The Ballroom Bowl - John St — Restaurant in Toronto

Wanted to get a hot drink at their bar while waiting for a lane and they said they don’t serve any. Went down the street and back in less than 5 minutes to get a hot chocolate and when we came back our lane was available. At the counter when getting our shoes, the lady told me I couldn’t have outside drinks by the lane. I said no problem, I’d finish it right there by the counter then go to the bowling lane. I asked if it was okay for me to sit there and finish my drink. She told me “yeah yeah, that’s totally fine.”

So I sat by the counter finishing my hot chocolate. Within the next 2 minutes, while still sitting by the counter while my friends were getting their shoes, 5 different staff people kept coming up telling me no outside drinks as I kept saying yep I’d been told and was finishing it. I told them I would’ve bought the drink there with the rest of the food we bought there, but they don’t have hot drinks. So then I went and stood right by the entrance to finish my drink to avoid everyone coming up to me. While I was standing there, the lady by the entrance checking people in rudely called out to me saying “if you’re going to consume outside drinks, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” So I stepped outside to finish the last bit of my drink. If we hadn’t already paid and weren’t a big group, I would have just left.

Mind you we had already bought a lane for a whole hour and had also bought a bunch of food from them. All we got from outside was hot chocolate—which wasn’t on their menu. All of this literally happened in the span of less than 3 minutes. Never seen such a rude and stingy establishment. Will never come here again or recommend to anyone If you don’t want people getting hot drinks from other places when it’s freezing outside then...

An incredibly beautiful place with a warm atmosphere, modern interior and delicious food!!! We had a great time, which was due to both the warm attitude of the staff and the expanded possibilities of the game. We arrived early, so the children decided to try the desserts offered on the menu. To be honest, I did not expect such wonderful dishes as vanilla ice cream with delicate mousse cream on top, Nutella and nuts - for only 5 dollars!! Even the dessert that seemed not very promising by the name "Oreo with milk" - turned out to be huge cookies prepared by the restaurant with magical chocolate cream with milk cream sauce, in which these cookies could be dipped ... Special respect to the staff and waiters for their tactful and reverent attitude to visitors, even such noisy ones as us)). Please note that when you enter names before starting the game, you can set various functions: in our case, the choice of bumpers was very useful, since there were small children in the team. The choice of balls is also quite comfortable - we managed to find light green balls that fit small palms and were relatively light. The restaurant is located right next to the lanes, and there are comfortable leather sofas and tables near the lanes. From start to finish, the reception staff came and asked if everything was okay, and if we had any questions, they were immediately resolved.

I recommend this bright experience to everyone, allowing you to escape from the daily routine without leaving...

As Disappointing as the Ending to the Leafs Season

We needed a spot to watch Game 7 and made a reservation for four online at The Ballroom. Unfortunately, the experience didn’t live up to expectations.

We arrived early and went to check in. A man who seemed to be the manager asked what we were there for. When my sister mentioned the reservation, he looked visibly annoyed and simply told us to “go upstairs.” Once upstairs, we were sent right back down—clearly, no one knew what was going on.

While waiting, we overheard staff admitting they had given away our reserved table for four. Instead, they led us to a cramped table for two. When I pointed out the obvious problem, they said they’d “try to find another.” To her credit, one staff member did return shortly after and was genuinely apologetic.

We stayed, ordered food, and watched the game. The food was decent enough—standard pub fare like wings, calamari, pizza, and Korean cauliflower nachos.

But for a venue that markets itself as a sports bar, the viewing setup was frustrating. Smaller TVs were blocked by people’s heads, and the larger screens were delayed by about 8 seconds, which made watching a live game feel disjointed and awkward.

All in all, not worth reserving ahead. Between the reservation mix-up, the poor seating, and the subpar screen setup, the night ended up being about as disappointing as the leafs...