Atomic Bowl

Such a unique experience!
Definitely worth a stop if you are in the area. $ 30 per hour and you don’t have to wear bowling shoes!
Check it out, I believe there are only a few DuckPin places in the US as well!

About a week in advance I reserved two, what I consider relatively pricey bowling lanes at 30 $ an hour each for my friends birthday — it was an investment in FUN I had hoped. I was expecting the 4^th floor action bowling alley. At the time of reservation I was not told that only the basement atomic bowling lanes would be open and available to me. Note to birthday celebrators: do not expect to bring candy gift bags or gifts really at all or cake or anything fun :(. These are not allowed. You cannot order a full meal here. Deep fried snacks only. To have dinner head upstairs to another establishment. I’m sad. This was supposed to be a fun night out and the experience was crushed with a significant number of no’s before I could buy a beer and spend my $$$$$‘s.
I recognize that the manager was anxious to make our experience right even though the policies were still being enforced — once we got settled into our lanes it was fun to forget about the initial experience and have fun.
** lane 4 I believe — has a mystery pin that continues to reappear regardless of how many times you knock it down! don’t take your game too seriously if you are playing that lane!

I went with a huge group to the bowling alley today. As an Indiana native, it was surprising it had taken me so long to get there. It looked as though we had magically jumped into a picture from the 1950s as everything is as original as it gets. The bowling was great, the company was great. The customer service, however, was one of the worst I’ve ever experienced. There’s no other way to describe the staff besides. Well… Grumpy. They were short, rude, and made it very clear that we were only welcome for the time in which we reserved and not a minute longer! Not at all what you would expect from a family-​oriented landmark like Duckpin Bowling at Fountain Square. To say the least, we will not be returning and that’s very unfortunate considering how much fun the game is.

A very fun game and place but the owner is probably the rudest person I have ever met. He shut off our lane in the middle of our game. Never smiled. And completely ruined our friend’s birthday party because of it. Will not be back because of him.

Had a great time at atomic bowl. Loved the throwback décor. The snack bar is a bit pricey. $ 5 for 2 sodas. They also only had 1 person working and the reset buttons didn’t work. I felt sorry for the only employee.

After dinner at Pure we walked to duckpin bowling in the Fountain Square building. We had a reservation so we got right in!
I will say it did take a full hour for four of us to bowl one game so if you do make a reservation keep the time crunch in mind.
They offer a full bar and food but since we had just eaten we only got the drinks and they were pretty reasonable.
We had a blast and I highly recommend an evening of duckpin bowling!

Listen, you NEED to swing by Atomic Bowl and toss some small balls at the duck pins next time YOU are in Fountain Square. This was just plain fun. The Square hosts two duck pin bowling options, and having never heard of said sport variation, and having been there to visit the adjacent brewery and meadery, we knew it was only appropriate to indulge in all that Atomic offered.
So Atomic is made up to reflect a 1950’s theme. Colors are vibrant and the decorations aide in transporting you to the 50s. We had no idea how popular this place is, and at the recommendation of a restaurant server, we decided to try to bowl. The bowling, you see, is smaller and shorter than traditional bowling. The wooden ball was like a large softball. The pins are shorter too. Same goes for the well-​worn and well-​warped lanes.
We quickly learned that reservations are a must, but decided to look around nonetheless. A few moments later, the proprietor motioned us back to the counter and said that someone had just called to cancel. We jumped at the opportunity and spent nearly an hour playing a few games. It was tricky and a blast. Everyone there seemed to enjoy their time on the lanes.
They have a greasy spoon type kitchen option from what we could tell, though it wasn’t serving at our late hour of bowling. This place looks great for birthday parties for any age, and was wrapping one up for a group of kids when we arrived.
Atomic is a great hour or two of fun for kids of all ages, especially we older kids. Don’t forget reservations, and don’t expect many/​any texts as cell service was abysmal downstairs, kind of like the 50s. Hey!

If standard bowling is Jerry Lewis, duck pin bowling is Don Rickles. In other words, ancient, still funny, less mainstream, and there may be more curse words.
This is a beautiful, if a bit worn-​down alley. $ 30/​hr is a bit steep, but you can squeeze in a lot more duck pin frames than standard ones in an hour. A very big plus: no computerized scoring. Good olé pencil and paper. I think it’s been 25 years since I’ve seen that. Worth the price of admission alone.

After our dinner with out of town guests we had made reservations for duck pin bowling at Atomic Bowl. It was like stepping back in time with all the incredibly cool décor from back in the day. Small ball bowling is like skeeball on steroids — plus you get to try and knock down pins instead of getting the balls in the hoops. You can reserve lanes by the hour, and one game with four people takes about that long to play out. If you make reservations and decide to change the amount of time you play, make sure you make the changes before you start playing. If you reserve two hours but decide to only play one, you will have to pay for the extra hour of reservation whether you play or not. It’s only fair to the business to handle reservations this way, but it’s important to know this beforehand. We had such a great time and can’t wait to return!

Yeah, I’m giving this a 5. I liked it that much.
The fellow working behind the counter was a wealth of information about the history of duckpin bowling in the United States, and spend a fair amount of time with us and our out of town guests. Since they were visiting Indy, I’m pretty certain his interaction with them left them with a very positive image of our city.
The bowling itself is a LOT of fun, but it’s also very challenging. You’ve got to re-​think how you bowl to do this… but, let me tell you it’s fun, fun, fun.
They have limited bar service with some local beers, and, honest to goodness real flavored cokes.
For a family or group outing, it can’t be beat.

Small ball bowling is not easy! It can be a little discouraging because it takes a while to master, but it is definitely fun. The décor and atmosphere is very fun and makes for a good night out.
We took my parents when they visited from out of town and they had a blast. There is another duck pin/​small ball bowling upstairs, but it was full until after 11 pm (it was 3 when we went) on a Saturday. I’d recommend making a reservation before making the trip there!

An very fun night out! A little pricey for us, but I do like paying by the hour instead of by the game. (I think it’s about $ 30 per hour) It’s nice to be able to mess around and practice a little after your game is over. The atmosphere is great. Can’t wait to check out the one upstairs.

Just like when I was a kid, great time!