All Star Lanes

I always enjoy All Stars. what’s not to love? A lovely Americano experience. We came for a work do and had a lot of fun bowling and enjoying beers and cocktails. Then we ate and it was a similar experience but I’m not impressed with the service at all. It wasn’t rammed and our waiter routinely disappeared. Lots of waving and hey mate! action ensued but, well as usual I ended up going to find them. My colleagues didn’t want to fight over the service charge but it was pretty frustrating given the excellent service I’ve had before. The food was great as ever and the atmosphere convivial but. Meh. I’d expect better from such an established chain.

Great bowling alley — decent lanes and good selection of bowling balls to choose from… which had been cleaned!
Restaurant and bar are very dark and have low ceilings. Would be great in the evening, not somewhere for lunch.
Very good drinks menu.

Nice ambiance and cocktails. The decoration is really design and retro. Haven’t tried the food (seems a bit overpriced to me for what they offer). The bowling alleys are a bit small but the ambiance makes it ok. The booth on the bar sides are really comfy and a DJ plays some electro-​minimal songs (doesn’t really go well with the décor but still nice).

Super cool atmosphere & menu. The mac & cheese is flippin’ delicious. Very good onion rings and fries. My boyfriend had the Philly cheesesteak sandwich and liked that.
Deducting a star for being overpriced, and for inattentive waitresses.
We didn’t go bowling but to be honest it was fun for the ambiance.

This review is not for the bowling. This review is not for the diner, which was uninspiring and a bit overpriced. This review is for the bar, and in particular one of the bartenders, Hedi.
Some context here: it was a friend’s birthday party. Bowling happened, then we went to the bar while waiting for a free table for dinner. I went to the bar and started flipping through the cocktail list. And then the bartender interrupted me, and asked what sort of drinks I like. We had a conversation about alcohol, and then a drink appeared in front of me. It was delicious.
My girlfriend did the same, and a drink appeared in front of her. It was delicious. We asked the bartender what his name is. It was Hedi.
We returned to the group, and a friend asked what we’d got.
Me: «No idea.»
Friend: «What?»
Me: «Look, just go to the bar — see that guy? That’s Hedi. Talk to him about alcohol for a bit.»
Friend looks puzzled, but duly does so. He returns with a drink and a big smile.
Word spreads through the group. Soon, everyone is getting personalised cocktails.
We go for dinner; during the meal, one of the staff asks our friend if he’d like a drink.
Friend: «Yes — I’d like another one of these, please.»
Staff: «What is it?»
Friend: «I’ve no idea. It’s a cocktail. It’s MY cocktail. I just went to the bar, and had a conversation, and I got this, and now I’d like another one.»
Go for the bowling, if you must. But stay for delicious, custom-​made cocktails. Who tends the bartenders? Hedi, apparently.

I completely adore the red leather seated bar area with it’s little tables with inbuilt lamps. and with the checkered floor in the restaurant area, you can’t help but feel this place is a little bit David Lynchian The venue itself is laid out well, with bowling, a restaurant where they serve amazing American themed food, and a fantastic bar that serves a range of amazing cocktails and includes a tiki, Trader Vic themed section a personal favourite of mine. They have everything you need for a great night out, and indeed, I had a fantastic night here with friends. My one recommendation as a lover of spicy things and of cocktails, is to try the voodoo it’s fantastic, if an acquired taste. Not bad value for money (although it’s more on the expensive side), but with well maintained lanes, quality food and drinks, it’s well worth a visit.

1. I love bowling
2. I love diners
3. I love *doing* something while having a drink on a Saturday night.
All Star Lanes ticks all boxes. Perfect for a date, I went and had two games with drinks — then dinner.
The food was really good — American fast food style — which is exactly what you want when you go there. The burger was tasty, with real meat and a fresh bun. Great chips too (an odd thing to note, sure, but so easy to get wrong).
I also had a rocky road sundae, because I’m a huge ice cream fan. It turned out being one of the best I’ve ever had. Sugar high? Uh huh, but oh so worth it.
I adore the retro styling, which is so consistent throughout it’s just a joy. Plus, the discounts you get as a card holder (free and given to you to first time you go) are ridiculous! For example, you get 50% off food midweek.
I’m actually considering having my birthday here…

