It is a pretty fun place. However it can be a pretty pricy place if you don't get some deal beforehand

Five start great place kids had alot of fun . Customer service was amazing since the time we walked in to dinning in service. The only part I didn't like was the food but overall I liked it definitely bring my kids again. read more

Fun place for the entire family. Games, laser tag, zip line, bowling, tv s everywhere. Food is good for the price. Fun atmosphere for all. read more

Main Event Hoffman Estates - Menu - Bowling Near Me - Hoffman Estates, Illinois

My Husband and I had dinner here last night it had been a few months since we been here. They have table top iPad that you can order from we prefer a person to take our order after about 20 minutes of sitting watching all the staff just stand around and talk to each other my Husband got up and ask the bartender if anyone would be by our table. Now you would think it is Friday night and they are busy WRONG there was about 6-10 people there besides us not all were eating. The place was empty you would think if you are a waitstaff person you would want to hustle and grab a table to earn more money again WRONG! The employees could have cared less if anyone needed anything, tables were dirty no one around to take a orders and we had no chance at a Pop refill. The food we got was cold and flavorless. We started coming here the first week they opened the food then was great we brought family and friends in all the time and would stop by a couple times a week after work. But we have been watching the value the quality and the service go downhill. It us so sad there are so many of these kind of places opening up that Main Event will be left in the dust. If any of the waitstaff is reading this we are trying to protect you if an iPad can take over your job what are you going to do? Take pride in your work you are not there just to take advantage of Main Event and get paid to talk to your friends you get paid to work. read more

Went on a Friday night with some friends to celebrate a birthday. -The food took forever to come out and our server was slow. They seemed understaffed with servers. Food was also not worth the money. -There were lines for every activity, we waited one hour to get a bowling lane. -In order to kill time we decided to play arcade games but the games continued to withdraw money from our card and not allow us to play the game. - Took 20 minutes to put our drink order in at the bar, drinks were overpriced for the serving size. I would not recommend this place to a friend, nor would I return. read more

We (2 teenagers, 3 adults, 1 child and a pre-schooler) was there yesterday for the Monday Madness deal. On walking in through the doors, my first impression thoughts were "open, clean space", which was great because sometimes my son (the preschooler) can easily get visually overwhelmed. The layout allowed him to ease in to his surroundings. In addition, it gives tired adult brains a break from all the excitement generated from playing all the games and doing all the activities. For $10.95, the Monday deal allows you to choose one of three options. So, we each got an activity band w/one person getting the $20 funCard and two unlimited arcade cards to share among us. We had a blast! We played several rounds of laser tag and played arcade games until our eyes could bear it no more. We got there around 6pm and wished we got there when the deal started at 4pm. That way, we could have fit in bowling and gravity ropes. We did take time out to eat (nothing to write home about) and play with the interactive floor projection. Ultimately, we ended up leaving at 1am, the place closes at 2am. The pre-schooler conked out before 10pm. :-) The Monday deal is by far the best of all their packages. We definitely plan on going back! Tip: when sharing the unlimited arcade card, you have to wait for a couple seconds before swiping card again. If an error message pops up, just wait then swipe until you don't see the message again. The same applies when you're trying to play a game with multiple persons. Just know the card will block swipes if you've played the game too many consecutive times. Observation: The bartender worked his butt off (I wish I got his name, I think he's Filipino). In contrast, we noticed a lot of the staff in that area just milling about. They may have been senior staff members but it didn't leave a good impression on us. If felt that we had to wait longer for our drinks and such from the one guy working while everyone else seemed to look on...go figure. read more

We were in a birthday party of my friend's daughter yesterday and it was not organized. The organizer Gabriel, who is apparently the supervisor, never have a clue of what he was doing. He did not even anticipate the needs of the guest. He gave out the game card when all the kids already left. So who does he expect to play? They have poor costumer service. I will not recommend this to anybody. The staff are just talking in the counter, did not give the correct order, served food to the kids soo poorly by serving food in front on the kids by hand. (Really?!!!?). We expected more from a place like that. I hate to compare but chuck e cheese has way better costumer service than main event. read more

The bad thing was the bus boys throwaway my daughters birthday gift and our food when we step away to play something else other than bowling. service was ok nothing to brag about it and management was like trying to see if we just walk away with not seeing nothing we did not received an sincere apology it was more like excuses about his bussers not doing the right thing. read more

This place is horrible. They close at 12 on sundays & we got there at 10:30 PM & said they were closing soon & couldn't get our bowl in because the man in the front told us they shut everything down at 11. Horrible service. We ended up staying for one drink & the prices are ridiculous. Don't waste your money here. Not worth it at all. If I could give negative stars I wouldn't hesitate. read more

