Fireside Bowl — Local services in West Chicago Township

I've leagued bowled here for over ten years. I’m torn because my team literally quit mid-season because the lanes are never mechanically working. We were even in first place. Our first week here this season, we were stuck there all night on lanes 15/16 waiting for balls to return being stuck at the end of the lane. After calling for help ten times, they just made someone sit back there to push them back. This week we show up, and lane seven is down for the night. We got no warning until our first team member showed up for the night. At that point, the rest of the team was well on their way to the alley. How are you going to have sixteen league teams to bowl with no back up lanes??? All I hear is “Jim” is never here and doesn’t do anything. The alley is just taking our money weekly and making us deal with it. I got a new bowler for my team last season and the lanes destroyed his ball and he wouldn't return for another season. I know firesides has its charms, I’ve made a lot of friends, and memories here bowling...but I can't in good faith to keep returning here handing over money when this establishment can hardly keep this place running as a “bowling” alley. I'm deeply disappointed as this wasn't an outcome I've...

I've never bowled here in my life but from ages16-22 if you were wondering where I was, I was probably at the Fireside Bowl. It is a Mecca for Punk Rock and some of the biggest bands of the 90s and 2000s had played the Fireside Bowl. Not just crusty Punk Rock bands that had crude and ironic names but bands like At the Drive In, Jimmy Eat World, Hatebreed, American Football, Plain White Tees, Rise Against and a band that we hated but was about as big as you could get with Millennials and Gen Z; Fall Out Boy. This place is Chicagos CBGB, when I used to go here the entire bowling section was blocked off by orange plastic netting youd see road workers use to block off sections. The Stage was only a couple feet off the ground and Matt Skiba from Alkaline Trio (and now Blink 182) was almost always at the bar drinking there and if a band sounded good he would come out and watch the show. Matt was always a friendly guy who was happy to talk to fans and it was easy to see how much he was just one of us, someone who loved this crazy music more than anything else. If you love Punk, Ska, Indie, Emo, Hardcore or anything with Core attached to it, make a Pilgrimage to the Fireside Bowl. The place is as sacred and try to...

I was very excited upon entering. It’s a lovely vintage bowling alley. It doesn’t have the TVs with the silly graphics when you get a Split, Strike, or Spare. The bar is also great, amazing soundproofing, you do not hear the bowling taking place on the other side of the wall.

The bowling experience itself was sadly disappointing. I did not mind having to wait 30 mins for an open lane, that’s understandable for a Saturday Night. But we had technical issues nearly every frame. A pin was almost constantly already knocked over. The computer would also frequently skip a players 2nd ball, and move on to the next player without giving them a chance to finish the frame. And finally, our computer shut off on the 10th frame. We found out this was because our time was up. So we didn’t even get to finish a full game of bowling. Incredibly asinine design to not even let you close out your game. Left incredibly disappointed, and unfortunately cannot recommend this place...