Badger Bowl

Do not go if you have kids. They hate kids!
We have been playing volleyball there for 7 years and never had any issues with underage people watching our games. Now in 2016 we have an 8 month old and lots of family and friends that like to spend time with us and we were told not to bring our son to our vball games. Its fine for them to charge $ 375 for league they want us to spend hard earned $$ on food or beer but don’t bring any underage family or friends to watch volleyball. Very family unfriendly. Never again go to coliseum instead.
Call Badger bowl and ask them why do they hate kids.

This is a nice place to check out when they’ve got live music in the bar area. The sound system is good, the bar staff are very friendly, and there’s plenty of space for the extrovert or stubborn wallflower. Lots of tables skirt the room, combined with a small/​med-​sized dance floor, allowing for chilling out or gettin’ down.
Pool tables and darts are also there for when you’re feeling competitive.
The crowd is always varied, which I really like. People of all ages enjoying the music. Lots of people dancing, so it’s never awkward.
One thing? And I can’t stress this enough: do NOT – I repeat, do NOT – get the pizza. We ordered a pepperoni and it was very possibly the WORST pizza I have ever had. The cheese was mozzarella, but it tasted like it was scattered over a layer of cream cheese (YUCK). It was slimy and soggy, and the face of the pizza was burned on one side and totally undercooked on the other. Also? I don’t think they know what spices are. Because there certainly weren’t any on the bread covered in crappy cheese with a little sauce that came to our table. lol. I couldn’t finish my piece. If you know me, that should tell you something… because I eat just about everything, and I HATE wasting food.
Next time, I MAY try the specialty pizza. But for $ 19, that specialty pizza better rock my effing world. Because you’ve got a lot to make up for – you hear me Badger Bowl? lol
And my last little beef – the bathrooms, although clean enough, are not impressive. They don’t smell good. And though I’d like to think I just walked in after a rather unhealthy person took liberties in the stall next to me, I think it’s more of a ventilation/​lack of air freshener issue. They could work on that and I wouldn’t mind.
There’s ample parking, and it’s a nice location cuz it’s right off the Beltline – easy for people from all over to meet up at. I’ll definitely be back. But I’m never ordering that pizza again.

Not bad not good.
Tacos special were small and bland. They charge extra for salsa. Taco Bell has more flavor.

I can’t give it five stars because the service was friendly but SLOW. Even standing at the bar to get drinks, I waited 5 minutes.
Food (3 burgers) took 30 minutes. (Slow!) to their credit, when everything came out, it tasted great.

So friends and I wanted to try something different other than going out for drinks and bar hopping on a Saturday night, so I suggested bowling. This place was the closest bowling ally we could find, so we figured why not try it out.
I shouldn’t have expected so much for an older bowling ally, but it was a bit out of my comfort zone here. It was a bit dirty to me. But the place was pretty huge for a bowling ally. We got there and were going to go in to the bar area where they had a band playing to grab a quick drink before bowling… but the cover was $ 6…which to me was ridiculous for a bowling ally bar and a mediocre band that you can hear perfectly fine while bowling.
A couple pros… the lanes seemed pretty good, they had some excellent bar food, some good deals on pitchers of beer, and when you check in here you get a free game of bowing for 5 people minimum.
Next time I’ll probably travel to a better bowling ally though.

Been going to their Friday night fish fry for about 2 years and unfortunately they just keep getting worse. Their service is my biggest complaint, and tonight for the fish fry I had to order our beer at bar and pay for it, then take a menu back to my table for my wife to look over, then go back to bar to order and then pay. I go out to relax and get served. The staff seemed like they didn’t want to be there and the fish and fries were warm, not hot, so I can say this is our last time there. I live withing walking distance and really would like to say I enjoy the place, but that isn’t possible.

