Mahall’s Twenty Lanes

Love this place! Have been here for concerts, poetry readings, The Manhattan Project (which is where playwrights create a script based on a theme and have actors perform it, all within the span of a month), dinner, and to sit and study. The food is good and so are the drinks.
Maybe one day I’ll actually go bowling.

Love love love this place! Everyone makes you feel at home, and it has an awesome retro feel! Not to mention, the food is amazing!

This place is so cool! Feels like you’re back in the 70s with the vintage bowling alley and keeping score with just a paper and pencil! It’s also a music venue and restaurant/​bar. Crowd is super chill and you don’t have to be 21 to get into. Check it out!

The fries were really extreme. They didn’t have any other food but they were giving away buckets of fries and it was good

Off the beaten path alley that can’t be beat. Updated bar and food menu with top notch service. Bowling in the basement takes me back to my grandma’s house. No electronic scoring here and ball return is classic old school. Great place for a great family outing.

Mahall’s deserves 10 stars, to be honest. There’s so much to enjoy here! This isn’t your ordinary bowling alley. Not at all. At first glance, you’d assume this classic Lakewood landmark (which recently turned 90) is just old-​school. Boy, would you be wrong. Three words for ya: Bowling, music, bar. I already explained one, but included inside is a luxury bar (I’m just being supportive), and it’s newest addition: live music! You can hear local bands and artists perform just for you! Awesome, right?!! Well, what are you waiting for– go have fun!

Have known Mahall’s since I was a young kid. Now in my late fifties! Finding new owners that have kept the original Family Name but brings a totally different atmosphere. Had a chance to go for a staff party. Bowled, had some drinks, listened to a band and had a great time. A bit more eclectic than I thought but none the less an enjoyable evening with coworkers. Staff were helpful and very attentive. I would go back again! Décor was very unique and was an amazing make over. The bowling alley has kept the nostalgic look and it brought back fond memories of when I bowled there as a young girl and how my husband and I met at Mahall’s. and eventually married and came here as a family over the years. I hope the tradition lives on with our grandchildren. Mahall’s has a rich and long history for us Lakewoodites and west Siders.

I like this place… It is super chill and the special mixed drinks that has beets in it is a plus! The kereokee nights are always pleasant to be around. Nice vibe and people don’t try so hard…

This bowling alley has been around forever, as in my mother used to do her league bowling here when I was a kid in the 70s. Within the last few years, new owners have taken over and turned it from just an old bowling alley into retro hipster heaven, especially on Friday and Saturday nights when live bands play. On my last visit there on a Friday night, there were dozens of twentysomethings standing in line to bowl, two separate shows going on (one upstairs and one downstairs), and a guy with a man-​bun playing the piano in the barroom (which is separate from the show rooms). The décor is shabby chic — they peeled the walls and found old murals that look like they’re from the 30s or 40s underneath and just left them, peely parts and all. Where there were no murals, they hung some local Cleveland-​oriented art.
I don’t bowl very often but they have booked some pretty good band shows and the vibe is a little more civilized than your usual divey show bar. One big plus, it has a kitchen that stays open LATE. Most of the music bars either don’t serve food or close the food down around 11 or so, whereas this place serves up till midnight most nights and till 2 am on Saturday nights. The menu is limited — burgers, tacos and chicken primarily, although they do have a weekend brunch — but it’s pretty good and beats fast food (if you can even find an open fast food place at midnight) and also beats having to drive to a late-​night place and re-​park. Fried chicken, a specialty of the house, is pretty good, although it’s very uneven in quality from piece to piece and batch to batch. I ordered a 3-​piece and one piece tasted great, the other two pieces were overdone and one of them noticeably saltier than the other two. I’d still get it again just in case the cook was having an off night.
The big band room has a LOT of comfortable seating along a wall where you can still see the band but be out of the main sight and sound line. There is also more comfortable seating and tables closer to the band, although people stand in front of you if you sit there. As an older person I would prefer to sit in a comfy seat and enjoy the sounds rather than stand up front in the band’s face for 3 hours most of the time. So this is fine. My only small complaint is there is no bar in the band room and you have to walk out of the music area, across the lobby and to the bar room to get a drink, but that’s not the end of the world.
Street parking is currently a little limited due to some huge construction going on across the street (which will further result in fewer parking spaces over there) but you can still find free parking on the side streets.