So… I feel I ought to start with a mini disclaimer. I was part of the Qype crew that went to All Star Lanes and consequently we were probably treated to an above average experience. I’ve given a 4* rating, which is definitely deserved if non-​Qypers get the same attention to detail and smiling faces. Only a future surprise visit will tell the truth…
Onto the food! To be honest, I never had great expectations for the food. After all, you go to a bowling alley to bowl, not to eat. But they are obviously making an effort on the food front, and the menu had some pretty inventive dishes for a bowling alley. I started with tuna and red cabbage. The tuna was bland and a bit dull in colour. All in all, an average dish. For my main, I had the pork butt with beans. Again, the food was perfectly edible but nothing to write home about. To sum up, the food met my expectations — American diner style food, lots of potential to taste great but slightly disappointing in execution. As far as I could gather (our menu had no prices) the main dishes were under £10, so at that price you can’t really complain.
And now moving on to the good stuff! The bowling, karaōke and the cocktails! The private room at the All Star Lanes is superb! I would definitely look to hire it out in future. We had a blast, bowling and singing for a good few hours. The barman knocked up a decently strong cocktail and the service was excellent — top notch for providing a great evening.
Will I be back? To bowl, absolutely. To bowl and eat, probably. Just to eat, unlikely.

Things I love: booze, bowling and baraoke, so hurrah for Qype very kindly letting me come along to an evening of oodles of free same, if without the third b and correct spelling back in situ.
We hung out in the lovely bar area before dinner. All Star really do bars well those fabulous red circular sofas, pretty waitresses, affable looking bar staff. Great. I had a glass of Pinot Grigio to start bit on the sharp side and then we toddled off to two long tables in the restaurant area for dinner. The loos are like a five minute walk away through double doors next to our table, but we still got a faint waft of bleach every now and then which was weird.
Anyway, dinner! We had a special group menu drawn up by the chef to let us try a few of their options. The house Chardonnay was a lovely surprise and much better than the more expensive Pinot I’d had (£4 versus £4.70 a glass) so yay for white wine. Like a huge chunk of the table I had spiced BBQ chicken wings with blue cheese sauce. Pretty good and lots of it if not as BBQ sauce-​tasting as this obsessive would have liked.
Spurred on by the memory of a ridiculously indulgent macaroni cheese I had at Bodeans in Clapham last month, I ordered a baked three cheese mac with added bacon. This, sadly, sucked. If the word cheese is in the description of something savoury, I kind of expect, nay demand, to taste it. This may as well have been baked in béchamel sauce without adding the cheese, unless the three were Babybel, Cheez Strings and that other generic, flavourless yellow stuff that always turned up on the top of restaurant dishes. Have we got this yet? It didn’t taste of cheese. I left half of it, partly because it was disappointing and partly because I was stuffed after the chicken.
Well, now I’m thinking about that macaroni cheese and reliving that poor sad main course all over again, I may as well get all the whingeing out of my system. The waitress wrote down our orders, but my macaroni still turned up sans bacon (probably for the best, but really? I fricking LOVE BACON) and our finger bowls only turned up at the end of our starters when some of us (and obviously me, duh) had already destroyed our napkins with barbecue hands. We were here on a jolly, so I’d have guessed they were all on super best behaviour, but forgetting a couple of really basic things was odd.
Still, we left a lot of very happy people bowling and drinking in the main area to head off to the private room for a cocktail and pudding canapes. It’s a lovely private room, much smaller than the Brick Lane branch and would probably work better for birthday parties where you don’t want to flounder around in lots of extra space.
I also loved the bar lots of unexpected touches like dream catchers which made me giggle, and again, friendly bar staff.
The karaōke machine was right next to the lane, meaning the teams who weren’t playing could hang out without leaving the action. Great song selection and lots of amazing singing from the Qypers — Dan and Melinda OWNED Lady GaGa, Sian and Jane B did a cracking Ballroom Blitz, and Gemma and Kat did the best karaōke dancing I’ve ever seen. LJ clearly has a future as a classier Butlin’s redcoat — great fun.
All Star is always great fun for groups and it looked like they had some deals on here I clocked a poster offering two courses, a drink and bowling for £26), but at Bayswater at least, stick to the three tenuous b’s and leave the food alone.

