Dr Martin Luther King Jr Park & Family Entertainment Center

So I took some clients to skate. So after waiting 30 Minutes to enter because they had one personnel to ring you up they denied a groupon I purchased. I called earlier that week to establish if I could use it. The place was dirty, staff were ghetto sad :-(I will not return.

This is one of my favorite spots in the city! They play great music (mostly hip hop) and there’s always a few birthday parties going on. Skating is cheap (3 dollar rentals and admission is never more than 6 dollars – though it’s often only 1), and its great watching all of the talented skaters move in sync, as well as all the kids just learning for the first time.

All the times I was in this rink I had attended parties that the company I used to work for had sponsored. I’m a veteran of a lot of Chicago area rinks (The Loop, The Rink, East Side Wheels, Hot Wheels, Orbit, Rainbo, Route 66). Unfortunately, the MLK Jr. rink just does not compare.
The skate guards are some of the rudest I’ve ever come across. A little girl was out on the floor when it was ‘men only’. Apparently, she didn’t know rink manners, and she was just learning how to skate. A skate guard was yelling at her, so I rushed out to escort her safely from the floor. When I did, the skate guard yelled at me. I snapped back to let them know they were talking to an adult not a kid, but the skate guard kept running their mouth.
Food at any roller rink is not gourmet fare. But people would do better to eat before they get to this rink or after they leave. There’s not much variety in what’s offered, either.
The locker are WAY too small. People have to dole out change for two or three lockers just to put their stuff away. This is a big problem during the winter when people are wearing bulky coats and layers of clothing.

I love that this place is so inexpensive. Always love the cheap adventures. Skating is a great workout for me even though I’m not the best at it.
This place is fun to go to when the teenagers aren’t there, typically as it’s less crowded and you can really get crazy on the skating floor. That’s just my feeling on it. It’s got roller skating, video games for those who are challenged or scared by the idea of being on four wheels, bowling and also has food to keep your belly happy. It stays open late for the people who are above 18 too. I am a fan of going when all the things are open, as my luck would have it, that’s only been a few times. However, while it’s not as chic as a 10pin, it’s just as fun and not as far with no issues in terms of parking.

What a fun place for kids and adults alike!
Brought my ten-​year old little sister here for some skate fun (along with Colleen C. and her ten-​year old little sister). With free entry passes, our open skate (12 to 3 p.m.) was free. Skate rental? $ 3 apiece. Niiiice! I adore cheap things. And yes, those brown skates remind me of zealously selling candy bars at Ralston Elementary School so that I could get a free pass to skate night…(mmm, World’s Finest…).
In any event, turns out that I am STILL able to skate (even though another youngster skated around me and mocked, «First timer?»). My little sister loved it too. By the end of open skate, both of us were not grasping onto the wall.
It’s really fun to be in a place where everyone is having a good time. All sorts of bday parties were going on, kids of all ages were whizzing around on their skates, and everyone was in great spirits.
Concessions leave a little to be desired. Sloooooow. 20 minutes in line to get a pop is too long. But let’s face it, we came to skate, not drink pop.
Not too far by car from my neck of the woods (aka northside), and there is a parking lot (hooray!)
I think we might venture back to try the bowling alley.
(And perhaps Colleen and I can pretend to be derby girls again!)

oooooo, this takes me back to my Skate World days!
Thank you to Tina B for tipping me off to this place. I had run across it a few times when I searched «roller rink,» or «rollerskating,» but wasn’t sure if driving ALL THE WAY TO THE SOUTHSIDE was worth it. (I kid, I kid… it’s really not that far… took 20 minutes).
It’s worth it. For sure.
Huge rollerskating rink (check the website for free admission tickets, our entire party of four ended up with gratis rollerskatin’ for one session, a savings of about $ 25!), bowling alley ($ 2/​game, unheard of!), concessions, video games, birthday parties, pizza, and those AWESOME tan rollerskates from back in the day with the orange wheels and brown laces. My little déjà vu meter went into overdrive. I just LOVE those skates, and here they were…
The staff was SUPER friendly. The girl that checked us in was all smiles, and the two «littles» we were with were overjoyed with the experience. Sensory OVERLOAD! Fun times, unlimited! Some of those kids are SO Good at skating, too. Like, awesome.
$ 3 for skate rental. Pretty reasonable. One quarter for a locker rental. Total for the day: $ 6.25 (me/​little) plus gas.
The only not-​so-​awesome part: concessions. I waited in line for at least 20 minutes for a pop, and the offerings are pretty slim. They’d do really well with an updated menu and a few more staffers… that thing is a goldmine.
A gem. I love rollerskating, this place has it down to a science. Next time, bowling!
Oh, and I totally pretended to be a roller girl a few times around the rink, but I did not knock any children over. I’m convinced I could be good at it… still.

Does your city park district facility have:
Roller skating, a slamming DJ and a built in fog machine?
Or pepperoni pizzas and ESPN Zone-​ish motorcycle riding, basketball shooting video games?
What about a full-​on, auto-​score-​keeping bowling alley with $ 5 bottomless pitcher specials (umm…that’s pitchers of soda pop…)?
Well okay, but your park does at least stay open til 3 am for the 18+ crowd, right?
No? Wow… Ooooh…then you might need to upgrade to a new park — this park. It is the awesomest!
The prices are low — usually $ 5 to skate or bowl and $ 3 shoe rentals. The staffers, from security to skate refs to cashiers, were especially warm, helpful and friendly — which really surprised me, because usually where there are young people trying to have fun, there are also often jerks (often employed at said place…) trying to hoo ride on people and put the kibosh on all fun-​having. The vibe here is all happy and lovely and chill. And props to Unilocal’s own DJ Scrabblor for putting it down (and jeers to him for ensuring that Beyonce song will never, ever, never leave my brain).
And it is conveniently located in Chicago near the world (maybe country) renown St. Sabina’s Catholic Church, Perfect Peace Café and Soul Vegetarian restaurant! And it’s right, right next door to a BJ’s — and if you don’t know what a BJ’s is, get the hell off of Unilocal for a second and see the damn city, for the love of god — live already… And the PERFECT bar is next door for all of you Unilocalalcoholics who need it — Tina’s Cocktail Lounge. No, seriously, it’s called that —
— see.
Of course, you could also spend all day inside, avoiding the cold (or the heat as the season may be) and instead eating nachos, bowling and listening to music — which is always sweet. Aaahhh… winter at «the park» in Chicago has never sounded better.