UIC Student Games & Bowling Center

Attended one of our friends childs b’day party and as always the kids had a great time. I hosted my sons party a few years ago and i think its better maintained now in terms of cleanliness. Great bang for the buck in the city.

This is a good place to go to if you want to play bowling, pool, and/​or arcade games.

Came here with friends on an empty Saturday summer night. It’s definitely a no frills bowling alley.
They have a small selection of arcade games, but my favorites were both out of order and probably have been that way for a year.
Good assortment of bowling balls. They don’t sell socks, nor do they care if people wear socks with their shoes (eww). They had bowling shoes in my size, and this was the first time I didn’t have to trade shoes back at least once.
We had to ask the front desk guy for music to be played, so it was pretty awkward.
There are soft drink vending machines that accept credit cards, and then ‘snack’ vending machines that accept cash/​coins. I’m not sure what their policy is on bringing in food or drink, but the people at the desk are students… who don’t probably care about ‘policy’.
One person in our group used a UIC id, and we all got the UIC student price, which was a perk. Two games and shoe rental were $ 7 per person (seven of us) on two lanes, so ~$ 50. While we didn’t rush through the games, I don’t think we were there for more than 2 hours.

Staff is so crabby. If you don’t like your job it’s not the customers fault, yet I had the unfortunate incident of dealing with the girl at the front. She did not even have common courtesy. She was eating chips, chewing with her mouth open as she asked me for payment. Will not be back… smh

For non-​UIC students, it’s $ 2 for shoe rentals and $ 3.50 per game per person. Seriously, that’s it! Do the math… for two people we only paid $ 25 for 3 games!!!
I had heard this place was cheap and I saw the rates online, but I was still somewhat skeptical about the experience I was going to have here. You might feel the same way initially, but don’t get turned off about going to a college campus as a grown person… shoot, if you don’t want to spend Lucky Strike or 10-​pin type prices, but you want a fun, chill night of bowling, COME HERE.
It’s no frills, no nothing, but it gets the job done. HAHAHA. There was a wait to get on a lane, so we grabbed some tokens and played a few video games! There’s nothing like competitive Guitar Hero to get the night started! They also have pool tables for $ 8.50/hour. I actually thought that was on the pricey end all things considered. The only food or drink you will find here is a water fountain and a few out of order vending machines. The good news is that it’s BYOEverything! Just about every group in there had pizza delivered and had their own drinks, cups, etc. The only rule I think this place has is to HAVE FUN!

this is a hidden gem. went with friends tonight and i enjoyed it. staff was pretty nice. the place was nice. and old school video games are there.

Can’t beat the price, but the provided bowling shoes weren’t slick enough to bowl properly. They said they have new ones on order.

It’s not your fancy Lucky Strike or 10-​Pin and there’s no food, alcohol, or cosmic bowling on weekends. But if you want cheap, straight-​forward, convenient bowling, this is the place to go! Only $ 3.50/game for UIC students and slightly more for non-​UIC students and alumni. You really can’t beat that.
This is also a great, cheap place for billiards as well! :)

I was suffering from cabin fever when I decided to seek out a bowling alley. The nearest ones to the West Loop were either in River North (too expensive) or Bucktown (too far). UIC’s Bowling Center is a hidden gem.
Their prices are CHEAP!
Non-​UIC Students/​General Public: $ 3 per game
Shoe Rental: $ 1.75
Essentially, you and a friend can play two games for $ 16.
(Don’t worry about keeping score. Some time ago, they’ve installed computers for such purpose.)
The disadvantages are a lack of a bar and there are 16 lanes, but that’s it. Surely you can bowl without the need for alcohol, unless you’re the Drunken Master of bowling. I don’t know too many of those.
There are paid parking garages across the street from the Student Center, but for those without a car, the Halsted bus drops you off in front of the building too. When you enter the building from the east, the bowling alley will be at your left.
Although I’ve only been to the Bowling Center once, my boyfriend and I had a great time. We heckled and poked fun at our complete lack of bowling skills. I look forward to coming back.

