Totem Bowl

Totem Bowl is what it is, a bowling alley in a mid sized town in the middle of Iowa. It’s been around forever but they have made some improvements over the years so it doesn’t feel like a bowling alley stuck in the 1960’s. The place is bright and clean and the price to open bowl is fairly reasonable, especially considering their competition, Chippewa Lanes, closed a few years back and they are the only alley in town. There are some minor beefs though. Sometimes lane maintenance is an issue and certain lanes break down frequently. Also, compared to better updated alleys in nearby locations like Des Moines and Ames, the scoring equipment is outdated. Many bowling alleys these days have updated flat screen displays but Totem Bowl does not. Totem is very popular though and they usually pack the house for Cosmic Bowling. Also most weekday nights the place is full for leagues until around 9:00 pm. The attached bar, Blue Cactus, is nice but isn’t outstanding by any means. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good place, but it’s not going to blow you away either.