Kings Boston

We had a work team building event on a Wednesday night for 14 people. We pre-​arranged it with the events coordinator and there were many options available to us. They clearly had done this before and were able to guide us. The set up was lovely, and the food was way better than I expected — delicious pizza and snacks, and a make your own sundae bar!

We did our 13 years old son birthday party. What a perfect venue for teens, the kids had great time, they had space to hang out and after bowling there are other games to play. Food and service was great well. Perfect place for birthday parties, loved it!

The balls are extremely ancient and the pins keep on playing magic tricks on us (they drop before we could bowl and of course, the dropped pins are not counted in the score). I could have won but hey~

This place was right across from my hotel. Jennifer the bartenders food and drink recommendations were on point. They don’t just have bowling and billiards they have skee ball too!

Last night my girlfriend and I were looking forward to try here for some bowling, food, and drinks. Upon arrival we figured there may be a wait to bowl (which there was a 45min wait) no big deal, and we thought we would grab some apps and drinks in the mean time. We sat at the bar in the cocktails lounge area and ordered two margaritas… It really wasn’t all that busy, but after waiting 15 minutes I decided to grab a food menu from down the bar. When I caught the bartenders attention I asked if I could order some food when he had a second, he replied yup give me a moment. Then he went and cleared a mess on the bar, which no one was waiting for– then he stepped off the bar to clear tables of empty glassware, and came back onto the bar to finally take our simple order. I order a small buffalo tender with extra ranch and a mushroom pizza. We get our food, but instead of buffalo tenders we get a plain tenders. I said excuse me these are plain and he replies nice — and goes back to doing his thing. Fortunately the food runner and bar-​back showed us some concern in getting some buffalo sauce. After well over an hour we didn’t get paged to bowl and decided to get our check. When he approached I asked him how long he’d been a bartender he replied 6 years… Then I read my check and it turns out the mistake in the food was his mistake– so I asked one last question– so it was your mistake in us receiving the wrong food? he nods, and i say so that’s that? He says, Yup that’s that.
My girlfriend and I are both in the service industry. Her a server and myself a bartender, which makes writing this even harder. But, I felt obligated to make a statement about service done that poorly. To tend bar at any level is to serve guests with hospitality and professionalism. After hearing he’s been tending bar for 6 years I felt obligated to write a review. Find a new craft

We arrived at 7:30 on a Friday night (with reservations) for a night of dinner and bowling to celebrate a friend’s birthday. The place wasn’t crowded. We were seated immediately. We told the staff that we wanted to eat dinner and bowl. The wait staff was pleasant. The food was okay and not over-​priced.
The problem was the wait for bowling. As we finished our dinner we were told it would be 10 to 15 minutes. In fact, every time we asked we were told «10 to 15 minutes.» After 1 ½ hours of this they called the people at the table next to us to bowl. They had sat down after us. When we complained about this we were told that they had beeped the wrong beeper by accident and that we would be next. That should take (you guessed it). .. 10 to 15 minutes. The manager gave us cards for free bowling next time, which was a nice touch, but it was after 10 PM. We were tired, and we left feeling very frustrated.

Thought the obvious racists retired in this town, but I guess I was wrong. If you want to hang with a bunch of whites, this is your place. Got a bowling pager @ 8, told 2 – 3 hours, was going to be patient, but all these light skinned people who showed up after us kept bowling before we did. Every time we checked in we were 5−7^th in line but people kept bowling before us. No shame here, if you don’t give a fuck about black people or don’t mind looking like an idiot, show up and have a ball. Not for me again, I have some pride. Never again!!!

Our server came up ONCE and asked «Going good? GREAT». NEVER gave us a chance to respond. Whatever. We kept going to the bar to order. The bartender was beyond mediocre. Sangria tasted like cough syrup… the bluemoon was disgusting. It tasted odd. He tossed my bill at me. And kept calling me darling, sorry its 2k16 my dude. They took our pint glasses with beer still in them… such a shame. We had to ask 4 times to get the TV nearby switched to the Warriors game. Music is to their standards. Laaaaame.

