Main Event Warrenville — Restaurant in Warrenville

We had our 6 year old's birthday party at the Warrenville location nearly a week ago. The event was a disaster. We had 24 kids on our guest list (plus their parents) and the sales associate assured me upfront that the size of our party was no problem.

(1) One of the bowling lanes reserved for our party was completely broken and unusable. It's understandable that those things can be out of anyone's control. But it was 20 minutes before they finally decided to let us use the lane next door (after we requested use of it multiple times). It was very chaotic and embarrassing. During this time, our party associate pulled me aside and offered me an extra $10 per arcade card: I would pay $5/person and Main Event would match me with an additional $5/person. In that moment, I honestly couldn't wrap my mind around her attempt at upselling me after such a bad start to the party. To their credit, they did restart our hour of bowling, but that meant that the food had to be served at the bowling lanes rather than at our reserved tables.

(2) A beverage server was set up on a high table behind our lanes. She did a great job, but there was liquid spilled (like half a pitcher's worth) in the walkway. Multiple guests mentioned to me that they or their child had slipped on the spilled liquid, including a young toddler. I mentioned it to our host multiple times. After 15 minutes, one of the parents cleaned the spill up himself. We also ordered a Shirley Temple (the fancy one with the cotton candy) for our daughter, the birthday kid. Our party host decided it would be a great idea to ask if I'd like to order one for every kid at the party because "they might be jealous". I declined this upsell and was pretty disgusted. I'm sure employees have to try and upsell whenever they see the opportunity, but this was tone deaf and ignorant of the many issues going on at this time.

(3) At the beginning of the party, I was told that our designated party area needed to be cleared by 2:30 so another party could set up. Our guests had hung their coats, purses, etc on the backs of their chairs. I had wrongly assumed that the party associate would tell the group to gather their belongings and move them prior to 2:30. As our party was led to the laser tag arena, which I had been excited to do with my daughter, I realized it was 2:28 pm and the other party had started to arrive with nowhere to set up. I couldn't play laser tag because no one else was clearing the party area. We were told to use a booth located next to the arcade. Two of the parents helped me throw the trash away, hang the coats on a (bent and broken) rolling rack, load the gifts etc onto a cart we found, and move everything over to the booth. The frame of the rolling cart was so bent that it did not roll, and one of the parents just lifted and carried it to the booth. I also realized our extra food was still sitting at the lanes when they said they would box it up.

(4) I was told the kids who were too small for laser tag would receive extra arcade time. I had to request those cards. Two of the three had no credits loaded. By the time I tracked our host down, laser tag had finished. The host then decided to double check the value of all the cards. This took a while so everyone stood around again, confused. From our guests' perspective: they came out of laser tag and our party area was now filled with another party, and their belongings were all moved, AND we only had a booth for 50+ people to gather around.

The pros of having our party at Main Event: the food was fantastic, the facility was very clean, and the kids had fun.

The cons: safety issues, lack of organization and communication, we had to manage almost the whole party/did not get to enjoy the day, and staff attempted to upsell us multiple times despite these issues.

I deeply regret hiring Main Event and wish we had used a competitor. We paid over $1000 for Main Event to host this party. Instead of additional tip (on top of the $100 service fee), we gave gift cards to the guests' parents who helped us clean and...

Hosted an adult birthday party here with a guest count of 25 people. I was thoroughly disappointed with their execution of the party day of. What an unfortunate and awful experience, especially when we paid over $50 per head. My experience working with the sales team was great, they assured every detail would be handled to our liking. They set expectations so high, making us believe they would really make a positive impact. Nothing went the way we planned and so much could have been disclosed to me prior to the event. I was in constant communication with their sales team since April, for a party being held at the end of May. I even did a quick walkthrough of the room we were supposed to have 3 days prior to event date... We were supposed to have a private banquet room, with TV playing sports, and music paying in the room that is being played in the venue space. NOPE. That didn't happen. I arrived there to find us in a different room, with TV off, no music, and NO AC!! It was insanely and inhumanely hot in the room we were moved to. They added a portable AC and two fans... that did nothing at all. No one called me to notify me of this change in plans. According to the manager the AC issue was ongoing for a week but no one told me this?? Banquet attendant was supposed to had out the drink/wristbands/game cards to our guests as they arrived. That didnt happen. I had to keep looking for her because this poor girl was running up and downstairs to help try and take care of our party. None of my guests wanted to stay in the room due to it being a sauna in there. Banquet attendant stated she contacted IT for the TV but they couldnt get it to work? Said the same thing about music. Why was this all promised to be setup a month in advance but day of nothing is done? The front staff also had no clue about this party, so more than half of my guests had to figure out where to go on their own. Half of our guests went to play bowling, after the 11 pm cutoff time and were told no, they could not. A few of our other guests were able to bowl starting at 1130.. make that make sense. Was this racial? Because that first group that asked at 11:10 had a few of our Hispanic and Black friends and they were rudely told no. However 2nd group had no issues and they started even later. The manager on duty offered to comp any additional add-ons that we made that night and gave us a $100 credit to the arcade. What's hilarious is our guest knew the lady at front desk, and she gave him a $300 arcade card for free. How pathetic of staff showing favoritism. Wonder how she could do that when the manger could only give me $100. Thats a bandaid fix, as we spent over $2k on this event for it to be worth $500 at most for how poorly they managed this. Would not recommend this place for a private event EVER. As a walk in, sure. To think I was considering this venue for a company related event with hundreds of employees.. For a company that can't even handle a small guest count of 25, it would be insane to think how bad they would be at a 300+ headcount. Save your time, energy, and especially money. Explore any other place there is because this...

We visited the Main Event last night for a school function for my daughters. I have never been here before and was extremely disappointed and frustrated.

Most of the games in the arcade do not work. 3 out of 4 of the air hockey tables were missing pucks. For the one that did have the puck, there was barely air flow coming from the table to get the puck across to the other side. Staff members did not explain the functions of each event, meaning - you need to sign up for everything individually. So if you and your family wait in a long line to play Laser tag or do the Air Rope Course, they will only tell you when you get up front that you have to sign up (way by the front door) to schedule a time (and get back in line to wait again).

The kitchen/dining area was very unorganized. The staff was rude and seemed to not have a care in the world. We received every single meal ordered about 10-15 minutes apart, with the appetizer being last. The food wasn’t great - but edible. You could tell it sat for a while before arriving at us but we ate a majority of it because we were starving. When the 2nd meal was dropped off, I asked if we could receive the rest of the food at one time so we could eat together (vs watching each other eat). The staff member said, “uhm, I don’t know. It’s just what comes out of the kitchen. It just kind of is what it is.” When the last meal came out, I noticed that the cheese on the burger was burnt with hardened bubbles. I could tell within seconds of looking at this burger that it had been sitting under a heat lamp for a very long time. When the server came back, I asked that it would be removed from our bill and taken back- since we will not be eating it. She seemed unfazed but said, “oh, I can make you a new one”. I told her we did not want a new one or anything else but the bill.

My kids enjoyed seeing their friends, playing laser tag, and the air rope course. However, this was the worst customer experience I had ever experienced in a public place. I understand that Fri-Sun is the busiest time for places like this. However, every time I asked questions or mentioned something wrong to a staff member- I was met with a blank stare and zero solutions. We did experience more issues but I am shortening this review for your time's sake. If you are looking to take your family out somewhere fun, I highly suggest taking them somewhere elsewhere. The money spent is definitely not worth the headache and...