If you live in or visit Kearney,Ne., you'll want to be sure to stop by Big Apple. While I was getting my Nebraska Passport stamped, I spoke at length with the guy behind the counter about the incredible array of possibilities here. He proudly said that there is literally something for everyone. Bowling includes regular, cosmic, duckpin, and bumper. For leagues besides bowling, there's darts and pool featured in the huge sports bar that can also be a wedding venue. There's so many game machines it's like walking through slot machines at a casino, but none are gambling. Laser tag, indoor go carts, out door go carts, and more. You get the idea. While I was there, someone was having a birthday party. I didn't check the pricing, but the food menu seems very reasonable. It's definitely family friendly entertainment. read more

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I hosted a combination birthday party (for me), family reunion, and post-funeral reception here on 5/18/24. GREAT: Planning in advance with management and creating an event from far away. We traveled from 9 hours away. The kids loved the go-karts and laser tag. I definitely feel like these are next level attractions! Staff - friendly, kind, and helped to end a sad day on a high note. Food - much of this place has expanded but the kitchen can get strained, especially when they are slammed by the Saturday night bowlers. Order early and often. Recommended improvement: A seating plan. It was winner take all seating and our group was growing as the night went on. The locals were miffed that a city slicker dared to ask them for their barely filled pizza table. read more

3/8/2025 went to play pool. The good: The tables are in good condition and were available even though we didn't get there until 10. Drinks were reasonably priced and the beer on tap was cold. The bad: The pool cues are ALL broken or in very poor condition. You cannot get a pool table by the hour but rather have to pay for an arcade card so you can pay by the game. 2 times the 8 ball got stuck so we had to swipe the card again to play. The bar tender was crabby and rude to every customer who approached the bar. We are probably old school but standards for a pool hall are pretty low! Cold beer, friendly bartender, easy to pay, tables and cues in usable condition. That's a 2 out of 5! read more

This place is great. We are traveling and stopped here in our way to Colorado and stayed overnight in the parking lot (reserved via Harvest Host), in exchange for staying we patronize the business, which is a nice system because now that I've been here I'd plan a stop here (also Hastings Museum 1 hour away and returning to Hastings Aquacourt -- there is not much else between Denver and Omaha and I sincerely appreciate this nice area!). *Kids and husband enjoyed pizza and wings; no gluten free options for me but there are other nearby food choices *Kids 6 and 9 loved "Ballocity" - we've never seen one this nice with the foam balls you can shoot! It wasn't dirty at all as another reviewer stated, and the slides were so cool *Husband and older kid enjoyed the VR experience and some games *Indoor go-carts were really nice *Ballocity has a kid and family-friendly eating area; other areas were well configured for adults including the "bar and grill" area with additional food options *We didn't get to bowl! But it looked nice and spacious We played for 2 hours and easily could have been entertained for 4+ but we'd already been to Aquacourt in Hastings on the same fun day. Hence we will have to return on our next road trip! read more

Big Apple Fun Center - The Big Apple fun center - Bowling Near Me - Kearney, Nebraska

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SO MUCH FUN! Arcade, bowling, mini golf are all so much fun. I truly recommend going to the Big Apple Fun Center. read more

Big Apple Fun Center - Big Apple Fun Center - Bowling Near Me - Kearney, Nebraska

Ridiculous open bowling fees. $32 an hour or $6.50 per game. Never seen those prices in another state.

We stopped here as a reference from another app and we are so glad that we did. The food was really good and the staff was super friendly. We only ate and had a couple of drinks but the stuff they have to do here is amazing. read more

While the place does offer many attractions. There doesn't seem to be any sanitation protocols. We were there for a few hours and I never saw a single worker cleaning anything. The gentleman behind the register also informed us and many others that they no longer honor there community engagement deal with the children's museum in the advertised capacity. As he said " it just wasn't worth it for them". So while it is advertised that one of the benefits of a museum membership is 50% off ballocity, bowling, and mini golf now the Big Apple is only honoring it on ballocity on Monday Wednesday and Thursday. He stated that he would rather not even do that. Back to the cleaning, I would venture to guess that the only cleaning the ballocity sees is maybe monthly vacuuming. It's pretty dirty. read more

we went there for food and bowling .... it took forever for our food to arrive and when it did it was cold fried food.... no one knew what to do so I asked to speak with the manager...(Kenny) he asked who ordered it for us and we said the bartender, so he said okay he's paying for it and you need to stand in line and reorder your food ( we had already waited a hour) ....so frustrating we said never mind we'll go somewhere else to eat!!! a few minutes later they brought us what looked like the food we ordered refried ... the manager "kenny " said eat it or don't eat it, I don't care!WOW!!! so sad, I feel sorry for the high school girls that work for him!!!! read more

