We continue to pick Madsen's for our bowling fix. Great customer service, cool retro vibe, cheap kid-friendly food and bowling options. They are also the only bowling alley in Lincoln that participates in Kids Bowl Free, where you can sign children up for 2 free games of bowling per day all summer long! They do not take reservations for Kids Bowl Free and it applies only during specific hours. It's a great, low cost activity that provides access to bowling to more youth. I love it. And when summer is over, Madsen's is honestly a perfect indoor activity for kids during the winter. What about birthday celebrations? Yes! This summer we booked a lane on a Sunday morning to celebrate my son's birthday and it was a wonderful experience. Sara Madsen and I emailed back-and-forth many times to go over the details. We even showed up to a custom sign at our table. They recommend 6 bowlers per lane for timing sake, which usually gets at least 1 game for kids. The whole Madsen's team was prepped and ready to help make the day special. We felt very welcome. I really appreciated that we were able to spread out and decorate the high top bar behind the lane (they even mentioned it, I didn't have to ask) and even when my kids were running around while we setup, I never felt stressed out. Madsen's does offer a birthday rate (not featured on the website) so I recommend reaching out if you're interested. $80 includes 1 lane, 1 pizza, 1 hour of bowling for up to 6 bowlers and shoe rental. If kids bowl in socks and don't need shoe rental, paying the regular rate is actually $15-$20 cheaper than the birthday package. The regular rate for a lane is $40/hour + $3 shoe rental/person. Pizza runs around $20-$25 depending on toppings. The birthday was a Fortnite Birthday Bowling Royale theme so having pizza fit nicely into the setup. We had 5 kids and one pizza was plenty. For adults, I passed around a menu in case they wanted something different. Socks were part of our favors so we brought our own, but they do have some fun bowling socks for $3/person. They also have a bowling pin pin for the guests to sign and the birthday boy can take home? We have those for $20. We were also allowed to bring in desserts and they even stored the ice cream cake until we were ready and provided a knife for cutting. Note: The birthday rate already includes gratuity, which I didn't realize until after I paid. With the birthday rate and food ordered off the menu, the total bill was $155 plus $30ish in gratuity. read more

I love the changes the new owners have made overall to the place! Live music, great atmosphere, excellent bar selection. It was a lot of fun and feels so much happier in the place!! The only downfall of my visit was that I couldn't get a grilled cheese sandwich after 7pm. No sandwiches are made after 7pm. I had been looking forward to having a grilled cheese and fries all day....but my event started at 8pm. So I just ordered a drink and went hungry. I am a vegetarian so the shrimp and meat dishes were not appealing to me. They did suggest I try a $24 cheese pizza but I said "no thanks" because I didn't need a giant cheese pizza for just me. It's silly they can't grill a couple of pieces of cheese on some bread after 7pm when the kitchen is still open. read more

Our group stopped by for a quick bite to eat and we are glad we did. The food was excellent. The new owners have turned this place around with a friendly atmosphere and a warm and welcoming staff. Keep up the good work Sara! read more

Wow. Just wow. This place is amazing. Food is fantastic and service was top notch. Sara and Brady the owners have completely turned this place around. Bartenders Tyler and Mo provided the best service. This is where I will be coming for Nebraska games, karaoke and pool/bowling. We have had so much fun here in the last few visits. I don't post on yelp very often but feel like this place deserves this shout out. read more

The serves TIP THEY SELF....???? I went for bowling and bowling only paid 24 something bucks the guy legit just got us shoes... why do I have a 15 buck tip on top of the 24.... So yall stole 15 bucks from me...? I tip yes but 15 on a 24 is crazy I tip that on a 50 tab when getting served food ect... he got me shoes.... Like come on... I need my 15... read more

Literarily unparalleled bowling experience and overall vibes! 10/10 recommend. My new fav place to go in Lincoln. Vibes were super super 90s good times. Food is excellent, bonus points for the pizza. drinks are fairly priced. First yelp review I've ever made because I saw this place had only 2.9/5 and it deserves much more. read more