Went again under protest and nothing has changed. Still boring and drinks are expensive. If I wanna wait forever for an overpriced drink Ill head Downtown. At least there are less hipsters there…

Such a cool place ! Old school bowling, great beer selection and live music .oh .the fried chicken was awesome !

Cool place to hang out and grab a bite to eat! The meatloaf sandwich is good and you can bowl! Live music nice atmosphere! I will be back its get a 4 star!

I went here with some friends who looove this place. It has its retro bowling charm, the stage space is cool, but the bartenders are rude. When the one finally deigned to look at me, I asked a question, and he tossed a beer menu (which if I had seen, I definitely would have looked at while I waited 12 years so spread those suckers out kids) at me. Thanks for using your words. Didn’t try the food so can’t speak to it. The ladies’ bathroom was surprisingly well-​decorated and clean. Would only go back if someone wants to go for their birthday or something.

What an enjoyable romp we had at the Lakewood neighborhood stable of Mahall’s. We hosted what was the first 1920’s themed professional wrestling/​speakeasy event last summer with great success.
The entire staff was incredibly helpful and lending a hand at the drop of a wooden nickel. We can not wait to return and host another fun-​filled event alongside them.
With bowling, live entertainment, bar (don’t tell the bureau of prohibition though), and a full menu of delicious fare, Mahall’s is the most swinging spot in Lakewood.
Huzzah!

I’ve never really eaten there since the new ownership, I Will be honest. I’m writing my review solely on the Bar portion of this establishment.
I went in on a Friday and there were what seemed to be teeny boppers running around everywhere to hear their «favorite band ever» playing music. That part for any adult would normally be a turn off but Mahalls did a good job placing the stage on opposite side of building from the bar and bowling.
I’m a ‘normal upper 20 something lady. I was dressed in jeans and an Express sweater with a shaw over and as soon as I walked into the bar I stood out. Hipsters everywhere! I love hipsters that accept others for their own views and beliefs and the ones that don’t…well they make things uncomfortable even for those who don’t judge them… like me.
Bartender looked at me, Turned away, waited on 12 other people including the guy standing next to me whom walked up 15 minutes after me. That customer laughed and said ‘good luck getting service from him. U aren’t hipster enough.’ Finally 17 minutes later… the bartender came up to me and just pointed at me, didn’t ask what I wanted, just a point. It was an uncomfortable interaction as I didn’t even get my whole order out of my mouth before he asked me with a crappy look if I had asked for absinthe. …I was trying to ask for absolut! I hated the idea of even taking the drinks and paying for them, let alone tipping! But I did!
This place could be good if they were more accepting of people that are just looking to have a good night out, bowling and laughing with friends.
It sucks that there aren’t many other options for bowling around town. It Really bummed me out this weekend i wont lie. This place used to be a true gem! Disappointed :/

Literally the very worst place I’ve ever come to have a drink.
Avoid this place and the idiot bartenders at all costs, or spend hours away from your group trying to get drinks.

This place is Chris Hardwick’s wet dream — a bowling alley that also has a performance space where comedy shows and small concerts put on by indie bands you’ve never heard of are held at least once a month. I write this as I wait for the $ 5 monthly SUPER SHOW to begin (second Wednesday of every month, show begins at 8: 00 and you should get there early because it fills up fast). The bar has a small menu with THE most amazing fried chicken you’ll have on Cleveland.
EDIT: The Super Show is no more, I’m afraid. Other events still being held here!

