Southport Lanes & Billiards

I went here last night with some friends to play pool. I had never been before so I did not know what to expect. I was pleasantly suprised when I walked inside. They were playing great music (no KISS FM pop music) that set the mood at this place. The bartender last night was attentive and recommended the fresh beers that they were having a special on ($ 5 for a pint) which I appreciated. There are 7 pool tables and all but one were full when I got there at 9 PM on Thursday, as well as all the bowling alleys were taken. Luckily I grabbed the last remaining pool table and was able to play for a few hours (each game is $ 1).
Good service, great atmosphere, I would classify this as an excellent Thursday night low key hangout and have a few beers bar. Will be back soon!

This is THE BEST place to have a 50^th birthday party for anyone. We rented out the bowling room and all 4 lanes. The bowling was amazing with manual pin setters and 2 score keepers. They were both great and gave helpful tips on how to bowl accurately and when to tip the pin setters so that they would give you a strike. We did a Burgers and Chicken buffet for $ 23 a person. This tasted absolutely delicious and the staff kept on bringing out more food until everyone was well satisfied. The manager, was kind enough to unlock the pool table in the bowling room so we could play for free. We did not have control of the music but for a nominal fee, there is a ‘jukebox’ that can be wirelessly controlled from a smartphone. The staff was extremely helpful and were involved in setting up the decorations and asking us how they could be helpful during the event. Hope this helps someone enjoy their special day!

Guy told us we’d be up next to roll and an hour and a half later told us we were out of luck. 0 transparency and garbage service

This is my absolute favorite neighborhood spot in the city! Even after we moved to a new neighborhood, my boyfriend and I still come here pretty often and consider it one of «our spots.» Solid beer list, even more solid menu, great décor, sports on the TVs, and bowling and pool… can’t really ask for too much more! I’ve actually never taken advantage of the billiards room or the the bowling, but I swear I will one of these days.
The shrimp wrap has been my favorite menu item lately. Perfectly cooked shrimp in a lightly pressed wrap served with rice and beans. I constantly kick myself because I always mean to sub out the rice and beans for fries, but always forget. The fries are so damn good! The hotel California sandwich is another one of my favorites. Everything is so fresh and yummy! I’ve also heard rave reviews for the Philly cheesesteak and the Juicy Lucy. From the time we started coming here to just the other day, I swear the food has gotten better each time. So if you haven’t been to Southport Billiards in awhile, give it another go! And my personal recommendation is to save a little room for dessert at Jeni’s Ice Cream down the road afterwards. Southport Billiards + Jeni’s = perfect date night in the Southport Corridor!

Whoever was the ‘manager’ last night (11÷14÷15) is a psychopath and needs to be fired.
Myself and my date had a bill of all of $ 18, less than an hour of pool and two beers split between two people that was mischarged to someone else’s card (not even mine!) They had me sign for the wrong bar tab (a total stranger’s) and physically handed me that person’s card after.
Myself, my date, and the bartenders were handling it normally. It was an honest mistake (the person had the same last name as me) and the staff was doing the best they could to remedy it. We didn’t blame them AT ALL. Out of no where this manager comes out, walks around the bar, and starts trying to actually fight us. He was threatening to throw us out and told us he was calling the cops (for nothing!)
I am a very shy quiet person but I flat out could not stand for this. I got in front of him and told him he was behaving irrationally and needed to calm down. He ripped the credit card machine from both me and my date’s hands AFTER we had both PAID with both our full credit cards charged. We never even got to drink the beers we paid for. I have lived on the same place on Southport for several years now. Nothing like this has ever happened to me in my entire life. I still can’t believe that happened. We were just trying to figure out the situation and this guy starts trying to fight us. I can see on my bank account that I was charged. I’m not sure how that’s even possible because I didn’t complete the transaction (the credit card machine was physically ripped from my hands) The staff and even customers seemed legitimately afraid of this guy.

This is a cute little place on a quiet part of Southport. They have bowling lanes that you pay for hourly, but it was too expensive for my liking. We opted for pool instead, which was much cheaper hourly.
It was very quiet when we were in there, which was good. We also ordered food. We got a turkey sandwich of some kind that was like a turkey Reuben — with fries. We loved this. The sandwich came on marble rye and was very flavorful. We also got hummus with pita and tomatoes. The hummus had olives and feta on it. Kind of bland in the fact that it needed more salt, maybe. I also thought the olives on top was an odd choice.
The service was the worst of all, though. We started with one server who just kind of disappeared after twenty minutes of us being there. I tracked the other server down that we had seen on the floor and asked where our server was. Well… our server left, and this girl was our new server… but they both neglected to tell us that… which is WEIRD. We were not only not informed of the shift change, but we also were never checked on until I found HER.
Would I go back? Probably not… yea, the sandwich was good. The pool was fun. But I’m sure I could find another place just like this one.