Save your money and go to the ten million other restaurants around this area.
The food was okay, Drinks were okay, this place was just «okay»

Fun spot for a night out from our hotel. We ordered the typical bar food and were surprised by the great taste. The Mac and cheese bites were amazing. We followed them up with a burger that was just as tasty. Once orders were in, the service was fast. However, finding someone to take our order proved tricky and made for a long process. Overall good food though.

I wish I could give a review on this place and say how wonderful it was but we never even had the chance to go inside!!! We called two days in advance to make a reservation at 7 pm for 5 people. (It was a 21^st birthday dinner/​bowl) When we arrived at 6:45 the doors were closed and a man who worked there said that they were closed that evening at 7 for a Kings Holiday Employee party… Seeing as we came all the way to Boston from Montpelier Vermont… We were not very happy that the hostess who we made the reservation with didn’t mention they were closed… Will not be going there any time soon. Horrible customer service. VERY disappointing!

Super disappointing. Got there between 230 and 245 on Valentine’s Day. They quoted a 2 – 3 hour wait to bowl. We had nothing else to do before dinner and a show, so we thought, okay we will hang — have drinks and play games. After about 2 ½ hours of skii ball, air hockey and drinks, I went to check on our lane. They said there was 8 people in front of us and that it could be up to 630. I just think that is unacceptable. If you’re quoting up to an hour span of time for a wait as it is, then you should make sure that’s correct. Otherwise, I would’ve wanted to hear what they really meant: 2 – 4 hours and probably not 2 hours. I know that maybe there’s nothing they can do about it by that point, but then the manager should have the task of telling customers this news, instead of passing on the responsibility, like she blatantly did. Saw this happen. It was clear we were disgruntled, yet no one tried to make it okay. When we did get a lane after 3 ½ hours, we had to hurry to make our dinner reservation so played one game only. And of course our lane had technical issues several times and it never seemed to be being addressed with the urgency you would hope. It seems like it could be a fun place, we were having a great time up until the end, just seems poorly managed. Another example of this was When we tried to do skii ball — they were all being used so I asked if I could be out on wait list and was told their was no wait list and we just had to wait until one opened. When one group was leaving, I asked for the balls to go next, to be told — oh actually, there is a wait list. In the end, I would’ve been totally fine, if they had given us a discount or offered to comp the game or even if the manager tried to care, but nope on all fronts — so one star it is.

The place is pretty hopping on weekends, so be prepared to wait, but if you like bowling, drinks, and fun with your friends you’re going to have a good time. The lanes and equipment are clean and in great shape. The servers were very attentive to making sure we had a good time and that we weren’t hungry or thirsty. The drinks and food are reasonably priced and there is a good selection.
In addition to bowling there is a full bar, a restaurant, air hockey tables, as well as pool and shuffleboard. The prices are fair and we had a great time.

I mean I love myself a couple drinks and some bowling. I’m up for a wait but… 3 hours? That’s absurd. I mean I guess if you’re a hip happenin’ joint that’s what happens but I’ll just go bowl in Weymo with little balls.
The biggest issue I have is that we were charged for drinking a $ 25 glass of liquid Stevia. Disgusting. We drank maybe a tablespoon, said we hated it and were charged for 35 ounces of blue stevia.
Thank you kings for the awesome night of sugar and no fun. Xoxo.

I’ve been to Kings twice in the past week and had a fantastic experience both times. The first time was for drinks and bowling — we had to wait about 45 minutes for a lane but we killed time by playing pool. The Red Zeppelin drink is out of this world! I went back last night for food, drinks, and karaōke. The drinks were fabulous once again, and I got their pizza and fries which were both heavenly. I seriously didn’t expect to find some of the best tasting pizza in Boston at Kings, but I was pleasantly surprised! Karaōke was fun even though it was a small crowd in the lounge, they have a great song selection and DJ. Both times the service was some of the best I’ve gotten in Boston — the whole wait staff is incredibly friendly and fast. I’ll definitely be coming back for trivia night sometime soon!