Well phooey, they now have automated scoring, and the rates have gone up – it’s now $ 3 a head for non-​UIC students per game ($ 2 for UIC students, $ 2.50 for alumni) with $ 1.75 for shoes.
I went during the mid-​afternoon on a summer weekend, and it was pleasantly sparse. They also have some fun extras: air hockey, DDR, and some other arcade games.
BUT — since this is in a UIC student center — there is NO BEER! No beer at a bowling alley! Does not compute!

I went here with the boyfriend and a few of our friends back in August. At the time, they pretty much sucked. We bowled and played a few rounds of pool. For the bowling, there wasn’t even scoreboards, you had to do it yourself.
As of October apparently, they renovated. They now have fancy new flatscreen scoreboards, which are pretty nice. It looks like they got some new bowling balls as well as shoes, which is cool. Bowling is cheap-​we played 2 rounds for only $ 24 for 4 people.
Still not the nicest bowling alley ever (I wish they had drinks at least-​but they have vending machines), but it’s pretty good for the price now that they updated equipment. We’ll go back :)

I’m not gonna lie, I love to bowl. Sometimes I think that’s why I was put here on this earth… to be an outstanding bowler.
I attended UIC from ’98 til ’01. During that span of time, I may have used the bowling alley 5 times. Forward to 2008, and I definitely appreciate this bowling alley a lot more. The best time to go is Sundays, when the students are hung over or asleep in their dorm rooms. The lanes are well-​kept and clean. The staff is friendly and attentive, and the price per game is definitely a good deal. They give discounts to UIC alumni as well, very sweeet.
My favorite part about the whole bowling experience at UIC is the over-​weight Asian kid that works for Student Services. He is totally hilarious! I guess when he is on break, he comes in the bowling alley, buys some chips and soda from the vending machine and then sits down and watches TV for awhile. It is so entertaining to watch him because he has a hilarious bowl-​cut hairdo, his shirts’ buttons are about to pop off and he bobs his head back and forth when he is passed out. Im glad we do not have to pay an hourly fee, because watching him would definitely cut into my bowling time.
GOOD STUFF!!!

This is «back in the day» bowling, at its finest. :)
$ 2 per game and $ 1.25 shoe rental?! Holy cheapness… even skeezy (I say that with utter fondness) Diversey and Waveland will cost at least $ 40 for the hour plus shoes… and frankly, I can do without cosmic bowling and loud collections of thugs and teenage angst.
Retro outfit. About 15 lanes, open to the public. No auto scoring, but they give you a sheet and even we figured it out.
Great little gem, I’m a bit hesitant to even write about it… but awww what the hell, I’ll share the Lebowski love with y’all ;)
Parking across the street in a metered lot (or parking garage) is pretty cheap, too.

Super cheap, but you get what you pay for. The lanes have a lot of issues and my ball came back a little scratched. But there’s parking and isn’t crowded. no bar, but a decent place to spend an hour bowling with friends

It’s the cheapest bowling alley in Chicago. Plus there’s a parking lot right across the street. I suggest calling before going though… a lot of groups book parties plus there are bowling leagues that play there.

This place is definitely cheap, considering each game is $ 2. But make sure to dress in layers — because you’ll have to strip down to practically your skivvies. The heat was pumping when I went, so I got a sauna experience as well as bowling. Also, there’s no automated scoring — it’s old school with pencil and paper. Still, for the price it’s a great place to go.

Such a cheap steal for bowling! I’ve noticed that most bowling alleys cost an arm and leg nowadays but this is such a great deal — bowling is bowling no matter how you look at it. It’s only $ 2 and $ 1.50 for your shoes.

This is seriously the cheapest bowling alley in the state! Even if you don’t go to UIC its under $ 5 for hours of entertainment! The alley itself is pretty nice … its no 10pin but its also way cheaper!

I went here with a few of my college friends and we had a blast.
You’ll find that almost everyone there goes to college. You can tell who’s the odd ball. The balls are pretty cool to look at… you’ll have fun here though!

I enjoyed bowling here over the years. I even took a bowling class for PE when I went to school at UIC. I used to have a favorite bowling ball there. It weighed 9 pounds and was a weird colored black ball with blue and red blotches. There are also a few pool tables here.