Best thing ever especially for my lil one she had so much fun! If you guys are in Kearney , Nebraska take your kids there would not be disappointed! Big play area plus an arcade an you can win prizes! read more

The big apple needs to have PIN numbers on there game cards we just lost almost 38 bucks. Pretty sad that parents don't raise there kids right and do the right thing and return it read more

The bartender was very rude. Asked to see ID and then threw it back at us. Then when we want back for more drinks, he proceeded to ignore us and got on his phone. They also do not know how to make Jager bombs. #verydisappointed read more

After reading some reviews, I was concerned about bringing my son and his friends here for my son's 12th birthday. I shouldn't have worried, all the kids from age 8-12 had a blast. First, we did not book our visit as a Birthday Party. The party package only included one round of laser tag, at nearly full price. Decorations, cupcakes, food, or other activities would all be additional costs. The Party price included an attendant, but I really didn't need that. Instead, we brought a cake (which is allowed), and some festive plates and such (also just fine with management). I got the kids each an all-day, all-access wristband. The wristband includes everything except the arcade games and food and drinks, I think: laser tag (as many games as you wish), go-karts, mini-golf, bowling, ball city. To get our money's worth, we arrived about 11:30am with plans to stay all day. It was around 9pm when we finally dragged out of there! We visited on a Saturday in mid-September, and I would say there was just about a perfect crowd there. Not so many people that we had to fight for a table or wait in lines, not so few people that there were no other kids to play with/against. The food was what I would expect from a fun center/bowling alley-type place. Pizza (a little doughy), hot dogs, hamburgers, etc. A 16" cheese pizza was about $12, a grilled chicken sandwich was $5. I would never recommend this place just for the food, but it was fine, middle-of-the-road-type food. The sodas were $6.50/pitcher, which I thought was pretty expensive. The service was similar, just kind of regular, mediocre service: no one was rude or unhelpful, no one really went out of their way to be super cheerful or over the top. I saw some reviews about rude service, but did not experience anyone being rude. The laser tag was well-run, and the kids had a good time. They did not, however, play as much as I thought they would, and the younger kids only played one 30-minute session (each session is broken into 6-minute segments). Mostly it is because the laser gun rigs are very heavy, and clearly sized for adults. The smaller kids got pretty tired, and had a hard time reaching all the buttons on the gun with their little hands. The older kids played three sessions throughout the day, and didn't do more just because it was so exhausting. The arena is cool, with two levels and a lot of futuristic-looking barriers to hide behind. The dim black light made it more challenging and fun. There is a tiny viewing room, but I couldn't really see much from there, the window was kind of scratched up. The go-karts were out in the parking area, and the main thing I noticed is that it could really use some sort of shade over the waiting area. It was only about 80 degrees when we went, and it was hot standing out with no shade, I can only imagine it in August. Otherwise, the go-karts were pretty much the same as every other go-kart place. The older kids had four or five turns on this during the day; each turn is 5 minutes long. The smaller kids only went twice, they thought the seats were uncomfortable. The bowling area was well-kept and the scoring was automatic. It's bowling. The mini-golf area is indoors, and all fluorescent with black lights. I couldn't believe they fit 18 holes in there (some of the holes are only 10' or so in length). It isn't anything that one could spend a whole day doing, but I thought they did a very nice job with interesting features and a few little surprises. It was very cute, and all the kids played a couple of rounds. Most of the activity for the day, however, was in the "Ballocity", a climbing, sliding, ball-shooting structure. There are 2.5" very soft foam balls everywhere, and different contraptions for shooting, rolling, and dropping the balls at people. There is a slow curvy slide, and three fast wavy slides. All the kids ran and slid and had battles for hours on end. For young kids, this place could be the only activity needed. Some reviews said the place was filthy. I disagree. My daughter happened to be wearing brand new white socks (you must wear socks in Ballocity), and after running around in there all day, the socks were only slightly gray on the bottom. I watched employees disinfect tables, and nothing I touched was sticky or dirty. The bathrooms were oldish, but seemed and smelled clean. The one exception (and it is a major exception) is that the place does SMELL. The entire facility is carpeted. While we were there, I saw two kids spill their entire sodas onto the carpet. Paper towels aplenty were used to sop it up, but there is only so much to be done about that. The facility is so large it would be a huge expense to take up all that carpet and put hard floors in, but that is the only thing that will ever clear up the kind of funky smell that results from years of food and drinks and stocking feet on carpet. I am out of space, but hope this review is helpful. We WILL go to Big Apple again. read more

One of the coolest place I went to on my Nebraska visit. Bowled my personal best there and had a great time with great people in the bar that evening. read more

