I remember Big Al's being a place that was all around wonderful. Good food, good games, all around family fun. But my pal Al, man, he's going through a mid-life crisis I think. I came here and I ate a bite of my French Dip (If you dare call it that) and was practically in tears of how it tasted like it had been sitting out for a couple years. I mean, how do you screw up French Dip, man? Needless to say, my food was garbage, and the rest of my party didn't have very high quality food either, and everything seemed quite stale to me. Though, I do give the place a 2 for my wonderful service I had, and of course Bowling is pretty darn awesome as well. But my friend, if you are coming here for the food alone (Which I don't think many people do) please turn your mini van around and go to the Biscuits across the street, or maybe even McDonalds. TL;DR: Come here if you want to go Bowling and then go somewhere else after and eat. read more

I've been going to Big Als for years and have always had great service and food. Tonight was very different. Our family sat down in the bar for dinner. The waiter was slow to even say hello and after 5 minutes the menus came along. We ordered drinks and he mixed them all up. So he took half our food order and walked away to get the correct drinks and never came back to finish taking our order. Flagged him from bullshitting and high fiving with the girls at the bar and told him please take the rest of the tables food order. Jezz at this point how hard can taking an order? Then the food came.... My sons burger was missing the second patty and other things requested. No big deal 15 minutes later they brought out a hot meat patty and expected him to eat the rest of the food cold. Sent everything back to warm the entire meal up. Meanwhile his girlfriend was eating her club sandwich and discovered 4 hairs within the sand which. I blew a fuse and tracked down the manager. She verified it was human hair as well. I asked her if tonight was training night. No reply,,, they changed waiters and the new one was a little better and gave us two free meals but by then the damage was complete. Not sure if I'll ever go back. If I do we will eat first. Caution, inspect your food before you dig in! Nothing worse than having someone else's hair stuck in your teeth. read more

Please learn this before taking your family to bowl. It's seriously frustrating to bowl next to people with no ettiquette. Http://www.pba.com/Resources/Bowling101/ read more

We had a certificate for 1 hour free bowling for up to 6 people so we decided to go last night. It wasn't too busy when we got there at 7 pm so we were able to get a lane right away. The lady that was helping us gave us 2 lanes for free instead of one and free shoes even though we were supposed to pay for the shoes. We had a great time bowling! Wanted to play a few games in the arcade but it was packed. Big Al's isn't your typical bowling alley. It is very clean and well taken care of. Also the food is great! And from what I've seen, great customer service. Suggestion- to get the best experience, go when it won't be very busy. read more

We order two pizza and they bought two burnt pizza $23 a pieces! It's terrible overcook. Where's experience cook? Waste a money!

I went starving, and ready to eat some sort of bar food. I decided that only the beer was safe, and it would be better to go hungry and keep the beer down. I creeped a few tables, and the pizza and nachos looked real real gross, though the red white and blue chips are a great 'merica shout out, so I will give them a point for that. The games were great, and I love any place that has the real Skeeball. We "won" a great clown wig that I am sure will be passed around for years to come. Would have preferred that they did not use a card system because it seemed like a bit of an excessively wasteful process, but that is just the environmentalist in me thinking out loud. Food: -9 stars Games: 4.5 bowling: 4 read more