My family has been going to Madsen's for literal decades and we love it! My aunt and uncle met each other there, my cousins and I grew up bowing on their lanes, my mom did their Wacky Wednesday league for years and I celebrated one of my birthdays there as a kid. To summarize, we have enjoyed our time at Madsen's and are big fans. It has a casual, friendly atmosphere and the owner is a wonderful & genuine guy. The food and drinks are good, too! The fiesta platter is my personal favorite, but you really can't go wrong. read more

Madsen's Bowling & Billiards - The lanes. - Pool Halls Near Me - Lincoln, Nebraska

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Ever since Madsens changed hands it has gone downhill. The service is horrible. The food is not near as good as it used to be. The atmosphere has changed. It no longer has a "small town feel" or a family friendly feel. We won't ever go back, which is sad. We used to go every Sunday. read more

Madden's has 12 lanes of bowling and great deals on Tuesday night for $2 bowling per game (per person) and $2 beer. We ran into lots of issues with the lanes not working, we would go up to ask for assistance, it would get fixed, and stop working after we bowled once. Tedious to keep asking for help but we definitely got what we paid for. Great food and drinks. read more

The manager didn't like my choice in music and skipped my song every time it came on. I couldn't figure out what was going wrong so I kept putting the song in and it kept getting skipped. eventually I asked to speak with a manager and the manager himself told me that he personally was skipping it because it was annoying and he had a customer complain about it. I would have been understanding but he refused to pay me the money I had spent to push my song to the front only to have it skipped seconds after starting six or seven times in a row by him personally! He told me too bad so sad take it up with TouchTunes. Which I will most definitely be doing right after this... read more

It's a very sketchy, rapey and shitty place in general. The food is too expensive for the amount they give you plus it's pretty bad. Go in at your own risk. read more

This place is awesome, fantastic people very fun for the family, great food and amazing service.

Came here on a Friday night. This place is ok for pool and bowling. They have lots of tables. We played pool for about 2 hours and paid around $25. I would not recommend the food from here. We ordered the "munchie platter" and literally got a plate with 7 pieces of fried things in it. Description said it was "a heaping pile of your favorites". More empty spaces on the plate instead of food. Then I got the fries and chilli on it. How can you screw up fries right? Well my stomach started feeling weird after eating, And my cousin had the runs that night. So eat at your own risk. But the quality of The food should be better. read more

Madsen's Bowling & Billiards - Pool Halls Near Me - Lincoln, Nebraska

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This was the first bowling alley/pool hall I went to since leaving southern California a year ago... Back then the staff was super welcoming and the service and food was awesome. Today I still frequent the business and make sure to have my weekly chicken philly with fresh cut pepper jack added. Burgers are hand made never frozen; def way better pizza than someone on here suggested. I loved how everybody went out of their way to make sure I had anything I needed then and still to this day I consider Madsen's my home far far far away from home. Thanks for that Ben, Tom, and Marty Madsen You guys rock. Keep up the good work read more

I've come here for years and had a great time with my family. Tuesday of this week, my brother purchased all of our drinks at a total of more than $70 with no issue. We return 3 nights later, and the same bartender would not serve my same brother who is 34 with a government issued ID.... we asked why and they kept blaming it on one girls issue with "a state law".... did not make sense to me at all, or even the other coworkers. Only explanation was "she said it's a law".... hmmm.... my brother is gay.... is that why this happened? Doesn't make sense they would let his younger brother of 7 years drink without issue.... won't be coming back regardless of explanation. read more

This place is a dump. Food was atrocious, the owner was rude and wait staff was embarrassing Don't waste your time. Should just close

Rude, Dirty, smells, poor neighborhood.... I wish I was exaggerating. I went to UNL and now live here in town... no wonder why nobody I know has gone there. There are several better options for bowling in town. read more

Madsen's Bowling & Billiards - Front entrance - Pool Halls Near Me - Lincoln, Nebraska

The bowling was excellent for me and the family. Ordered a hamburger pizza. Worst pizza I've eaten. Cheese was greasy and the pizza had no flavor. The only thing from me rating it one star was the fact the bar area was completely segregated from the bowling and billiard area and I didn't have to expose my young children to the drunk frat boys from the bar. read more