The open dining is horrible. There's 7 people sitting at a table for 20 minutes with no one coming over. The kids went to play and the adult still is waiting for service at a table. The employees helping in other areas are nice and patient. read more

Sad to have to write such a poor review to what should be a great addition to the NW suburbs, but it is what it is. Twice, I have enjoyed the atmosphere only to have that ruined by very, very bad service. Besides the major customer service issue I detail below, the staff is young and inexperienced (and I do understand they just opened in Sept.), the food is just so-so (they could really do better, really), and much of the fun and gaming is automated and turn key so I would expect service, especially in the dining area, to be a positive focus. It is, unfortunately, not. During Game 3 of the WORLD SERIES (you know, the one the Cubs happened to be in recently) they put the game on every TV. It was great until a well-meaning bar tender tried to put something else on another screen, and suddenly, the whole place is watching Transformers 4. Simple mistake, until NOBODY, and I mean nobody could figure out how to fix it and put the WORLD SERIES back on at least one of a 100 TVs. This occurred during the ninth inning with the Cubs trailing, and there were more than a few frustrated fans in the house. After a few minutes, they had video, but the audio was on NASCAR now. Finally, after NINE minutes, and after more than a few people stormed out or loudly let their frustration be heard, did they fix it, with one out left in the game. It was extremely frustrating not only because everyone working there on a Friday night seemed to be just out of high school or barely over 21, but also because there was no urgency from the staff to take ownership of and fix a major service issue. Nobody from management came around to offer any explanation or to apologize. Putt server abandoned us out of embarrassment. On the plus side, the high ropes course and zip line are a brilliant and unique experience in the suburbs, and my wife and I enjoyed that a lot. I hope your experience is better, but I'm not returning until I hear of positive changes. read more

This place is ok, problem is the price, which changes without notice. I went with 20 of my family member just to find out, they only have fun pass for $27 each, which include Arcade, though 90% of my family members are adults with no interest in Arcade. It is really frustrating, when I was there 2 days ago and had fun pass for $17 that does not include Arcade. Waste of time, trip and family disappointment. I suppose they now lost 20 of my family members and many more they get in contact with. Good luck running business like this. Zuber read more

The atmosphere was great I pre booked 3 lanes online for 13 guests to celebrate my kids birthdays. The service though was horrible the only person that can attend to you is your "server" and there are many other people just standing around unable to help. So I had to keep hunting down my server because he was busy. Then when I finally placed my order for pizza which they said would take 15 mins took over 30mins, ordered pitchers of Pepsi they never came, ordered an appetizer took an hour, according to the manager they weren't busy. I moved over to the party area because they advised me if the tables were available we could use them then the manger told me that was incorrect you have to pay for the tables .. I had called weeks before to confirm questions I had and asked when I arrived again they told me yes you can use the tables if they are available which there was no one there sitting. It was my first time there and I spent my time trying to find my "server". I will never plan an event there, I would go again to bowl cool place. Too bad I wasted my time looking for people to help me. read more

I came to bowl and there was a two hour waiting list, I was put on the list and played arcade games in the meantime. I got jipped out of several games. I was told there was only 15 minutes left so we waited, the cashier's did not know how to split the check between us so that one person didn't have to pay for all of it. It took about twenty minutes of standing around when they finally told us the total for each person, I hand the cashier the money and he still stands there not knowing what to do and had attitude with me about it because he had never split a check between 8 people and apparently couldn't void it out. I work customer service and cashier, I understand. Next time, train your employees to do their job and not be rude to the customers for their stupidness. read more

The service here is really rude and as you can see from the other comments everyone will agree. They need more staff or better attitudes.

Decent place to bowl and play games but overpriced compared to others in the area. Food is not edible. Bar space is not bad.

Went here for an evening out with friends... bowling was fun until our hour was up and we didn't even get to finish our game Food and drinks took forever and the food was not worth the wait since it rivaled my daughters school lunch Service was slow as well The night improved when we went across the street to the Saddle Room where everything was great! read more

I have been here before in the weekday afternoon and had a nice experience , when they first opened and had the Mac and cheese that first day it was so yummy, I think they don't care any more , we have had other items which have been fine , went Saturday evening and the service was very poor , we were a big group well around 10 people , some received food long before a drink not even water, no silverware had to wait nearly a half hour after food came to eat no silverware , no napkins some still no beverage, The Mac and cheese this time had more topping maybe they thought it would disguise the dryness of the dish , no creamy ness and cheese was i don't know where but not in the dish, Very disappointing , spiked strawberry lemonade was extremely sweet I only tasted the sweetness . Maybe that's why there were much less customers than the last time I have been took my son and his friends here again to spend time too wet for corn maze , 40 minute wait to get our order taken than over 40 for the food, kids had to wait that whole time for the game cards, which the waitress even screwed that up read more