This place would be fun if you were born on the floor of your unwed Mother's double wide and the only love that you have ever known had been from your cousin. This is the quid essential redneck Chucky Cheese, a place that doubles as a daycare for your rug-rats while your binge drink to forget about your failed marriage with your fat toothless wife. The place smells like a frat party mixed with a run down trailer park pre-school. The over priced bowling was actually kind of fun until my lane broke and we were not allowed to finish our game. The manager even had the gall to yell at my girlfriend like it was her fault that the pins stopped resetting. The mini golf should be fun, except for the fact that it hasn't been maintained since the early 80's and all of the animatronic bits are broken. The black lights also reveal a number of putrid looking stains splashed wantonly around the course. I will not go back. read more

For entertainment this is as good as it gets in K-town. Liquor, check. Pool, bowling, and other ways to hurt and amuse yourself while drinking, check. Giant play pin of balls that I got to plan in when I was some guys date to prom, check. I kind of like this place. read more

Big apple is amazing hood food good for kids and fun for everyone!

Very disappointed in the service. My daughter was bowling and wanted some water. I was charged for a large soft drink just to get a medium cup with water in it. They did offer me a pitcher with some 8 oz coffee cups for lesser charge but that ended in a mess. So we paid the cost of a pop to get a cup of water. The pizza was great and there is much to do here, you just have to sell you left arm to afford it. They are definitely good at ripping people off. Good food, fun activities, bad service and $$$$$. read more

As an out of town southerner, this place is GREAT! Make sure you see Garrett and Kimmie at the bar, southern hospitality in the north!

So fun, so plain they need more stuff, as in laser tag its not accurate, disk golf hurts, bowling, the scoring system sucks. Ballocity what really is there to do. The arcade I say is the only fun thing they have to offer. read more

My child was with a friend for a birthday party and waited in line, with his wristband, to ride the go karts. Our child was in line for an hour and once he got to the front of the line was told that anyone "that paid cash for a ticket" would be going ahead of those with wristbands. He was twice made to stand and watch several adults and other kids with tickets instead of wristbands go in front of him. When I asked the operator of the go karts (a high school age boy) if this was common practice he simply blamed a text from the General manager for the ruling and told me "sorry, the tickets go first" as a line of others walked past my child to ride. When I tried to speak to management all they had to say was "we're sorry, we don't know who told him that". No resolution while my child stood there disappointed and upset. I will not return to this place with my children or friends. TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE AND RUDE EMPLOYEES. read more

First, the bad. Food was alright, but a little pricy in my opinion. Pop was expensive to begin with and then they charge for refills... Other than that, everything else was great. The employees were pretty busy with food, but still nice and polite. We went during the day time, in the middle of the week. Must have had a school field trip because they were a lot of kids and cosmic bowling, so we got to get in on that too! Laser tag was a lot of fun for the kids, my husband and I got to watch from a viewing room. You couldn't see a lot but it was enjoyable. The game room was fun, $20 doesn't get you very much though. Almost every game was 4 tokens. The kids had the most fun in ballocity, a 2 or 3 story high jungle gym. It has slides, and these cannon type things that shoot these soft nerf type balls. They could have spent all day in there!! While our oldest was watching the younger kids we snuck to check out the sports bar. Holy pool tables! We only wanted to play one game, but they don't charge per game. It's per person. I think it ended up being about $3 for the both of us so we decided to do it, but $3 for all day?! Definitely going to take advantage of that again soon. The bartender was very nice, and had informed us it was happy hour. Wow! When they say happy, they mean it! We each got a draft beer and it was only $3.50. We wanted to do Go karts, but it was closed, I don't think they opened until later in the day. The kids didn't mind, gave them more time in the ballocity. Next time we hope to ride the go karts, and we'll definitely check out the mini golf. Over all, we had a great time. read more

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Very disappointed with the arcade, you now have to buy a minimum of $10 in credits to be loaded on a plastic card which they charge you for and take out of the $10 you just put in. 90% of the games cost $1 or more for one credit and seem to go much faster than other arcades. The tickets your children get for playing also seemed to be paid out a much lower rate than other arcades. Long story short: TOTAL RIP OFF!! Others I had met there were disappointed as well. read more

If I could give it no starts I would. I'm guessing the other two reviews are Big Apple owners. The sports bar is nice. Decent food for a good price. Service not the friendliest, but the Keno counter people are great. The rest of the Big Apple.....the employees are SO rude. Even the managers. I'm quite certain none of them like children, funny considering most of the Big Apple is geared toward them. Games eat tokens. Ticket counters short you on tickets, can't say enough bad about the Big Apple. Anyone from Kearney will tell you the same thing. Save your money for Grand Island (45 minutes to the east) or North Platte (1 1/2 hours to the west). read more