Big Al's is one of those rare places that appeal equally to kids and adults. If you're too uptight to release your inner kid, there's a sports bar. If you're like me and embrace your inner kid the second you walk through the doors, there's a gigantic arcade. The coolest thing about Big Al's is you can be both an adult and a kid at the same time. Go to the sports bar, have some drinks, and then bowl and arcade to your heart's content. There are a few issues that prevent this from being a five star business. And honestly, the issues are significant enough to prevent it from even being a full 4 stars. But because there is no 3 and a half star rating (because Yelp apparently hates fractions), I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and round up instead of down. The one issue that I'm sure everyone knows about and has been pointed out repeatedly are the prices. $5.50 per game after 5 PM is ridiculous. It's almost as ridiculous as a 16 inch one topping pizza costing $20. (And from what I hear, the pizza isn't even any good). Thankfully, there is an after-9 PM-deal where you can get unlimited bowling for $10 (including shoes) which is actually a really good deal. And according to their website, you can get half off all liquor during happy hour. So, one can avoid the brutal prices by coming to Big Al's late and avoiding as much food and arcade (which is also very expensive) as possible. However, one thing you can't avoid is the atmosphere and service. The service, another pointed out flaw, is often sub-par. Get used to waiting 20-30 minutes every time you order a drink from your server. Also get used to kids (including those of the teenager variety) running all over the place and making noise. If you have the money, I'd consider getting one of those personal lanes. A lot better than having to worry about the possibility of someone else's kids running unsupervised through your lanes (like what happened to that fellow reviewer). Big Al's is meant to be a playground for kids and adults alike. But unlike kids, things such as the rude tone in your server's voice and the outrageous price of your non-happy hour drink, will start to wear on your mind. And will keep wearing on your mind until all of a sudden, that inner child disappears. Without that inner child, the noises and crowds that were once exciting and new are now just annoying. You start walking towards the exit while thinking about what your one or two star Yelp review will look like. read more

Food was ok. Environment was nice. Service sucked. I'll only come here again for the pool and games, maybe a beer. But like I said... service was crappy. read more

Over priced, sub-par food, broken machines/games, dirty tables. Overall lack luster and a waste of time. Previous review was removed so I'll be happy to add one on facebook, and trip advisor =). Cheers! read more

Big Al's - Great Response from a Great....and I mean GREAT establishment...... - Sports Bars Near Me - Vancouver, Washington

I will never go here, for food, ever again. I heard they had good nachos so I went during happy hour and ordered their "Famous Big Al Nachos" with chicken. What was brought to my table was a giant pile of oily chips stuck together with over cooked, hard, cheese, a pile of sour cream and salsa and maybe 2 tiny shreds of chicken. The menu said there should have also been black beans, green onions, and guacamole. I had none of those items on my brick of nachos. After sending it back, because it was virtually inedible, I ordered the black and blue salad. Not only was the steak overdone and chewy, but the jalapeno corn bread was BLACK and rock hard. I figured the saving grace would be my drink, because who can mess up a vodka and seven up? Well, the bar messed it up by garnishing my drinks with brown limes. To top it all off, after getting my bill and when I was ready to pay, and get the heck out of dodge, it took my waitress 12 minutes to come back and pick up my payment. I was so close to walking out. I walked away from Big Al's with a virtual bad taste in my mouth. read more

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Went to big Al's for the Connor McGregor vs cowboy fight. Have frequented big Al's many times in the past and have never had a single issue and tonight was no different. My servers name is Urich and he was extremely respectful and helpful. 10/10 service. read more

I was amazed by the multiple side-by-side screens at the sports-bar. It's huge place, with several other screens as well... The bowling alleys seemed to be great as well (we haven't bowled on our visit). There are several arcade games as well with air hocket, billiard tables, dart boards... and then there's give aways as well. The service was good. Coming to food, the chicken wings (hot sauce) were good, the chicken lettuce wraps & their french fries were all good. My personal gripe with this place is that it seems in nowhere location, which means that there's absolutely no issue with parking :-). read more

Customer service? Maybe if you want to wait for servers to finish their conversations and then greet you with "What's up?"

It's corporate. It's big. It's impossible to stay focused on anything one particular game because there are so many TVs. It's the place to go in a pinch to watch a game. read more

I come here to watch sports with friends mostly. I don't normally use the arcade and I am unable to bowl to do my disability. But living ion Vancouver, WA there isn't many options for sports bars. But Big Al's is about not bad! They have great good, a wide selection of beer on tap, and other alcoholic beverages, I'm not a drinker, not San issue their sodas come in LARGE GLASSES WITH FREE REFILLS! Staff is friendly and attentive, even when busy. So on the "BIG" sporting events, such as the playoffs, this is my place! Thank you Vancouver for giving us sports fans SOMETHING WE CAN GO!! read more

Big Al's - Big Screen TVs for watching sports events - Sports Bars Near Me - Vancouver, Washington