I feel bad not giving All Star Lanes the full five stars, because it’s safe to say my night was definitely five star in terms of enjoyment — but I do feel the fives should be saved for absolutely perfect nights… and there is room to improve here.
Mostly, I would say it was the food that didn’t quite live up to expectations. Like many other unimaginative folks on our Qype night out, I opted for the burger, with a chicken quesadilla for starter. Both were good, but not exceptional — we weren’t asked how we’d like the burgers cooked, and the waitress didn’t know what I meant when I asked for it «with the works» — maybe I’ve been watching too many American tv shows, but this is an American diner style establishment, and I thought I was getting in the mood. She clearly thought I was speaking gibberish.
This is not to say the staff were bad — they weren’t. We we were looked after well, without any of the usual rushing, sighing and frustrated looks you often get at places like this when you’re in a group of more than ten people. This goes for the bartender in the private room too — smiles, good service and good cocktails all round. And this from somone who had to put up with the dulcet tones of two dozen tipsy qypers. I’d be in the corner, holding my head in my hands, rocking from side to side yelling «make it stop.»
I jest — never have I experienced karaōke with so many people who can actually sing.
The combo of bowling and karaōke is pretty much a dream night out for me, so no complaints there. The private room has two lanes, its own bar, a huge seating area and the karaōke machine /​dancing area. This is a modern, Lucky Voice style karaōke system, not the scary japanese ones you find in some places. And the playlist is huge. We even found Charles & Eddie’s ‘Would I Lie To You’ (sorry, everyone).
My only problem with the bowling is that the lane we were on clearly tilted to the left a bit — how else can you explain why my ball kept going into the gutter ;0)

I had a ‘spare’ evening (groan), so registered for and subsequently turned up at the #BowledOverByQype event — held here at the All Star Lanes, nestled close to the Whiteleys shopping centre in Queensway.
I arrive at the Bayswater branch of the ten-​pin empire to find some friendly faces lined up on 2 tables, awaiting dinner. Looking at the menu, I am one of the few who are relieved to find there are alternatives to burgers! I order the Tuna with red slaw (no mayo! Hurrah!!) followed by the blackened salmon with beetroot.
Considering this is a bowling alley, I’m pleasantly surprised by the food — instead of an ‘out of the freezer via the deep fat fryer/​microwave’ selection, I felt like I ate something healthy here — although there was a distinct impression of ‘nearly but not quite’ around the table when the food arrived. Still, the food was more than adequate for my empty belly, and I didn’t need to have ‘dinner no. 2′ later.
Suitably filled with food, we were treated to a few frames in the private room. This had 2 lanes, a karaōke machine and kind and patient Oscar, our genial chap behind the bar, who whipped up incredibly boozy juleps to accompany the pudding canapes.
Oscar, I can only apologise for the joyous audio assault on your ears as we wailed our way through some of our favourite songs as others tried in vain to bowl during this aural torture. It is impossible to describe the sheer noise that 20 or so Qypers can make once they are filled with sugar and alcohol and encouraged to throw stuff and sing. A fun night was had by all.
I would unhesitatingly recommend the private room as a brilliant place to hold a party or event. What a great night out, even if you, like me, aren’t that brilliant at bowling.
As at Jan 2011:
2 courses: around £20
Bowling: £6.25−8.75 per person per game
Private bowling and Karaōke Room holds up to 80 people