This is a fun spot to go to. The bowling is great… food is good and reasonably priced and the drinks are good. They told us the wait for a lane was 1 – 2 hours. So we decided to get food at the attached restaurant. We walked in and it was completely empty… not one other group with a while bunch of tables open. We ask for a table for 6… the host asks us if we had reservations. Me and my friend look at each other thinking it was a joke. We said no… and he said he will see what he can do. He seated us and then we proceeded to have multiple waitresses coming up to us asking if we had reservations. It was confusing because we were the only ones in there. Okay so after a little over 2 hours we got our lane. Just an odd experience. The staff wasn’t welcoming. Then again it is a bowling place.

I’ve been to a few different Kings and this one is by far the worst. We played just about every game; shuffleboard, skee-​ball, air hockey, and bowling, and every single game was broken in some way. It was extremely annoying. The food and drinks are great, yes, however if you’re going to spend money on playing their games, take your money elsewhere.

The first time I came here was back in May for a weekend getaway with a friend. It was my birthday so we decided to go play pool, sing some karaōke and possibly grab a bite. The only thing we did that night was eat and sing we did not get a chance to bowl or pool. My friend told the bar tender it was my birthday and offered us both a shot and we accepted. Turns out they give sugar and water as a shot to outsiders? (we are both from New York). I really did like this place until they came out of nowhere with this nonsense. sugar and water? I dont know what this bartender’s deal was that night but it was awfully rude and not funny at all. I love my alcohol please dont mess with that. Anyway, fast forward to last night. We had the chance to play pool and bowl for once! Everything here is paid for separately which can be annoying if you need to speak to different people for different bills. The food here– well it’s a place for locals to have fun on a saturday night. Nothing crazy but not bad «bar food». Drinks are watered down and my friend asked for more liquor last night because the guy pulled out a 16 oz glass and poured in 1 shot of vodka. ummm??? what? they deserves 2 shots lol. they told us they arent allowed to give double shots. ummmm??? If we’re paying for it give us the double shot. Night was going good we were bowling after we were done with pool. Right by the bowling alley there is another bar. i cannot stress this enough. When there are people surrounding your bar A.K.A us and the countless others you attend to everyone. It took us 15 mins to order a PITCHER OF BEER. The guy working last night was the worst at making eye contact. We couldnt get his attention or he didnt try to at least. Some woman came over and apologized for having us wait but there was nothing she could do. She said there was a wait to get a drink… ummm??? WHAT? what wait? lol it sounds stupud because it IS. We had to walk to the other side of the bar to get his attention. Finally, 20 mins after the fact we finally get our beers. Also we were skimped out on our lane for bowling after going outside for a quick smoke. Did not know you can give up someones lane if you’re in the middle of a game? they had to move us to another lane and that lane happened to not work. instead of moving us to another lane they called over a mechanic. it got it fixed for us. didnt make eye contact with us. didnt apologize for the inconvenience just played with the machine and got rid of the bowling ball that got stuck on the sides. again it’s too hard for them to give us a lane that actually worked.
overall. we had a great time. service COULD BE SO MUCH BETTER by the bowling area/​bar. Pool was no problem. Estimate time on food wait was about 15 mins. bathrooms were moderately clean. they do have soap.
would deff come back again! but PLEASE FIX YOUR STAFF! AND GET MORE PEOPLE AT THE BAR.

My startup had our company outing at Kings last night — and the event could not have gone any better.
The staff was extremely prepared and thoughtful the entire night. Everything was organized before we arrived, and they even included additional perks to make the night especially memorable. The food we had was excellent. Everyone we interacted with was friendly and added to the environment of our group.
Bowling/​food/​drinks will always be fun, but I think its the character of the Kings establish and quality of their staff that separates this establishment. I will definitely be coming back on a regular basis.