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Honestly, it's been months since I've been inside. The reason is that the three times I've eaten here (correction 2 times and one attempt), the servers took freakin' forever to show up. My buddy and I eventually got our food and it was ok-to-good. I asked if they had Guinness and they did, but the bar lady didn't know how to operate the device that vended the beverage... The last time I went, I found a seat and the bar guy gave me a menu. 25 minutes later as he was chatting up the bar-flys, I got up and asked how much I owed for the ice tea I had been nursing. He said, "Don't you want to eat something?" I said, "I was hungry half an hour ago when I walked in, now I'm going to go get something to eat." So a couple of the video games are fun, the bowling is enjoyable, but I won't ever try to eat there again. read more

Interesting place! While visiting the area for the holidays Big Al's was mentioned as a good spot to go watch a game and grab drinks and snacks, so off we went. The sports bar area is huge with massive tv's! The drinks were tasty and what food I had was pretty good for the most part... just skip the pizza, it has that weird fake pizza sauce and cheese taste. After the game we popped into the arcade for a bit and played a few games. I didn't explore the other parts but it looked like there is a spot for everyone at Big Al's whether you are watching a game, playing one or just there for a few drinks. read more

Lots of TV's. Good food. Fun place. Prices are ok. Lots of staff...not a lot of service. They appear to be having fun though. So don't be in a hurry when you come. read more

For bowling: Great! Clean, nice atmosphere, good equipment. For eating: Meh. Cold, greasy food. Sometimes takes way too long to actually get said crappy food. But, hey, it's a bowling alley. Service: Sometimes really good, sometimes amazingly bad. It's a mixed bag. read more

We come here often with the kids for some good ol' family fun! If you time when you go, the prices can be pretty reasonable. They are always running specials for bowling and even the arcade. The equipment is always in good, working order. The shoe rentals and balls are clean. It's a great place to beat the heat! read more

Not lame! And really, that's all I dared to expect from a place like this, which has the potential to be not good. But it is a great place to watch a game. Huge TVs, good service, good beer selection and shockingly decent food. Cute servers too. Might be fun to bowl and watch a game. read more

I don't like it they took forever with the drinks and the waitress didn't take our order and they even looked at us and didn't do anything we had to ask them read more

If I could leave zero stars, I would. Our server, Stephanie, checked on us twice in 40 minutes. Our food came out 5 minutes before our first round of drinks. We thought we would run out of time for happy hour, things took that long. I don't know if she assumed we were not going to be a big-ticket table (we would have been), but we felt like we were the least important people in the world. As a couple who have almost 15 years of experience in "the industry," we know that things in a restaurant get hectic sometimes. But this was ridiculous. She had the same 4 tables (all 2-tops) the whole time we were here. My fiance and I wanted a nice date night. We don't get many since we have a nine-month old at home. This was not it. read more

Absolutely horrible dining staff. Brought us the wrong beer. Forgot our sodas. Never brought our appetizers out. After 45 mins, only 1 persons dish came out. Ended up getting our entire meal, aka only 1 plate of food and a few wrong beers, free and some bowling tickets. Never going here again! Avg quality food too. Microwaved and all.. read more

Birthday Party Review We love Big Al's - great food, fun atmosphere. We wanted to try it for our son's 7th birthday. In the past, we did McDonald's and Firstenburg Community Center. By far, Big Als was the best experience. Birthday Package We did the Gold Package. Bowling, Game Card, Pizza, and Cupcakes. Room was already really well decorated, but we brought a few extra balloons for the kids to take home. One main table for the kids and four smaller table for parents, gifts. Big screen tv and couch / bench for parents. We piped in music into the room via the Big Al's music system and muted a baseball game on the screen. It gave the room a great energy. Hostess: Hostess Kabrina was fabulous. She was warm with all the children and took command of keeping the kids going from activity to activity. She was a great facilitator. Took care of bowling shoes, extra beverages and kept everything going at a great pace. Bowling: Yes, Kabrina entered all of the kids info into the computer! Parents did not have to lift a finger. Pizza and Drinks: Pizza was served warm and delicious. Drinks were cold. Happy Birthday and Cupcakes: We sang Happy Birthday and did cupcakes while birthday boy opened his gifts. Again, had a good flow to it. Cupcakes were great. Afterwards: Before turning the kids loose in the arcade, we played a couple of games including The Limbo and a balloon game. Kids loved it. We then lined the kids up and they exited the room. I would recommend a couple of games to do in the room as there could be a lull after pizza and bowling before the arcade. Final Thoughts: We loved it. Very turnkey but extremely well done - high quality birthday party. My only piece of advice would be to make sure parents stay with their kids throughout the party, especially when it comes to arcade time where visibility is a challenge. Thanks Big Als and Kabrina for a 5 STAR EXPERIENCE. You were the best! read more