What’s not to love? Bowling, manual bowling. Watching legs in jeans set up your pins and roll your ball back is awesome. One of those jean legs came out behind the pins. He wore shaved sides and a small rat-​tail, maybe that’s why he’s hidden in the back. They have a billiard room, I did not partake. Looked less badass than bowling.

A lot available but the pool tables were booked so we bowled two games.
For two people drinking about 4 beers, somehow the total came out to $ 170. I think maybe this was due to the fact that they have a person manually placing the pins as opposed to a machine. — Which sounds a bit Flintstones to me, but someone, somewhere thinks this is a perk.
Not really worth the cost.

Southport Lanes and Billiards is rather unreachable. I attempted several unsuccessful calls one week in advance to try to make a billiard reservation for my friend’s big 30 for Saturday evening. According to the voice recording and e-​mail, I somehow always called at the wrong hours. I was briefly relieved when my call and reservation finally went through. But to my dismay, our reservation was not recorded and we were table-​less when we arrived on Saturday.
In the heat of things, I was extremely discontent and did not shy away from vocally expressing it. The staff at Southport were quick to apologize and compensate. First, they bumped us up on the list to get the next available billiard table. While we waited, we were first given a free game at the billiard table by the lanes. Unlike the rest of the billiard tables which charges by the hour, this one charges five quarters by the game. Second, instead of charging us the weekend rate of $ 15 per hour, we were instead given the $ 12 rate. Last but not least, they did not charge us for two hours of billiard. One hour was on the house.
At the end of the night, things turned out well and my friend enjoyed his big 30. Huge kudos to Southport for their generous compensation and how they managed to turn things around when a mistake was discovered. But I would rather pay the original price and not have to go through this ordeal.

The food is good, the beer selection is really good! Service has been hit or miss.

Told the wife we were going bowling which she did not find very exciting. Upon reaching southport lanes she changed her mind. There are only 4 lanes which are completely manual. There is a guy in the back who sets the pins for you at this old school charming place.

Great concept and cool atmosphere. I definitely recommend booking in advance if you want to bowl on the weekend. We got there at 8pm and were told they were booked until 1am. Luckily there ended up being a cancellation so we got to bowl. The pins are reset by hand by two employees and it adds some extra fun to the game, as they will occasionally move pins or knock something down to influence the game. You can also put cash in a ball and roll it down the gutter to get them to cheat for you.
The waitress near the bowling area was a tad overbearing and had a bit of an attitude, but the other employees were all really nice.

Always a safe and quick place to grab a bite if you’re in the area! I most recently had the Philly Cheese won tons to snack on and they were so, so good. Very juicy (be careful if eating them outside — they dripped right through the table and onto my pants when I took a bite).
Clark ordered the Chicken Sandwich — something about 5 alarm sandwich maybe? Luckily I took a bite from where it wasn’t AS spicy and I was shocked at how delicious and perfectly cooked it was. I may even order that next time we’re there… :)

I don’t know why I am so late in writing a review for Southport Lanes! I planned my birthday party here the second week of March and it was a fantastic time!
It was a relatively easy process to reserve two lanes for my party and to put the deposit down a few days before the event. When my party arrived the day-​of, it was a bit hectic at first (there was a wedding party exiting at the same time) but we were able to get settled and our first round of drinks ordered within 15 min of our start time. The drinks were strong and fairly priced. Food was also up to par with typical bar food.
In a nutshell, everyone had a phenomenal time! It was especially entertaining to watch my girlfriends, who aren’t so good at bowling, get the ball rolled back to them or have their pins knocked down by the pinsetters (what gentlemen!) They also did a good job of making sure the birthday girl (ME!) got several strikes as well :-D
Overall, I would definitely have another party here. It was a bit crowded if you have more than 10 people, but it is definitely do-​able. Thanks Southport for a great birthday!

Let’s not tip toe around the baby pool, LETS DIVE RIGHT IN!!!
Let me be clear, the billiards and bowling are not the reason I am writing this review. Unfortunately my hand is forced to write this review about the drec a la drec food being served at this establishment.
When you serve your sandwiches on sourdough bread… I don’t think the bread is actually meant to be sour. But once again Im not here to write about the bread.
For all the tea in China… for all the potatoes in Idaho… the French fries for heavens sake THE FRENCH FRIES. Each and every fry on my plate tasted like it was dropped from the top of a high rise and simply dried it out like the fry sat in the sauna. Perhaps the fries weren’t even potatoes, and cardboard was simply cut up and thrown into the deep fryer 5 weeks prior to serving them. If you choose to order any food off the menu, the safest bet the water, but I still suspect something might be wrong with that as well.
Question: do you use the same salt on the bowling lanes as you do on the fries… We’re all wondering.