My Debit card was compromised while visiting this place over the weekend. Some shady clientele, I suggest using cash. Food is fine and facility is clean. read more

Waited in front line, agaaaaain, for over 20 minutes just to get a card. Most frustrating is there were 3-5 employees behind the counter at any given time talking, 1 register open, and 3 registers idle. Same for pizza place. 1 girl working the register AND getting the food for an entire line... on a Saturday afternoon! The zombie look on all the employees' faces says it all: this place has major problems in management/leadership. We did not see a single employee smile the entire time, and I can usually get a smile out of most people. I feel bad for the employees here, but we won't be coming back. Why spend that much money for bad service. Oh, no napkins in any dispenser at pizza place, wife asks girl behind counter. Without saying a single word, she turns around, grabs a couple napkins, sets them on the counter and walks away. Bravo! read more

I went with my family. We started off in the arcade, everything but skee ball was $1.50 or a $1.75. We then ate, where we were disappointed because my son had to wait fifteen minutes for a glass of water. My sons went to play laser tag to where the played for 15 minuets and came out bored. The food was good but the service was terrible because of the wait for food. They where low staffed as seen by the 4 waiters/waitress for a three quarter packed dining section. Our waitress was very nice but was spread thin. I wouldn't be looking to go again. read more

This place is really great! There are so many things for the kids to do. (Our kids are 11 and 14) Laser Tag, Bowling, arcade games, and a high ropes course. It is really clean and comfortable here. The food is amazing. My favorite is the Cobb salad and the Strawberry salad. The burgers are great and the choices for kids are perfect. It's a great place for a family to come or a group of friends. The wait lines for the activities have not been long the times we have been here. (On a Sunday afternoon and on a weekday when there was no school) I highly recommend it here. read more

Main Event has a lifelong customer. I called Main Event prior to making the trip to the facility to verify a few details and there was a slight hiccup in communication. When I arrived I was displeased to learn that it had been the case. However, good customer service always prevails. I'd like give a warm thank you to the manager, Alex (excellent beard by the way). He handled my concerns with professionalism, dignity, and respect. He quickly turned the situation around and made sure we left happy campers. In a society where we are quick to complain and not so quick to the contrary, I wanted to take the time to recognize Alex for his superb customer service. It is instances like this, among others, it creates loyalty amongst an establishment's guests. I hope Alex gets recognized for his efforts as it is well deserved. I look forward to making plans to bring the kids back in for an exceptional time. Thank you Alex! read more

I hosted my company holiday party here for 25 people ages 16-30. I purchased the triple pay package and ordered food ahead a time, as I was told the kitchen would be "backed up" if I ordered as needed. All my food was at my lanes on arrival. It was cold quickly. We never once saw a "party host" or server. Most of the arcade games were broken in same way. The laser tag was 10 minutes. We asked if we could extend bowling since it was a nice spot to sit and chat and we were told the wait for bowling was 3 hours. When we left our lanes we were given 2 plastic tubs to put our coats and such in. The tubs were left out in the public with no lids. Only 2 of our 5 lanes were used again for bowling for the remainder of our 2 hour game package. The food was less than mediocre. I spent over $1000 for 10 people to leave early. The pizza was horrible. The nachos were salty. The drinks were weak. Overall horrible experience. So not worth the money. read more

This experience dates back to March 2018. A friend of mine booked a birthday party for his 9 year old son. I've never been to this place before. I wasn't really expecting much. Upon walking in, I was very pleasantly surprised. There is literally something for everybody here. Bowling alley, Video games, laser tag, interactive electronic games, a skywalk that goes along the midway where the video games are, and pool tables. They have a really good restaurant and bar as well. I love the atmosphere here, it's also very clean. My buddy's son's party was booked for about 50 people. Only 25 showed up. My buddy went to see if they could take a little off the bill. I told him that " it would be a long shot". They ended up taking $200 off the bill. They even went as so far as to give us 100 complementary tokens. They're really awesome here. Food was good, customer service was exemplary! I will be back as this is a new favorite place of mine. I haven't any clue as to what the bad reviews are about. Our experience was great. read more