Kings Boston helped kick off our Boston Young Professional Association Annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Pub Crawl for the 3^rd straight year… and once again they didn’t disappoint!
Staff was amazing, pizza, beers and bowling were top notch… we’ll be back in 2016 to do it all over again!
Thanks again for everything!!!
Rob Rogers
BYPA VP of Events

Be very careful with your credit/​debit cards at this place. I went here back in April with my boyfriend and another couple. It was the weekend, so we knew it would be busy. We were told that there was a 2 hour wait, which we were fine with. We went over to the bar to grab a drink while we waited. My boyfriend ordered a couple of drinks for us, and the bartender asked if we’d like to keep a tab open, and figuring that it would be easier for the bartender, we said sure, at which point she said she needed a credit card to keep the tab open. We handed her a credit card and explained we did not want to use the card and would be paying cash when we were finished and she said that would be ok.
My boyfriend and I had 2 drinks each, and then asked for our tab. A couple of minutes later the bartender comes over with the little black book with our check AND the 2 credit card slips from running our card! We stopped her and said, «no, we told you we were gonna pay cash» so she grabbed the credit card slips and the receipt, wadded them up and the threw them in the trash, and told us that she had not put the transaction through yet so we could still pay cash. The total was $ 40. We were charged $ 10 each for our drinks and before she threw the receipt out we noticed she had charged us for large drinks. We mentioned that to her and said we did not ask for large drinks nor did we want large drinks, and her response was a bit ridiculous… «the other glasses are dirty. Those are the only glasses we have right now, sorry.» They should be telling patrons that beforehand.
Anyway, so we pay with cash, the $ 40 plus tip and head over to the bowling side. When we go up to get our shoes, we are then told that we can only play 2 games since there was a wait. After waiting more than 2 hours, they should have told us that in the beginning. We still stayed, and were only able to play one game because our lane kept malfunctioning. When we were done, we went up to pay. You also have to leave a card at the front when you get your shoes, etc. Again, we were paying cash and asked for our card back, while we had cash in hand. The girl at the front was incredibly rude and refused to give us the card until we physically handed the cash over. She treated us like we were criminals and we were gonna run out the door. The whole experience was pretty awful.
A few weeks later, when my boyfriend received his credit card statement, he noticed a $ 40 charge from Kings even though we paid cash and never signed any credit card receipt! He called Kings to dispute and they were very difficult, asking if he had a receipt. No, he didn’t b/​c the bartender threw it away when she wadded up our credit card slips. We asked Kings to produce a signed credit card slip, knowing full and well that they could not b/​c we never signed one. They wouldn’t budge and it took months of going back and forth with the credit card company before we were able to get the money back. Again, be very careful with this place. I will not be going back, ever. Shady company.

Half price games on Monday nights after 9pm! We played skee ball, shuffleboard, and bowling! If you have a military ID you get a free game of bowling and rental shoes :)

I came here for a Halloween event organized by my friend’s optometry school. Maybe it was the event itself or the venue or both — I don’t know — but I thoroughly enjoyed my evening here.
Our giant group shared a bunch of food. I highly recommend the pulled pork sliders, buffalo chicken tenders, and nacho pizza — in that order.
I didn’t take a careful look at the beer selection but a couple people I was with ordered some crafts, so that’s always good. If you want a well drink, go with the whiskey sour. If you want to try one of their signature cocktails, go for the Sour Patch Kings. That one has sour patch candies at the bottom of it! So yummy! My friend got The Shag, which has a tropical coconut-​y taste. Also yummy!
Super spacious interior and plenty of places to sit (or stand). Lots of pool tables but could use more lanes for bowling. Staff is super adequate. The waitresses are sweet. The bartenders are really quick and patient. Bussers are quick to clean up any clutter or mess, although some seemed grumpy and one of them took my plate when I wasn’t even finished eating. It didn’t bother me too much though, so it’s cool.
¹⁰⁄₁₀ would be back again.