This is one of my favorite places in Lakewood. It’s a bar/​music venue/​bowling alley with a divey, but not too divey feel. It’s set up kind of weird, with a big venue room off to one side, the bar on the other side, most bowling lanes upstairs. a few lanes downstairs with another smaller venue and bar for music. So you can switch up the crowd or just post up and have a good time really anywhere.
They have a pretty good beer selection, but I usually go with $ 3 cans of Dale’s Pale Ale. The bartenders are usually pretty friendly and quick. They have some basic bar food available if you get the munchies. The people running the alley are always friendly too. One important note — this bowling alley is old school — you need to keep your own score! So either go with someone that knows what they are doing, download an app (there’s probably an app for that, right?), or just go out there and have fun without keeping score. The only complaint I have is that I left my coat sittin on a chair in the alley and it was stolen, with my keys being thrown into the street. Luckily a staff member found the keys and brought them in. At least the thief was that kind! So beware, I would keep an eye on your belongings there — or maybe I just had some bad luck that particular night.

This joint has done a real 180. It used to be the bowling alley from the movie Gummo, comparatively anyhow. It still has that old feel, the reused a pin rack and turned it into the light fixture above the bar. The staff was very cool, they have promotions jumping off big time.
Im a fan of the beer selection. 3 $ Dale Pale Ales, awesome. There was a woman me and PW met a pretty eccentric woman, Kathy, she had the Ora of someone who just walked out of 1973. Shes probably well into her 50s and was really cool, a little out there, but an awesome lady. She was crackin everyone up. Downstairs was a 70s party. Im a vegetarian, so I wasnt really diggn it (if u know what I mean). It seems to draw in a pretty mellow crowd and will always have the memories of being a kid, sneaking change in the cigarette machine, snatching and running. MEMORIES!
I think ill be a new customer here. Havnt had food yet, will update.

Note:
We paid them a visit at 3pm on a Thursday. I can’t speak to the live music or the food or any of that. We were on a mission and that mission was bowling.
As we were walking in a guy wearing glasses looked at us and asked, «Are you here to bowl?» Ummm, yeah. Why else would we be here? It was pretty strange. Completely empty and silent bowling alley. The lights weren’t even on. Employees hanging out at the counter. They put us on lane 3 upstairs.
Throw back. Waaayyy back. It’s like someone took a bowling alley from 1963, sealed it in a time capsule and buried it in a building on Madison avenue. I hadn’t been here in something like 4 years and the needle hasn’t moved a bit. Sure, I’m all for cheesy retro shit and «old school» as the kids like to call it, but c’mon. There’s retro cool and there’s just plain rundown. The lanes are marred, chunks of wood missing, the racks work but the lights indicating which pins you’ve knocked down don’t, and the ball return, don’t get me started. And give me automated scoring any day of the week not this paper and pencil BS.
Blistered and peeling paint on the walls, no background music, a collection of the most misfit house balls I’ve ever seen (who the hell has fingers that small?). This place has it all. The entire time we were bowling there were loud, incredibly annoying buzzing and beeping sounds going off for whothehellknows what reason. And air conditioning? Nope. I was sweating like a whore in church by the time I’d finished two games. The guy behind the counter asked, «How was bowling?» «Hot», I responded. «Well, why didn’t you come out and tell me?» Sorry, didn’t realize climate control was by request only.“
On the positive side, we did have the entire alley to ourselves for most of our time there. If there’s one thing I like about people it’s when they aren’t there. Four games, two pairs of rental shoes, $ 18 and change. Five stars? WTF Are you people chewing coca leaves and drinking chicha? If you’re looking to bowl there are better options. If you’re looking to bowl ironically, I suppose it’s OK. Three stars is generous, believe me. Hell, Cloverleaf Lanes makes Mahalls look like a spare parts yard. I don’t get the draw of places like this. When did dingy, poorly lit and ill-​maintained become cool? A dive is a dive. I don’t care if they have poetry and bands. No thanks, 20 somethings that don’t know any better can have it.