Such a disappointment. The staff seemed overwhelmed and confused when handling busy days and larger crowds. Waited 45 minutes just to buy game cards, looked as if the girls behind the counter were inexperienced. Tried ordering something to eat and was told their system is down and will no longer be serving (but truth be told the cook walked out during his shift and they were scrambling to find someone to replace). This place needs to seriously reconsider management if they want positive reviews from the public in the meantime, D & B, 257 and game works would be a better option until management changes. If you don't believe me see for yourself and stop by read more

Came to check this place out from Wisconsin. Trust me when I said that I am NOT exaggerating. This place is AWFUL AND TERRIBLE!!!! bought 2 medium fountains drinks and notice there was no lids after I asked a staff she doubt that I had bought my drinks in the first time. Wtf! Then she came back and said they ran out of lids. Ok so Im just supposed to walk around with my drinks open. Then we asked about the food special that they were having and were told that we had to sit at a table so that the waiter can explain it to us??? My brother was standing by the bar to order a drink and the bar tenders ignore him as much as they could even chit chatted about personal stuff in front of us. This place was a huge disappointment, but glad I checked it out because I was considering to book this place for a bday party. After my experience here I will not be coming back. The wait was so long for bowling which I know they can't control but if they had at least good customer service it will make up for the fact that they were so unorganized. Very disappointed. read more

With the right management, this place could be great. The concept of so many activities is awesome- unfortunately it's poorly run. The whole experience was disappointing and expensive. The floors were littered with garbage everywhere you walked and at its worst in the bathroom and prize area. During the two and a half hours we were there, we never saw a single person sweep the floors or pick up any of the random glasses and plates stacked on the cluttered arcade tables or along rails and walls. The most surprising thing we witnessed was several employees stepping on and over prizes scattered all over the prize room floor... to grab candy from the prize bins and start eating it. The prize area floor had numerous ripped open and empty packages from stolen merchandise that employees weren't bothering with bc they were busy helping to check people into laser tag or gravity ropes. We did play laser tag as a family and not only did the vests smell horrible, there were no directions given. We went in not knowing how and where to recharge. If there's anything positive to say about the visit, it would be that the employees were all very polite and the food was decent. I don't think we'll be back. read more

HORRIBLE SERVICE!! Went here this past Saturday night with a group of about 20 adults to bowl, drink and just have fun...won't be going back until they get their act together. Right when we walked in I went to the counter to put our names for bowling, 2 hour wait no big deal I knew we would have to wait. We try to find a table and the waitress says it's first come first serve ur just gonna have to wait for a table to open. Took about 30 minutes to get one and then about another 15 for them to clear the dirty dishes off and wipe it down. It took forever to find a waitress to take our order and then even longer to just get that order. After finally getting our lanes we all placed on order for drinks....which we received 45 minutes later!! When we asked our server if we should just go to the bar to order drinks her exact words were " yea they care about the customers at the bar!" Really who says that!! This place needs to get their staffing figured out or they aren't going to last long...to only have 3 bartenders on a Saturday night with a crowd of over 300 people is ridiculous. Stop hiring quality and hire quality!! read more

First time at this place and most likely last time at this place! I was with a group of friends and if it weren't for them I would have had a horrible time. Service was horrible. We had a reservation for 9pm to bowl and we didn't start till 9:30pm. I had to ask for bowling shoes three times before getting them ( the person kept saying that our lane would be ready). Food and drinks took forever to get. Drinks are week pored with more mixers then alcohol. We had asked for no pork products in the food for religious reasons and when food arrived pork was in the food. OVERPRICED WAY OVERPRISED! I have had better service and time at a standard bowling alley. There was plenty of young staff around but saw many of them just fooling around talking and grouping together. Maybe one waiter taking care of all the lanes. Had fun with friends joking around about the whole experience but I am sure we all won't go again. read more

Came Here On My Birthday. 22nd Birthday. Everything Was A Wait. Food Was Cold. People At The Bar Were Rude. I Was Going To Leave But A Lady Named Trinity Helped Us Out With EVERYTHING. Gave Us A Discount And Helped Us Out A Lot. She Has Such A Great Personality And Had A Lot Of Patience. read more

I was there yesterday for a planned event. The rooms were set up ahead of time so the hostesses of the event could decorate. The tables were all nicely set and there was plenty of room. The food was outstanding: a buffet of fajitas & quesadillas (with all of the fixings), salad, fruit...... Everything was fresh and delicious! Bravo to the Chef. I would recommend this facility without question. read more