Last night, Qype treated a few of us to an evening of food, booze, bowling and karaōke (strange combination, I admit). And what a fun evening it was.
Having initially walked straight past Porchester Gardens, I duly backtracked, and turned into the aforenamed Gardens, and practically ran straight into it. I negotiated past the bouncer (who ever heard of a bouncer at a bowling alley, I thought. It made more sense when you realise they serve drinks, and so don’t want teen bowlers invading the venue), and went downstairs. The place is decked out like an American diner — indeed, Americana is the theme, right down to the attire of the wait staff. It’s big — bigger than you’d think. It doesn’t have the seemingly thousand of lanes that a ‘chain’ alley might have; there are around six or eight, I’d guess (I didn’t count) in the main room, and then two in the private room we ended up in.
We were lucky; our first drink (a bottle of Sam Adams in my case — a beer I do like, even though I am mostly a real ale drinker), drinks (red wine, white wine, or Coors Light) with dinner, dinner and a couple of cocktails were free. This is just as well, as an evening at All Star Lanes won’t be a cheap one. The bottle of Liberty Ale (another nice American beer — slightly hoppy, though still fizzy) I purchased was £4.50 — rather pricey for a 12 oz bottle. There is a good selection of American beers (well, there is a large selection — there are some very good beers, but also some awful ones — avoid the Coors Light, unless you like making love in a canoe).
The main meals seem to hover at around the £10 — £15 mark — again, expensive for what is essentially an eating place attached to a bowling alley (though far nicer than the standard nacho fare of most alleys). Cocktails can reach the dizzy heights of £10; though they are nice, I’d avoid them for that reason.
The food is again, American themed. I had a seared tuna taco to start, which was quite nice (the tuna was excellent), though I’d have preferred it a little more adventurously spiced. The ribs I had to follow were good, but truthfully, don’t hold a candle to 24 hour slow cooked ribs I’ve had in the States. But the sauce was tasty, and the spiced apple that accompanied it was a nice touch. It came also with cole slaw. This was better than many slaws I’ve had here in the UK. The view of other members of the party of the food was mixed — one lady had what she described as a disappointing macaroni cheese, and the burgers while apparently good, looked a bit overcooked, and those that ordered the burger were never asked how they’d like them cooked.
Following the meal, we were escorted to the private lanes, where little canapé deserts awaited us. I had a bit of brownie. Again, it was tasty, but uninspiring — competent but not hugely special. Cocktails were also on offer (supposedly one per person… I may have had more than one) — I was told what they were called, but I forget. It was seriously nice though — there was mint, raspberries and I think an American whiskey. Do bear in mind, however, they are expensive if you have to pay yourself.
The bowling was fun, even though I am the world’s worst adult bowler. The lanes are clean, there is a good selection of balls of various weights and sizes. The electronic and automatic scoreboard made life very easy, as it seems only the most dedicated bowlers can remember what happens at the end of a frame if there is a strike or spare. The private room only has two lanes; this is worth noting if your group is large, as you may struggle to get everyone bowling in a given period of time. I can’t complain too much, as our team won (no thanks to me), thus snagging me a £20 voucher for next time. I would point out, though, that £20 won’t go terribly far, especially if food and cocktails are on the menu.
The private room also featured a karaōke machine. I declined to participate in that — I’m more of a finger-​in-​the-​ear-​folkie, but I can say that other members of the party enjoyed it immensely, and some had real talent. I did not examine the machine in detail, as I didn’t ‘play,’ so cannot really comment on its features.
Should you care to bowl and actually pay for it, a game at peak times (after 6.00pm and weekends) will set you back £8.75 per person (ouch). Off peak, before 6.00pm Monday to Fridays except in December) is a slightly more palatable £6.25. They do have kids’ bowling, though I do not know what time they allow children. All prices include shoe hire.
Monday to Thursday they are open from 4.00pm until 11.30pm (so there is a short off peak window there) — they are open most of the day at weekends, and shut at midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. All this information can, of course, be found on their website (
). They also have two other branches in London, should Bayswater not be convenient.
I really did have a fun time, despite my abysmal bowling performance. Were I

Oh we had so much fun at All Star Lanes last night. Our event there was absolutely action-​packed (drinks, dinner, cocktails, canapes, bowling, karaōke, competitions) and we had an excellent time. I’m impressed that you can throw a bunch of Qypers who’ve never met in a room with some beer and before long they’re chatting away like old friends. Qype + Bowling = happy people.
I love the whole Americana feel of the venue. There’s something about 50s pin ups and old school US-​of-​A stuff that really does it for me. It might be the dresses, or my love for all things Grease-​based. Or it might be that everything comes with sour cream and fries. And there’s milkshakes.
Our dinner was good. I wouldn’t come to All Star Lanes just for dinner, but I was pleasantly surprised. There’s a lot of choice (yet I still had a burger craving, what’s a girl to do). The burger could have been excellent, but it was medium-​well done. I prefer mine medium rare and I’d have liked to have been asked how I wanted it cooked. I wasn’t entirely sure about the strange sauce that came with it either. But, I still polished off the whole thing, despite eating tasty chicken wings for starters. That still didn’t stop me eating all those little desert canapes either. Worth mentioning that the waitresses did an excellent job of looking after 20 of us. All smiles and sexy little dresses.
The cocktails were excellent (some kind of fruit whiskey julep concoction, more please), and I loved the private room. Actually, I’d happily give the private room five stars. It’s the perfect place to hire out for a party (yes, I’m plotting already), with two bowling lanes for a tournament (my team won, IT WASN’T A FIX), and karaōke to embarrass yourself on.
We had an excellent time here. One of those evening where you’re still smiling and giggling about things the next day. I enjoyed the food, but with a few tweaks I’d happily give them five stars all ’round. Can we go back please? Can Qype set up a bowling team? Can we? Please?
*This review was after our Qype/​All Star Lanes event, our meal and entertainment were gratis, as were our cocktails.