My friend lost a ball in the lane next to us. I waited and waited and no one came. A few drinks in, one of the guests in the other lane dares me to go and get it. So, at this point, I stupidly thought this was a good idea. I went to retrieve it, it rolled too far, and I turned around. As I was walking back, I saw a manager talking to my friend who was watching me walk back. Waving her hands around and clearly upset. (Understandably so). The manager never spoke to me and stormed off before I made it carefully back. As she was storming off, she didn’t event exit our booth area before loudly stating, «f*%#ing morons.»
Granted, I should not have been on the lane. I know that as a manager myself. However, I did wait a substantial amount of time before retrieving my bowling ball myself. I apologize for that. But that, in no way, warrants calling myself and my two friends «f*#%ing morons» as you’re walking away.
Other than this crap, my time here was fantastic. Don’t think I’ll be coming back to this location when she’s on duty. I spoke to Cory about the entire incident so he could give someone a heads up before I submitted this review.
That kind of behavior is unacceptable to me. She can call me whatever she wants, but not in ear shot of my friends.

My girlfriend and I went to Kings last weekend since they were broadcasting the FSU/​USF game. The place was packed with Noles and Bulls fans. It honestly felt like we were at a huge Super Bowl party and not a Saturday afternoon random college matchup.
We ordered a couple massive Budweiser Lights to start. I’m not a beer drinker, but when in Rome. Or perhaps I should say when in college. The beers were 32oz each, which is how Bud Light should always be served.
Cocktails are only $ 9 each, which is what cocktails should always cost.
We started with spring rolls and nachos to start. I didn’t eat any of Kristina’s spring rolls because they looked too healthy, but she said they were good. The nachos were loaded and I made a pig of myself. Apps were only $ 8 each.
Kristina was full from her spring rolls, but I ordered a Classic Cheeseburger for my entrée. The burgers are on the small side (6oz) which means they cook up fast. You can choose between «pink» or «no pink». The burger was topped with cheese, lettuce, tomato, and fancy sauce. The burger was also only $ 8.
Our server was wicked fun, attentive, fast, and even gave us change for the parking meter.
I’ve only bowled at the Dedham location so I can’t speak for anything besides the food and drinks at the Boston spot.
Overall we had a great time. I wouldn’t mind going back to watch a Football game in the future.

**UPDATE: THIS REVIEW IS FOR KARAOKE**
Recently, I finally was able to come for karaōke night. My friend decided to celebrate her birthday here, and overall, it wasn’t a great experience. She had reserved a table so we could order some food and drinks before karaōke started at 10pm. No one informed us prior to our arrival that everyone at the table must order an entrée. We were able to talk to management and they waived that requirement, but it would’ve been helpful to know ahead of time since we had 20+ people in our party.
The bar service was incredibly slow. I ordered drinks and it took at least 15 minutes to get the drinks. The two bartenders working that night were also very rude. Given our large party, we had different people going up to the bar to buy a few drinks throughout the night. I went up with my friend and it was her first drink of the night, and the bartenders said they were going to cut us off because we had ordered too many drinks apparently. That was pretty outrageous to me and terrible service. They were very rude about it, when it was clear that we simply just had a large party.
Karaōke itself was alright. They have a decent selection of songs and a small stage for you to go up and sing to your heart’s content. I definitely will not be back here, at least not for the karaōke/​restaurant.