Some friends & I were in town from NYC for a race this past weekend. Coming from huge metropolis with endless possibilities to a small Mid-​West «town» left us wondering what in the world to do with our rainy Friday in Madison. We were underprepared for the unseasonably cool weather, so indoors was the place to be. Fortunately, over breakfast some Canadian friends who were also in town for this race suggested pitchers of beer & competitive bowling: States vs. Canada. I know you’re wondering how it ended so I’ll admit defeat: the states lost the wager & had to sing a *terrible (awesome)* rendition of Oh Canada!
John & the staff at Badger were wonderfully accommodating & we had blast! If only Badger had a NYC franchise — but alas, I guess we’ll have to visit Madison again soon!

I came here to hear a coworkers band one Friday night, I came with a few other coworkers and we didn’t arrive till around 9, but there was plenty of parking in the lot.
The beers were about average price as I had a spotted cow and a neat pour of bourbon. We were only six of about twelve people listening to the band so we received prompt attentive service from the employees.
It was really loud though, and I didn’t see any sound barriers to help, just a suggestion.
Next time I will come to bowl.

I travel to Madison frequently for work, and since the Badger Bowl is quite near my client’s office, we go there for lunch at least once every visit. I’m sad to see the so-​so reviews for the food, because I’ve always enjoyed eating there. True, it’s bowling alley/​pub food, but it’s not bad for that type of food. I quite like the chili, and I am very fond of the burgers. I recently had a grilled chicken sandwich with mushroom sauce and melted Swiss that I found quite tasty. Seeing the signs about happy hour specials makes me think I should look there for after-​work entertainment as well!

Be warned, this is a review of their banquet room not for bowling.
Badger Bowl gave a warm welcome to our group of over 100 people on an early morning. The updated conference/​banquet room was clean and ready to go for our meeting. Staff was courteous and polite. Room had «rustic» wood paneling if an «up north» or «shabby chic» look is what you like. Either way it has more charm than peeling wallpaper, and sterile gray walls. Next time there’s a meeting the only thing else missing was an opportunity to bowl. I am a terrible bowler but it would have been fun to make the office crowd tie on some shoes and throw a couple.

We walked in on a Saturday night, and the place was nearly empty. The bowling was cheap and the drinks were reasonable. But, there was a DJ and a band that night, at the same time, so it was kind of an assault on the ears. Good, but not great.

I went here Saturday around 8pm and it wasn’t busy so that was really nice, i also got a pizza and a big basket of fries for a decent price… the only thing i didn’t like was the fact that in the game room the air hockey is timed and i didn’t know that till the machine shut off half way through my game, plus the games are $ 1 each so it’s a bit of a rip off, but other than that my night at Badger Bowl went really well!

Go here for Bowling. Maybe for bands. Consider the food as an option if you are already there for Bowling or bands.
Went here for lunch today. Sat at the bar next to other people eating lunch. Proceeded to sit and wait and wait and wait and wait — when no one came to even ask if we wanted drinks yet along lunch. .. we left. No service at all. Food in the past wasn’t all that good to begin with. Sadly disappointed on how bad this place has become over the past few years.

30 lanes. If you want to open bowl, you’re usually good except for league times between 6−9pm.
Standard bar food. Taps are domestic with a couple locals — sometimes a more «exotic» guest beer is on tap. Full bar.
Bumper bowl is available for the kids.
Package deals available if you want to bowl for 2 hours.
They also frequently have live music, which seems to consist of a lot of cover bands.

The $ 5 lunch special is a burger and fries. Not the best burger I’ve ever had, but the fries were very good and for that price they are cheaper than McDonald’s.

Went to Badger Bowl this past Sunday with a friend, his girlfriend, her son, and my wife. As many times in the past, I love Badger Bowl. It is your good ol bowling venue that is modern but still has that old bowling alley feel unlike the newer places in Madison. That and it is relatively close to my home (a couple miles).
Our group of 4 plus a child paid $ 25 for two hours of bowling and, as it has each time we have been there, a good time by all. The bottled beer was a great price, and the few bar appetizers we had were good (although the Cheese Curds were the heavily breaded type and we prefer the slightly breaded. Who cares, they are cheese curds LOL).
The service at Badger Bowl was great as always and the day of a little bowling is prompting us to frequent more often.