Atomic Bowl Duckpin — Attraction in Indianapolis

First, to be clear, there are two duckpin venues in this building. Atomic Bowl Duckpin is in the basement, Action Duckpin Bowl is on the fourth floor. A lot of the pics on Yelp and other sites gets these confused and crossed. If you see pics with windowns and pool tables, that is Action Duckpin Bowl. If you see lots of teal green, 1950's vibes, it's Atomic Bowl Duckpin. That's where we visited (Action Bowl was closed).

Now then, the atmosphere here is second to none. From the moment you walk down the staircase and enter the basement you are transformed into another era a la Back To The Future. This place is a freakin gem that everyone should visit, even if you give two flips about bowling. Come here, grab a vanilla Coke and take some seriously Instagrammable pictures if that's you. If you want to duckpin bowl you can do so in your sandles, boots, slippers, whatever. It's a legit 1950's era contraption you will bowl, and I don't think its ever been refurbished. You take score manually- instructions are provided. A lane cost us $40/hour.

We didn't eat anything here, we were unaware they served food so we had brunch before arriving. But the menu looked enticing for sure. Maybe next time.

The young lady working that afternoon was friendly enough. She explained the history of the building (it's over 100 years old), it's previous uses (speakeasy, warehouse) and when the current business was estalished (1990's). Yearning for more I loked online for the buildings history but couldn't find much. Oh well.

Look, if you are visiting Indy and want something unique to do, this has got to make your top 5. Doesn't matter if you're a family, a hipster, grandparents entertaining grandkids, this place will make everyone happy. And afterwards you can visit the many cool shops around the Fountain District, buy a record, get some coffee, maybe even some ink...

Great atmosphere, the music was appropriately old school...but I feel there's still room to get a better bang for ya buck.

I liked having shoes included with the price, BUT most ppl are used to more traditional bowling; with that in mind, 20$@30 min is hardly enough time for some to get a feel for the game. You're more concerned with time than having a good experience. (And I'd say the same for an hour...I feel there's simply too much time spent keeping score, or trying to see which pins you actually hit...I imagine with more people, the better choice would be NOT to keep score)

So, yeah, 9 for atmosphere ( although asterisk goes over that, because one couldn't help but also be led to the reminder that a place as cool as that, was not open to certain groups of people when originally operating.) I think there's still room to offer some popcorn or soda with the price as u bowl. Somethin' besides the ambiance to make the value of the experience match the price.

I appreciated the friendliness of the staff, but raised an eyebrow at their 'casual professionalism': if a person purchases 30 min; and you're told the exact time your 30 min are up; and, we all carry our devices with us to know the time; how does it look, if that same attendant, approaches you on the 8th frame and tells you, you have five minutes left? And didn't offer the same reminder to the large group 3 lanes away, and closer to their desk? Hmmm...😑 I plan on trying the 4th floor...

We did a family outing. We were offered an early playtime since a party was running behind. We paid $40 to play an hour. Let me tell you how we only played 5 minutes because they gave us the dysfunctional non working lane. The lights did not work when you bowled. Also, the balls never returned after you bowled. You have four people sharing one, possibly two, balls. We played right at 5 minutes, we went tell the representative that we decided not to continue to play, We asked for a refund. She called a manager, and that person told her to tell us that we should have canceled 6 hrs in advance. Since they were booked up, they can only give us half our money back. To bowl it cost $40 per hr they gave us $20 back. This place has horrible customer service. I enjoy duck pun bowling at the garage located off mass Ave in Indianapolis. I will never visit duckpin bowling in Fountain Square location again. Also, the funny part is that when I told the employee that I was going to give them a bad review, her response was so. I truly do not recommend and will never return. I can spend my $40 at a place that values and appreciates...