*Final Update* I was finally able to get a hold of someone from the event planning department after directly emailing them not by replying what seems to be an automated response from the yelp review comments which never got back to me. After emailing back and forth big al did allow me to reschedule the event however that was my only option. I will give this establishment 2 stars only because I was able to reschedule and not completely lose $300 but I am fairly disappointed in the type of "cornering" strategy that is used to lock a person into an event and furthermore not allowing for the option of transferring my funds into a gift card. *UPDATE* It has been about a week now and haven't heard anything from this establishment's leadership. I was originally given the only option of rescheduling the event by the end of the month (now October 30th) but was surprised to find out via instant reply from email that the person that was dealing with my particular case is out of the office until November 1st. If I lose $300 because of this this has to be illegal. Original situation Big Al's is a fun place however, this review will be about the event planning in particular. I had planned a surprise party for my wife's birthday and had gone through the process of picking the date as well as dropping a pricey $300 deposit for my event which was slotted for the 26th of October. About a week after putting down the deposit, I found out that my wife actually had very different plans that I didn't know about at the time which is fine and not a crime. Juanita was one of the planners that I had spoken with and originally helped me with picking out the event. My wife felt bad and we decided to go into Big Al's to describe the miscommunication about my wife having other plans and we were not going to be able to do the event. Juanita replied by saying she would have to talk to her manager that was not present at the moment. About two days later Juanita replies via email saying "I did receive word back from my Event Manager who said unfortunately a contract was signed and the only way to apply it back to you guys is by an event." I was really surprised that my only option was towards another event that we would still have to pay an additional amount of money to host (not to mention they gave me a deadline of October to respond with another event date). There was no offers for even a gift card which I would think would be the least they could do. At least if it was a gift card I would feel that I would not have spent $300 for nothing. Another thing that was confusing is that they cater the food at the events but there is no way to sample the food to see if you or anyone else would even like it. For anyone planning an event here, please do not send Big Al's any money as a deposit if you have any doubts at all about making the event. read more

Yummmmmy nachos! Omg. Yum. Beachside Peach drink soooo delicious. Good service too. First time here. Check it out!

This place is amazing! The ambiance, the staff, the activities available! I had the best time celebrating my sisters birthday here. We felt very welcomed by the staff. Savannah, who was helping us in the arcade/prize area was wonderful! She was charming, friendly, and very welcoming. The managers whom we met were also very sweet and welcoming. The bartender (I forgot his name--but he was from New Zealand) made our stay comfortable! This bowling alley offers SO much more! 42 lanes with big screen TVs on each lane! Pool Tables way in the back with a whole new massive area! A mid-sized arcade with fun prizes! The food!! I had the BEST fried pickles that I have ever had! They were spears! We had mozzeralla sticks and some other apps that were amazing too! I only wish that I lived closer! read more

We have been to big al's a few times now in the past 6 months. The wait to order your food is exceptionally long, especially if you are a child who was told no video games till after you eat. It is very kid friendly, but very rough on your pocket book. Going for dinner, games and bowling will leave you broke and wondering if it was even worth it. My suggestion would be to feed your family first and then either play games or bowl. You cant afford to do both in this economy(at least we cannot). The place is very modern, clean and fun for the kiddos. Those are my only perks. read more

My family and parents was looking for a fun afternoon, good food and football playoffs. We wished we went to somewhere else. 1. Food is mediocre. Their famous nachos as bland and the chips were all broken! 2. Service was horrible. It took 15 min to get service. After the initial service, the waiter didn't come back for another 20 min! Overall experience - we will not go to Big Al's again. There are better places for better value. Plus we heard the owners are arrogant. read more

DO NOT get Corrina as your server. She was terrible. Just kidding. Ask for her. Excellent day out. Simple, easy and fun. Food exceeded our expectations. Beer was great. Always fun. read more