I usually don't leave reviews, but the owner serving us was insanely nice, the food was good, and the bowling was great. Don't let the outside of the building fool you, the inside of the building looks spectacular. I'm not sure why this place is listed as 3 stars read more

The food is fantastic! We had the philly steak and it was delicious. The service is wonderful, fast and everyone is friendly. We bowled a few games after our meal and had a fun time. Highly recommend this place, you won't be disappointed. Family friendly for all ages read more

Some of the best pizza we have had. Love the atmosphere. Staff is always nice. Sometimes the staff is a little slow getting around to get your order, and refilling drinks, but they are always happy to help! read more

Had never been to this place before today. When my family told me where the BD party was for my 11 yr. old grandson I was skeptical. However, It worked out fine. Staff was friendly and really nice to the kids we had there for bowling. I did not have food there but, all the boys we brought scarfed it down! The kids had a great time and it was fun watching them. read more

Terrible place. Went there today for my wife's 21st birthday. Met some family and friends and went outside for her family to give her her birthday present. The was a cook outside and he went in and told the manager we were all out there drinking and they kicked us out. we never had a drink outside..... NEVER GOING BACK TO THIS DAMN PLACE! read more

Noon on a Saturday, dead. Someone called in sick so that means the bartender is also the cook and keno writer among other things. He did all he could, the two guys at the front wouldn't help the poor guy among helping any customers if it meant getting up from his stool. Paid $11 for a frozen sub par burger and fries. Wouldn't come back ever if the staff and prices stayed the same. read more

Stopped in for drinks, and decided we were hungry. Wasn't expecting much from a bar kitchen, but the food was amazing. We had the Benger Burger, and a BLT. The burger was amazing, and we appreciated the presentation. I asked for crisp bacon, and was not disappointed. The staff is friendly, and energetic. We sat at the bar, and Alaina and Ethan took great care of us. The cook Aaron even came out of the kitchen to see how our food was. We will definitely stop back in again soon! read more

Madsen's Bowling & Billiards - Great food great price great service - Pool Halls Near Me - Lincoln, Nebraska

My experience at Madsen's was one of a kind. I'll definitely be back. I love to play pool and they have the best in town. Bowling is ok and there are better lanes but the bowling leagues are exceptional, I was asked one night to sub and well let me tell you it was a BLAST! This is a college town and plenty of college kids out and about but the diversity that I seen inside was broad. Multiple age groups and yes I'd say it's not a place to bring any kids under 13 after 9pm (if you're a responsible parent). During the day though it's perfect for kids to bowl. They have black-light bowling at night which was pretty cool the first time I seen it. Now food wise, I used to be a cook myself in a bar and well I'm picky but the 3 days I spent here on my vacation I ate something different everyday and all the burger was amazing, Hot wings out of this world, and they make their ranch they told me by hand everyday. My favorite food item was the Malibu Chicken Sandwich (try it if you ever go there). I'm pretty picky and very OCD about everything but this was an enjoyable vacation experience and I'll be back here in the future. read more

Go to UNL live by east campus and I always find myself going here to bowl and play pool. They have a bunch of tables so there is always one open for you and their bowling is great too. Plus they have a greatbar with good drink specials. The late night happy hour is always a good end to my week day night read more

Very rude owner. We called to get a quote for New Years and were told regular prices. Then they later called us back and said they are doubling those prices. You already quoted a price and then you take it back. We can't afford to pay double for the same thing just because it's New Years. Another example of good ole Nebraska greed. The owner was less than sympathetic as he yelled at me when I called to complain. Wow is this how you treat all your customers?! Yes, it is, because this is how you treated customers 20 years ago too and that's why I don't frequent your pathetic establishment. I thought we'd try it hoping that in 20 years they've had some customer service training but that's not the case. Still the same owner and still the rude attitude that has kept me away the last 20 years. If you are looking to relax and have some fun I wouldn't go to madsens bowling ally. Unless,of course, you like being treated like a pig!!! Shame on you madsens! I would think that a business that is hanging on by a thread would be much nicer to the people wanting to spend their hard earned money there but I thought wrong. read more