My score and this review are a combination of my bowling and non-​bowling experiences there. First, the bowling because it’s the shorter and easier issue. IT SUCKS BALLS (bowling balls). First, expensive as frack, especially considering how slowly it goes because of the pinsetters, which leads me to… Second, it might be cute and quaint for vain trixies who want to buy some flattery, but paying the pinsetter dudes to knock pins down for you is muy dumbo. I’m not cheap, but I’m not stupid. I’m already getting bent over with the hourly charge for the lanes and the extra charge for the shoes, and now I’m gonna put a $ 5 in the finger hole so I can watch Bob or Fred give me a fake spare? Nope. If you want to bowl bowl, go elsewhere. If you want to use bowling as an excuse to get a group together, fine, just watch the clock.
As for the bar, food and pool, those parts are all 4 or slightly above. In contrast to the bowling, all three are relatively good values for the area. Bar — Not overly broad selection of beers, but several solid choices. Bartenders and servers have mostly been very nice, helpful. Food — Solid. I have not had my skirt blown up (aside from the bacon-​wrapped jalapeño cheese curds, you’ll hate yourself afterward, but it’ll be worth it), but I have not been disappointed. Some of the better bar food in the area. Pool — No crappy little 7-​footers. Bigger, level tables, felt is generally in good shape, cues are generally straight, decent lighting. My one complaint. If you’re going to have the nicer, bigger tables with good felt and decent lighting, can’t you spring for hand chalk? It’s like $ 8 – 10 for a cone and a cone lasts forever.
As long as no one asks me to bowl, this will be one of my 2 – 3 favorite places in that stretch of Southport.

We went here to just basically play a few games of pool. They have music playing in the background. They offer bowling and have several pool tables. The bar is very chill and a great atmosphere with very friendly bartenders. Pool is a $ 1.25 a game.

I am sad to say that my first visit here will be my last. I had my two younger sisters visiting Chicago from out of town. Their flight didn’t arrive until around dinner time so I thought a great activity to do with them would be bowling.
My boyfriend and I live in the neighborhood and we had heard some great things about this place. I also read a few reviews and the website displays it as family friendly atmosphere. I made an online reservation for 9pm and called ahead just to verify it would be OK to come bowling with my sisters.
Upon entering the restaurant/​bar the bouncer asked for IDs. Obviously, I was the only one of age (26) my younger sisters being 16 and 14. Then we went to get our bowling shoes from another employee that explained the rules etc. We sat down in front of our bowling lane waiting to begin.
Out of no where an extremely rude man runs over to us making it very clear that he’s the manager and that we cannot be there because my sisters are under age. I had pre paid online and spoke to 3 different employees of the establishment that all gave us permission to bowl. The manager was very rude and short with us. I explained I wanted my money back (which they did give me with hesitation). The manager never apologized (the other 3 employees did). Then he proceeded to tell me that some where on the website in FINE PRINT states that you must be 21 and older. I guess I am confused– if you advertise your bowling alley to be family friendly shouldn’t the 21 and older be in huge writing on the website? Maybe your place of business isn’t so family friendly after all?
Disappointed that my sisters and I couldn’t have a nice hour of bowling (9 – 10) in an establishment that at the time had maybe 10 people in it in total. We were clearly there for only our hour of bowling. I felt the way the manager handled the situation was very inappropriate and inconsiderate especially for customers that had already paid $ 35 dollars in advance + what the shoes cost. Needless to say, they will never get my family or friends business again.

I’ve heard so many good thing about «the lanes»… It was time that I finally tried it!
While it was good (they have cider on tap), next time I’ll stick to just cider! I have a burger and tater tots. I only ate half, but ended up feeling awful all night afterward. The grease was just too much for me.
It seems like a neat bar to hang out at, but I’ll skip the food in the future!

We hosted our office post-​holiday Holiday party at Southport Lanes. It was a good fit for our group, super casual. I mean, it is in a cool kid kind of neighborhood, but it is in fact a bowling alley and pool hall, so it is NOT pretentious. We had the bowling lanes to ourselves and pinsetters and scorekeepers at the ready. All very nice people. The attached room was all ours as well. Super attentive servers.
Lots of beer options, including many reasonably priced draft beers like Laugnitas, 3 Floyds, Angry Orchard and well as cheap bottles and cans, like Miller Lite and PBR.
Mini burgers and fries are the way to go. The fries are wonderful and fresh, made from actual potatoes. The mini burgers were perfect. The regular burgers were not very good, I would not recommend them.
Public transportation is nearby and plenty of meter parking on weekday afternoon.