Entertainment part is pretty good. Environment is nice and modern. Only con to the activity portion was the ropes course was a 2 hour wait. No one warned us of this when we arrived. So this place is really great for kids to play but SERVICE IS TERRIBLE. We walked in and barely were greeted. After finally talking to an employee, she tells us her system is down and I needed to go somewhere else to pay and maybe she could get us wristbands "somehow". She just flicked her wrist behind her as to where to go. Suggested I explain to the other employees the problem with her system and what we should do. I explained to her it may be helpful if she explained to her own coworker the internal systems issue. She seemed very hesitant, confused, and Untrained in customer service. It does not get better at the other pay station. Confused as how to ring us up....can't take cash because there's no drawer, took forever, etc. then we have to go stand in another long line to wait for wristbands because of this systems issue with the computer. No one tells us where anything is. For example, no one oriented us to the procedures in getting bowling shoes, where to get pool cue and balls, where to sign up for ropes course. We had never been there and just stood there knowing nothing. Had to talk to what appeared to be a manager to ask for some guidance. The adults then sat down to get a soda and food at the restaurant. We sat for more than 30 minutes and no one ever came to serve us. Finally, someone came over. We explained we had been sitting for a half hour and we were confused, was this even a sit down restaurant? Yes he said, sorry the table next to you had been sitting there too that long. They were just complaining too he said. What the heck??? Then we did get a server who was very nice, but was the only server in the whole entire place. One of the staff there told me that the turnover is very high and management is not supportive of the employees. They are left to fend for themselves and don't get much training. Well it shows!!!! This place could be so great if the management could get it together and train their employees on basics of customer service and have proper staffing numbers during busy times of year. read more

Service was terrible. Waited an hour to get game cards. They were clearly understaffed. The pop machine had only two drinks working, they had very little wait staff and the manager was rude when he was advised of all the problems. He kept blaming it on other people saying he was set up to fail when he walked in. This would be a fun place for kids if they could get their act together. Food was subpar at best. read more

I came here for my birthday last month and had great service from a waiter named Cam. Last week I decided to go with my boyfriend for his birthday, but the service was not so great. We got seated and had a bowling lane to play for an hour. We sat there for a while and my boyfriend had to go to the front desk 3 times to ask if we were getting a server. We sat there 20 minutes waiting for one. Instead the employees were dancing when a song came on.I was very frustrated because I wanted to order something to eat . Luckily Cam showed up and we asked him if he could serve us. He had just got there to start his shift and had no idea what was going on but he was the only one who helped us out . I was very disappointed that we had to wait so long to get served. read more

Nice place, they definitely have something for everyone, thought the gravity thing was pretty cool as well, will definitely be back next time. My daughter and I had so much fun, didn't even realize we were there for 4 hours, good variety of arcade games, good music, and kid friendly. The staff is great as well, very helpful, great attitude and lots of smiling faces. read more

I went here on my birthday and, although the game selection wasn't what it could be, had a wonderful time. The management is incredible. I know it was a while ago, but I want to commend the manager on duty on January 16th around 4pm. He was the reason my friend and I had such an outstanding time. I have high standards for restaurant staff because I work for an upscale restaurant, and this man went above and beyond to make my birthday wonderful. I wish I knew his name so Main Event could know who I'm talking about! The whole staff is incredibly nice and every single worker from lazer tag to the ropes are so friendly and kind. Thank you for making my birthday special! read more

Complete disaster!!! Took my kids there in Good Friday. Ordered some lunch. After 45min of the kids waiting for a cheese quesadilla it never came. My kids wanted too play the games! They made lame excuses that the kids meals were all dropped in the kitchen . Don't come here hungry you could starve! Nice place ! But know one here knows what they are doing. read more

This place was extremely expensive and the service was terrible. The bar was staffed with only one bar tender which made the wait time way too long. The wait staff was inexperienced and absent most of the night. Food came out of the kitchen and the staff had no idea where it belonged. It was unfortunate because the idea is great but way too many mistakes to go back ever again. read more

This place is horrible ..... you pay 109 bucks get no points on the card (they never tell you that or explain it so you have a 6year old and a 9year old crying that they played all these games and got nothing for prizes) then you line up for laser tag the never come then a mom walks in and asked they let you in and you get 3 min ..... that's all ...... then you go to line up for the zip line thing they tell you they are running behind because a party was infronnt of you ...... then you go talk to the manager and he tells you sorry this is the rules ... and does not try to help you or even listen to you ....... you ask for half or some of you money back for NONE of that being explained when you purchased the deal the management here is awful there is 0 fine print and 0 explaining and not to mention the 5-6 hour wait for bowling when you get the play everything card be because guess what they let people paying hourly play before you get to play with the wrist band .... don't waste your time here I am so upset i even told the manger I will never be coming back ! read more