I LOVE Big Al's! As a mom of two young toddlers, it's such a great treat on a rainy day or a weekend with family or friends. I love how huge it is! I like that you can choose to bowl or just play the arcade games if you like, or both! Getting some drinks and a bite to eat is just as easy. Food and drinks are your basic party, comfort food, but the prices are reasonable. You can easily spend a whole afternoon there. I definitely recommend it to anyone looking for an indoor activity! read more

Very quick and nice place to hang out. Drinks are reasonably priced and food was good. We were seated in a timely manner

We love Big Al's. It has everything you need for a fun, family afternoon. It is a busy place, but the staff really cares. They go out of their way to make your experience fun. read more

I had received great customer service from the gal behind the snack shack. The nachos were pretty expensive, but there was enough for everyone to indulge. They say it's good for 3-4. However I believe that's the standard one. The larger plate most likely could do 5-6 people. Good place to watch a game in certain areas. Sitting at the bowling alley could make you become restless after an extended period of time. read more

Big Al's - Sports Bars Near Me - Vancouver, Washington

One sentence review: "You'll have more fun here if you just got paid." If you're a penny-pinching-cheap-as$ you'll hate this place. they want your money and have no reservations about taking it. once you walk in you are bombarded by bright neon lights, large spaces, large screens, and larger families who are more than willing to shell out the larger portion of their paychecks to keep their kids from embarrassing them about wanting more money for arcade games. that said, i too, am a penny pinching cheap as$. but, i did my due diligence and saved up money to blow. You will know that this place isn't vegas but your money won't know the difference. I knew this place would cost me and so being prepared, i had a great time. The video games do cost $0.50 to play, and the coin operated games run on tokens costing a quarter each. Some may think this is steep, but this is no Wunderland. The prizes are commiserate with the cost. If Wunderland had prizes like Big Al's (Wii / Rockband / PSP / Nintendo DS / GLASS cups / decent sh*t etc.) you wouldn't be playing with nickels. enough said about the arcade. I only had breakfast there. It was familiar fare to those who frequent Denny's with their standards of sausage, eggs, bacon, waffles & potatoes. it was greasy, but what do you expect? The three of us each paid $6.99 for our breakfast. The bowling is... bowling. They've got price reductions during slower times so take advantage of these if you're tight like me. Sunday mornings (9AM to Noon) are $1.75 per person/game so it's quite affordable. Shoe rental is $3.00. If you want to have a cosmic bowl experience you can try their other bowling alley. It's in the same place, but it's a little more expensive don't ask me how it is though - im cheap remember. read more

A pretty great play place offering almost everything for 10+ to adult. Not for smaller children as much. Enjoyable food, snacks and variety of game play plus bowling if that's your thing. read more

Big Al's - Just a quick look at a small area - the place is huge AND loads of fun, we think! Come enjoy ... - Sports Bars Near Me - Vancouver, Washington

Long story short. When they opened, the original staff completely under-trained, under-managed and under-whealming... We called and tried to book a birthday party for my son and they didn't have the skills to place our name on the calendar and take money... really! not joking... that inept. After boycotting Big Als for a while, My kid was invited to a b-day party (apparently they have learned how to work a calendar and register) i was immediately impressed by the fact that they fired all of the 17 year olds and hired 19-30 year olds to actually work. Great place to watch the blazers if you live near 164th... Everything else is not a great value proposition, unless 78 dollars for bowling is a good value? you decide... and FYI - They charge 50 cents to play video games. 50 cents? puhhh-leeease! read more

Thank you for making our kids night after we're verbally ridiculed by Allen Crosley lane employee for trying to explain to our 2 and 4 yo why couldn't bowl when we went. We weren't trying to spend a lot but spending it was worth it to see how happy our kids were and how accommodating you guys were not even knowing what we had just went through. Thank you so much. Games were fun and so was bowling but to see how many precautions your employees took made it even better. Forget 2.00 tuesdays at other places pay the extra to get treated right. read more

We love Big Al's! This was our second time celebrating our sons birthday and I have to say it's well worth the price. read more

Big Al's - Basketball theme set up - Sports Bars Near Me - Vancouver, Washington

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