always plastered with cigarette butts, but overall, this place serves pretty well as a pool hall that isn't a bar and doesn't seem trashy. Â I wish it were a little closer to home, but I can't have everything. Â Just give me my Diet Coke and the tray of balls, and I'm ready to scratch on the break as usual. . .
My friend and I went to this billiards after work one day. It was 10 PM when we got there. Â Finding parking wasn't that bad, and we enter the place. This billiards is very popular with high schoolers and college students as they mostly made up the crowd. We did have to give our ID's to get the balls.
The tables were a little bit packed in, and not well clean and drinks were kinda expense.
If you're a night owl (like me) and you happen to live in the Peninsula, then you're DOOMED! --thats what I felt until I discovered Heidi's Pies and The Great Entertainer. Really -- there are not many late night options living here!
Anyway for being in the quiet city like SM, I'm very grateful to have the Great Entertainer. I was bored out of my brains one night and decided to head over to the pool haul for a game with my bf. Boy, did I feel old -- right across from us were some high school kids who were sort of being obnoxious, but oh well, I minded my own game.
Its a good sized pool haul. Not overly crowded, and you don't get the dangerous bunch so thats great. Pool is just one of those sports where you can play and comtemplate life simultaneously. Its a great thinking sport.
I was also impressed that they had ping pong tables in the back. Monthly membership fees for pool are offered at the front desk. Totally cool place to unwind or burn the midnight oil!
Well, it's a pool hall. It tends to be crowded with a lot of high school aged kids, and the tables are not well maintained. They also have problems with people occasionally getting mugged in the parking lot b/c it's next to a crack shack motel. Not a place I intend to spend a lot of time at.
Review Source:I went here last Friday despite the so-so reviews on here.
This place has a ton of tables, decent selection of beers (Widmer & Sierra Nevada to name a few), great tuneage blastin (everything from old Pac to STP to Jay Z to Hendrix), and something I can personally appreciate - an arcade!! As some people have mentioned, PINBALL rocks!!
We were hungry and kind of upset that they didn't offer any real food. All they had for hot food was microwaveable crap. We made do with chips and beer, and just ate afterwards (In N Out).
Now are there characters in this place that you shouldn't stare at for longer than 2 seconds? Sure. It's a pool hall. Besides you shouldn't be staring anyway. I get this feeling that some of the reviews are coming sheltered snobs that have a different idea of what a pool hall should be about.
What  do you want? Cheese and wine flowin with the soothing sounds of Colbie Caillat and Jason Mraz blastin in the backgroud ?? If that's what you want, you might want to take a trip out to Walnut Creek.
The one thing that was lacking -but wasn't a real bother cuz I'm married and really wanted to play pool- was there was no eye candy in the joint : (
If all you want to do is play pool and have a great time, and don't want to drop serious coin, this is your place. Forgot to mention, they also have ping pong tables, air hockey and foosball!!
My friends and I came here for a Christmas Celebration the day after Christmas (: There was about 16-17 of us & we played for about two hours . It came out to be around $7-$8 each person ( pretty reasonable ). But this place doesn't just offer pool, they have a ping pong table, and an arcade . I haven't checked out the arcade yet but there were many games that I wanted to play for sure . Also, there's a air hockey table ! I would most definitely come back if I'm in the San Mateo area .
Review Source:Been playing here for 17 years. Â Lost alot of luster after losing some real cook employees over time, but still has one or two that have been there forever and are great guys.
Tables are above average, and spaced out enough where you arent getting in everyones way when you take a shot. Â Tournements are fun, but they dont have weekly leagues anymorw which was dissapointing.
Overall a great place to play pool.
This place is g-h-e-t-t-o-o-o haha no lie when we first pulled up I didn't believe this was a pool hall. Looks can be deceiving though (though really not that much lol)
There were a bunch of tables laid out in a warehouse type of room. The tables had clearly seen better days but I didn't see any with holes or deep scratches. They had more arcade games than other pool/bowling halls (Tokyo Drift, another driving game, Time Crisis, Pacman, etc, etc, etc) and they even had a little ping pong table in the corner.
Apparently they had food. And lots and lots of beer on tap.
Basic and inexpensive. It was something like $8.75 for 1 table (2 people) for about an hour, so hey it was dirty cheap too. Your paying for use of the tables and that's about it- no fancy shmancy extras or ambiance stuff.
PINBALL ALERT (7/16/2008!!!)
Yeah...It's been a while since I've been on the hunt for pinball machines. Â I was compelled to stop in here today after a haircut.