Had a Christmas party here a while ago. Luckily we booked in advance and managed to get two lanes, so we had one team against another — great fun :-)
Located in Whiteleys (entrance on the Porchester Gardens side), All Star Lanes has a very retro/50’s style décor and convenient location — there are two tube stations (Queensway & Bayswater) and bus stops nearby. If you fancy going somewhere else afterwards, you could always walk towards Westbourne Grove, where you’ll find some trendy bars…

We had our staff Christmas Party there. With the early 50’s-60’s theme going on and up to date music, All Star Lane is not your typical bowling venue. I liked the cocktails, I ordered the non alcoholic Pina Colada virgin for free courtesy of the company I work for.
There is a total of 6 bowling lanes and mind you it is quiet small =? I was expecting the place to be bigger.
You don’t have to bowl to eat there. I’d recommend this place for close friends and family.
The food was good but the company was even better.
I spent most of the night taking pictures, so didn’t have time to look at the menu =S sorry

I can appreciate that some people like high end, classy bowling alleys. These people may also enjoy things such as minimalist design, the biggest, fastest, and flashiest new technology, and «I have a small penis» cars.
They’re just not for me.
In my world, the terms modern, stylish, smart and sleek should never never never be used in the same sentence as «bowling alley.» Rather, a bowling alley should be like a blast from the past — the lingering smell of 30+ years of cigarettes, 60s-​70s tack, balls with names like «Bud» «Lefty» and «Winston,» perhaps some chinsey trophies from leagues of yore, and lots of cheap beer in cans paired with fried food.
In fairness, many of these reasons are why I don’t spend much time in bowling alleys, so I can see what you’re doing here, I really can. And by all means, style away! I’m sure attracting the Victorias, Jennifers and Kimberlys are better than the Buds of the world.
Yet when I went to All Star Lanes, I paid £8.50 for a game and drank something pink with champagne and a pineapple. Something’s not right with this picture.

All Star Lanes should get some credit for theming the bowling experience and trying to lift it above the local bowling alley night out.
In what is actually quite a small space, they’ve created 6 bowling lanes, a dining area and a separate bar area. The main reception area to pay/​get your shoes can get crowded if groups arrive together.
The diner theming extends to the staff who are all dressed in suitable gear. I found them all to be very efficient and friendly. Our start time was pushed back to accommodate some latecomers without any problem.
Games are perhaps a little pricey at £8.50 but this is London, I suppose. There was a nice variety of drinks and cocktails available — lovely tasting but perhaps not the cheapest. There’s also quite a big menu available but we didn’t eat here.
There needs to be one member per group to bowl here but it’s £10 to join and you get one game of bowling included in that
It was a fun place to spend the afternoon with fellow Unilocalers

Started my afternoon by getting kinda lost. Basically if you are coming from bayswater, All Stars is on the starting edge of Whiteleys, not the end so you turn down the lane as you approach and you will get to an inconspicuous entrance.
As we were all running late, they very kindly agreed to let us delay by 40 minutes, which is brilliant and we had a drink in the bar while we waited for the late arrivals. My watermelon juice was extremely fresh, if not a little small.
When our time came, the girls at the reception were very helpful and kitted us out with the world’s ugliest velcro bowling shoes. Gone are the days of over knotted shoes, in come rather horrifying versions. The Reception area was also quite small, so if there is a large group of you (like us) it gets pretty cramped– especially if you run into a large group coming in as you return your shoes.
Our bowling game was spectacular. Obviously, since it was a UYE!
Unfortunately both our lanes broke and «technically» we won, because one of the pins was placed fallen, so our lane couldn’t score strikes or spares.
I feel that I should give them more than 3 stars as the décor was plush and it was clean etc. but the toilets were hot and our lanes were broken, so despite the fun we had, i can’t give it more stars than there are in the ball.
Oh, and remember to wash your hands after bowling, «you don’t know what your fingers been in».

Since its opening, I have always been a massive fan of Bloomsbury Bowling in Tavistock Square but have always been told by friends that All Star Lanes is a far slicker, cooler bowling experience. Last weekend, we were invited to a Christmas party, where the company had hired out the whole venue until 1 am (not late enough)
For a big party, the two bars were not sufficient– the queues were very long and there were not enough people behind the bar. However, I’m sure for a normal bowling session it would be fine.
I couldn’t work out why, but I didn’t think All Star Lanes was quite as fun as Bloomsbury– I think it is almost too polished and too smart.

Bowling has never been so stylish and retro with the arrival of All Star Lanes in Bayswater. Forget dodgy shoes, greasy food and beer– All Star has an impressive cocktail list and a delicious American style diner.
It’s great to do something a bit different at the weekend instead of just drinks and dinner. At All Star Lanes you can do both AND bowl or watch your friends while sipping a cocktail. I really love the salt and pepper squid and crab cakes aand the steaks are good too.
Bowling will never ever be boring!