Pinbusterz Family Fun Center

Well, there’s an update, the owner of the place invited us (last year) to come and enjoy their bowling, and I did just see the message today, so I’m trying to update this review.
My son was invited to his friends’ birthday party a few months back at this place, and although I didn’t go in, he did say he had a ton of good time with his friends playing bowling.
I think it’s cool that they invited us back for another try, we really appreciate the offer, one of these days, we may take it up. :)

I used to love this place but it really has gone downhill. We came in on a Monday at 8 pm. The hours on the door clearly said they were open till 10. The worker made sure to inform us they closed at 9 which was untrue. We started bowling and our lane broke we went up to the front to switch lanes and the lady said ok but made sure to inform us again that they close at 9. We started our game over on the different lanes trying to hurry and the workers were glaring at us the whOle tiMe. There were at least 15 people there but obviously they don’t care about business. Our new lane broke again and took the people 10 minutes to fix it. It was just redicioulus how crappy this bowling ally was. Go to mt. Hood lanes or the one on 92^nd and powell these places actually want business and don’t lie about there hours. Won’t be back.

I recently attended a birthday party for my (seriously adorable) goddaughter here, along with my 11-​year-​old & 18-​year-​old daughters. It was my first trip to Pinbusterz.
This place used to be the Rose Bowl bowling alley. It’s now a bowling alley/​Chuck E. Cheese-​type arcade center, complete with little prizes for kids to win. It’s a dive, not that there’s anything wrong with that.
I’ll get the few cons out of the way first:
*They knew a party was coming, but didn’t seem prepared. The «family fun» aspect is new and given the professionalism of the staff, I expect these wrinkles will be ironed out in no time.
*The room for the party was nice and out of the way. However, there were broken bowling balls under the booths, a huge open janitor’s trash can next to the table and several brooms and dustpans stacked against the wall. It felt less like a party room and more like a place to hold junk.
*Many of the games were broken or unplugged.
*The pizza was awful, even for bowling alley food.
*I am assuming the switch in names was recent, as several items were still carrying the Rose Bowl name and logo.
*The prizes for the games were very cheap and several broke almost immediately. Dollar store toys are more durable.
*The parking lot is weird. One of the exits has been repainted and a barrier placed to create more parking when frankly, the lot they have is more than adequate. It’s not well painted, and looks like it’s still an exit… until you attempt to use it as such, and find you must turn around in a narrow part of the lot just to exit.
The pros:
*The staff was extremely friendly and helpful. Some allies have staff that pretty much ignore anyone who isn’t a regular, and that is absolutely not the case here. They were very welcoming, and it was appreciated. Even when getting the prizes, they were patient and enthusiastic. This must be a good place to work to produce such pleasant employees.
*Instead of tickets and coins, they issue you a key card. I loved this; you didn’t have to worry about your kids losing money or having to wrestle with a ton of tickets. It’s environmentally-​friendly, too.
*The games were very modern and cool. They had much more for older kids to play than Chuck E. Cheese. I particularly enjoyed the new take on the classic Frogger, and Operation.
*Unlike Chuck E.‘s, this place doesn’t turn the game volume up to Def Con 4, and there aren’t a ton of kids running around like maniacs. It’s quieter, the people more well-​behaved, and even my autistic daughter was able to enjoy the venue without a problem. If you have a child who has trouble tolerating the crazy lights and deafening sounds in most arcades, this is a good alternative.
*They had lemonade in February. This Southern-​born gal appreciated this greatly.
*The *very best thing*, and the reason I would recommend this place to others? When the kids wanted to bowl, I was concerned the serious players there would be displeased. Instead, they encouraged the kids, gave them tips and cheered when they did well! They couldn’t have been nicer. My kids showed up with zero interest in bowling, and now they can’t wait to go back.
Three stars, but I expect that after this «shakedown cruise» period that will go up to four.

Busy at times. The bowling is good for the price. The bathrooms were beyond filthy and the general upkeep was poor. Kids had a good time and the price was right.

This place is dirty. We showed up at 12:15pm on Tuesday August 26^th, 2014. They open at noon. No games were turned on, old pop corn from the night before was in the dirty pop corn machine and the floors had food and debri all over them. It looked as though the place hadn’t been cleaned in weeks. We paid for the kid bowling. When we entered all tables and chairs were dirty, I had to ask for someone to clean them. The bowling balls were filthy. After 20 minutes the games still were not turned on. I went to look for a person working. A lady with blond hair and a man with black hair were sitting back looking at magazines. This establishment is not run well and I will never return to this place. We left before our bowling was over and I am throwing away the card with money on it for the games. I would never refer anyone to this place

I’ve been here a few times only for the kids bowling lanes. What a great way to keep the kids busy for only $ 5/​kid! They love the shorter and gutterless lanes. The place is much older and sometimes the lanes don’t always work. Go during the day and you can have the lanes all to yourself. The guys at the register are super nice and have always been really helpful.

Rainy weekend in pdx so decided to bring the kids here on a whim. It’s basically an old bowling alley trying to stay relevant by adding some games and cosmic bowling kids lanes. Staff was friendly, bowling prices were reasonable but game prices were through the roof. If you get the $ 15 for $ 30 deal it’s worth a trip. Very kid friendly. Avoid the food. Seriously.

This is the old rose bowl which before was a pretty decent place. It’s still kind of an old school owning alley but now it’s got some redemption games and these cool kids only mini lanes with black lights. My 3 year old absolutely loves bowling and he loves coming here. They don’t have the mini lanes fully operational but the last few times we’ve come here they turn on a lane for him to throw balls at our hearts content.
They also have hooked us up with free credits to play the games. The staff here is really amazing. I really hope this place sticks around for a long time.

Under a new name, which I forget, but this bowling alley I have been going to since I was a lil boy back in 1975. My Mother grew up across the street from here. It really is quaint and well ran, without taking your wallet. Very fair priced and clean environment. Only setback is that League has the place on weekend nights until like 9:30.

Small bowling alley with outdated scoring computers. Good prices and not very crowded.

This little bowling alley is in an older blue-​collar neighborhood. Built in 1962, it’s got less than 20 well maintained lanes with touch-​screen scoring systems. The Sunday morning crowd was moderate, but open lanes were available, so we took one.
It was quite comfortable, and the bowlers seemed to me to be the serious type. They we’re polite, followed bowling etiquette, and were putting up some pretty big numbers on the scoreboards. We did all that too, except the big numbers.
Two of us bowled two games for four dollars.

What a great little bowling alley. It’s got that down home neighborhood feel to it. The folks are friendly and helpful. It’s clean and they’ve got some great specials on. It’s smaller, 16 lanes, but still does not feel crowded. Tables are all nice and clean. The clientele are amicable.
Bowling alleys that continue to carry the old American pasttime right inside their building.
We will be back and have ourselves some drinks, and maybe even some tater tots.