The Great Entertainer has 4 (new) different pins ! ! ! Â (+3 STARS)
1) Starship Troopers (see: <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ipdb.org%2Fmachine.cgi%3Fid%3D4341&s=9b29cee12be5cf8763258dee24c8b171054b0118c2b367268584a51686a212a5" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.ipdb.org/mach…</a>)
2) Scared Stiff
3) Terminator 3 (T3 see: <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ipdb.org%2Fmachine.cgi%3Fid%3D4787&s=ffc62914303b449ea8d052537c3c1c6dc75d9ceb2dbe63a01d74d39762754c6d" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.ipdb.org/mach…</a> )
4) Ripley's Believe It Or Not (RBION see: <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ipdb.org%2Fmachine.cgi%3Fid%3D4917&s=ac37ec1720e2fa7a76e5edff729262712fb0be2516764604190f8d839e79b43c" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.ipdb.org/mach…</a> )
All of these are in considerably better shape than their predecessors (see my older review).
My fave is:
 Scared Stiff (see: <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ipdb.org%2Fmachine.cgi%3Fid%3D3915&s=906be149ed35eabb59cf21b3ca817e9c8fcc2c72e253a722f205037c5bc78576" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.ipdb.org/mach…</a> ) Â
I love this particular theme that is based on the Elvira (see: <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.elvira.com%2F&s=8c54b23b9ee5721279ec2d28c65a3c60b9caa9e44b5e365bcef51c75ae60b80c" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.elvira.com/</a> ) character. Â It's a fun game and easy to understand. Â The shots are challenging enough and the rules aren't so complicated. Â
This is probably the one machine I'd have to have in my collection. Â Maybe not this one specifically but to play locally it's in good to fair shape for now. Â (+1 STAR)
 One game:  $.50
 Five Games: $2.00
Pros: Â The center spider spinner is working. Yay!
Cons: Offset left flipper.
Didn't play the other machines. Â
As a side note, there is no Initial D v.3 machine here any longer....
One day I'll come back to play pool, too.
I am a fairly serious pool player. Having just moved to this area I wanted to check out the local pool halls.
The pool hall is a mix of 8 and 9 foot tables. The cloth is fairly worn on the 9 foot tables resulting in tough speed, follow, and draw shots. They tend to be unpredictable though the cushions seem to respond fairly well (not too many dead rails).
Wednesday night 9-ball tournaments. BCS rules, race to 3 on the winner side, race to 2 on the loser side. No handicaps. $10 buy in...the night I shot there were about 16 players...all fairly good (could run 5-6 balls and get out in general). Thursday nights are 8-ball though I have not shot yet.
Overall just a place I would go to practice shooting for cheap. Nothing in particular stood out.
I go back to my original theory....If I was 19 and looking for some place where I could play off the "im sucha cutey pie" gig and steal french fries off my way too hot boyfriends plate then this place would ROCK!!
For an adult with a bunch of redneck friends looking to play an hoenst game of pool....EHHHH nuttin special....a couple of the tables were off and the felt was well.....green and thats the best I can muster...However the plus side to this was.....Pool is so much more fun when you're drunk and pokin fun at everyone
Pool and 8 Kamakaze shots=fun. Â
Pool and no alcohol=no fun. Â
Pool, no alcohol and no hot chick pool sharks=even less fun.
I miss the other downtown location which had all of the above. Â
This location has old tables, worse house cues, and worst of all no shots. Â They only have beer. Â Boo.
Wow... this place was bad.
Tables were tough to find a good one, lighting was dim and seedy, didn't have a very good feel to it at all.. and it wasn't cheap either. Â Parking is pretty poor. Â
Even with a E-book coupon, I wasn't sure that I got my money's worth and basically wanted to get out of there pretty quick. Â Not necessarily in the best part of San Mateo either.
This isn't as bad as some reviews make it out to be. Sure the cloth on most of the tables need to be replace but it was playable for me. I was on table 15 and shot mostly 9-ball. There were some arcade games and an ice hockey table but I don't care for those since my main goal is to shoot some pool. They also had one snooker table in the back if you're into that. It wasn't crowded but it was a mixed crowd (white, latino, asian). $6/hr for one person isn't a bad rate at all. Sure... the tables are in need of repair and there's no air-con but I've played at a more worst hall than this. They have a parking lot so you don't have to worry about street parking. I wouldn't mind coming back to shoot pool here again.
Review Source:
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