After the incredible Unilocal Elite event here, I was excited to return. Unfortunately my «regular patron» experience was pretty mediocre.
My group of 5 arrived around 3 PM on a Saturday afternoon, thinking it would be a slower time. Wrong. The wait for one lane was 1 – 2 hours. Which is a big time range, to say the least, but they have a bar! So I guess we can hang.
We grab a table at the side bar area and let the waitress know we have a gift card. She informs of that there are limitations. Of course. It can’t be used on alcohol, and you can’t use just part of it, ensuring that we have to spend more than the amount to use it up completely. Well great.
We order an appetizer sampler as well as an order of tortilla chips with guacamole and mango salsa. The app plate was pretty good with personal faves being the southwest rolls and the mac n cheese bites. There were too many chips and not enough dips, so the tortilla place was just ok. The drinks were also fine — we got a variety of daiquiri/​margarita concoctions — although very sweet and overpriced.
After nearly 2 hours, our buzzer goes off for our lane. We grab shoes and head over to the far corner of the space (that I didn’t even know existed) for cosmic bowling. It was dark and the music was good, which led to a fun environment and us forgetting that it was still afternoon. More drinks!
Bowling started off fine, but after a few rounds the machinery started malfunctioning and not counting all the pins that we knocked down. We alerted the staff, who looked into fixing it. For about thirty minutes. So we just hung out at the lane without bowling in the hopes that we’d be able to eventually continue with the accurate number of points (maybe that’s why the wait for lanes is so long). Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. They couldn’t fix whatever bug was causing the inaccuracies, so we were forced to keep bowling and just not trust the score on the screen. We’re all winners, right?
Lastly, the waitress we had at the lane was in a funk. We ordered a brownie sundae, and when the glorious creation arrived, it came with just one spoon. There are 5 of us. We asked for more spoons when we eventually found the waitress again, and she rolled her eyes, returning about 10 minutes later. She asked how many we wanted (again, there are 5 of us) and dumped about 8 on the table. Luckily the ice cream hadn’t completely melted at this point.
Overall, Kings is a good option for a fun group outing, but you have to set your expectations. I’d return only if I know I have hours to kill (you never know when you’ll actually get to bowl. or if the lane will randomly poop out on you), and if I don’t have to pay for it myself (work outing, anyone? or better yet. another free Unilocal event).

When all the other bars are filled and you have a group of 9 wondering Back Bay, Kings was really the place to eat, drink, and be merry. After all, nothing matters as long as you’re with good company.
Anyways, everyone ordered a variety of drinks from sweet teas to margaritas ($ 9) and depending on the bartender, if you ordered the same drink a second time, it was magically a new version.
I ordered a Kingstini and it was relatively clear with some strawberry purée, second time around ordering it in the lounge instead of the bar by the bowling, it was a cream and coffee brown with some extra pizzazz.
The food was decent, $ 6.99 for any specialty burger and an extra $ 3.50 for a dinky amount of fries. The Sunny burger was great but the side of cajun fries was incredibly salty. Others ordered pizza, calamari, wings, Santa Fe salad, chicken wrap, and more burgers. Stick with burgers, wings, and pizza folks, can’t go wrong with that.
Friday night was karaōke night so we were serenaded by our fellow strangers. The good thing was we didn’t have to rush in fear of being kicked out, the bad thing was our ear drums were blown out by the end of the night. Good music though. The DJ spun a lot of oldies and then simmered up to the newies as the night went along.

ugh. I thought and hoped going here to shoot pool at 7ish on the weekend would not be a disaster. It was… The pool cues all seemed warped, and after being there for maybe half an hour, the staff came over to tell us we had to give up our table in 5 minutes. We couldn’t even finish our game. I guess someone gave us that table in error for a reservation or party… but there was another table they could change us too.
I thought that wasn’t horribly inconvenient, though, I don’t know why they couldn’t give the new people coming in that free table… it seemed kind of off, and weird. The server for the area introduced herself once, then never saw her again.
We opted to not get the other table, since being rushed kind of soured the pool experience. There were two seats at the bar and the place wasn’t that crowded so we bellied up to the bar to order dinner. Thinking it’d be quicker sitting at the bar than trying to go get a table.
The bartender was more interested in telling us about his day, how tired he was, how much longer his shift was, than checking with us for drinks and food. After our food was delivered, it was near impossible to flag him down for refills or water. I thought was weird, because half the fun of being at the bar is the quick attention of the bartender. It seems like he was the only one making drinks for the pool tables, and a portion of the lanes.
Also by this time is was inching closer to 8.30−9, and the place had gotten very bar-​y. college girls who use ‘like’ and the f-​bomb in like every f’ing sentence which is totally not an incomplete f’ing sentence. So that made us want the check even quicker!
I would love to come back when this place is dead, because i love bowling, pool, ski ball, etc. Though I just don’t know when that is!