Highly recommend for hosting your child's birthday party! The manager, Lewis, was extremely helpful and everything was well planned. On the day of the party, the staff was incredibly attentive, organized and kind. I was very impressed!! read more

A bit dirty and it shows it's age somewhat but still a great way to spend a day. Staff were all friendly and the price was reasonable. Would definitely go back again. read more

I came here with a small group for a morning group activity at the spur of the moment. It's definitely not a place that stands out if you're not aware of its location but the lanes are well kept and the facility is reasonably clean. Some updates could be made perhaps but certainly better than many bowling alleys I've visited which exist as relics from the 60's - a time before the constant competition from digital entertainment from our handheld devices. It remains a steady option for something to do if you're in the area and just feel the need to get out and get some physical activity. read more

I'll start off my review from the league bowlers standpoint and I'll finish it off as a regular customer coming for open bowl. I bowl here every Monday for my league. The lanes are good with virtually no real maintenance issues. Servers are very attentive and friendly. The people that regular this bowling alley are also very friendly and welcoming. The scoring system is up-to-date and relevant. You can find your updated averages on the website fairly easy. All in all a good experience from a league bowlers standpoint. From the open bowler side it has a decent selection of bar type foods. Has an arcade for children and a full bar for adults. The bar is currently under renovation and they just opened up the newest side of it within the last week or two and it's pretty nice. The TVs on the lanes don't always work which is kind of upsetting if you wanted to go and watch your favorite sports team play at the same time. As for the staff as in general, they are great. Not one rude person. This will easily be a 4 or 5 star once they are finished with everything. Great local vibe and cosmic bowling for the late night adventurers. UPDATE: TVs work. Bar is finished. read more

My goodness... when did bowling become such an expensive activity?!? Went during a weekday before 5pm, which supposed to be off hours and less expensive than peak hours, and it was still $38 for two people with shoe rental for 90 min of bowling. There were hardly anyone there, probably put off by how expensive it was. Aside from the sticker shock, Saddleback Lane has about 30 lanes; the bowling balls were sorted by its weight neatly stacked on the shelf, so you don't have to turn every ball over to see its weight. Rental shoe are relatively new and clean. Each bowler can choose to have bumper to not. If you come here, be sure to check out the "specials" listed on their website to avoid the overpriced time slots. Still can't believe how expensive it was. Family friendly budget times are as follow: Saturday & Sunday Morning Specials - Beat The Clock (shoe rental are separate): $12 per hr 9am-10am $14 per hr 10am -11am $15 per hr 11am - Noon They also have Cosmic Bowling nights at 11pm-1am $11 per person + shoe rental. Sadly, this is not a good place to take a family of 4 or more since everything adds up to a big bill! Better to get a Groupon for other bowling places and make a day trip out of it. Rated at 2.5 stars, bumped up for the cleanliness~ read more

This place gets 2 instead of 1 star because the lights during their special Thrus night bowling was cool looking!! Kudos for that! However, the lanes are way to close together. I felt that I was bowling on top of the people next to me, which was very distracting and semi-uncomfortable. The seating area is too close to the lane and there isnt the normal elevated step. They need larger lanes or more space between the lanes. They also didn't have 9 weight balls, which is what I usually use...only an 8 and 10. It was also very hot...maybe because we were so close so there was lots of body heat? There reason this is a 2 and not 3/is because the people who bowl there don't seem to have bowling etiquette; TONs of high schools kids there who stand in the lanes while you are bowling waiting for their ball and just talking/hanging out. Also, they don't get their own balls and just use yours...which means you have to wait for your own balls to come back because the kid took it (-.-). Then to make matters worse - half way through your turn bowling - you see them running next to you bowling at the same time. So distracting and not that fun. The alley should probably put a sign up somewhere that explains bowler etiquette to wait until the bowler is done and sit down - not hang out by the lanes. they had something flash on the screen before you bowl, but people don't seem to read it. a sign or reoccurring reminders on the screen between turns might be good. ...Maybe we just got unlucky because we are sandwiched between two groups of kids who were inconsiderate. However, I looked around and all the other lanes had similar problems of people standing in the lane waiting for balls and bowling at the same time as someone who just started bowling...so I think not. With the above said...it is a decent place for kids, but if you want more serious bowling environment, then you shouldn't go at night for bowling or go somewhere else. the day bowling might be better here, but I don't think I'll be back for awhile. read more

Reserved three lanes for some family bowling. We checked in early with no problems. Our lanes were empty so they let us be at the lanes and start inputting names and getting ready. Everything is easy to use and navigate. The place is being remodeled so everything looks new and fresh. The food from the snack bar is good and with fast service. We ordered pizza and sides. The brought it to our lanes with all the condiments and napkins. There was no asking for more ranch or ketchup, it was perfect. We were there from 6pm to 9pm on a Saturday night... Around 6pm all the little kids parties are ending. At 8pm all the teenage groups start to show up, so the time was perfect. read more

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Great bowling alley food! I recommend the Patty melt. They are remodeling now, but not a trendy looking bowling alley...more traditional. I'm on the Vegas 4 of a kind league. Love the peeps & going to Vegas for sweeps. Bartenders are very nice! I'm only giving it a 4 star because of the remodeling. read more

Saddleback Lanes - Bowling Near Me - Mission Viejo, California

Went here with my 2 elementary school kids and my husband for Monday night bowling. We haven't been bowling in years and just moved into the area. This place has some pros and cons hence the 3 stars. Pros - it's clean - shoes are newer and clean - they have automatic things that lift up to stop your kids ball from going in the gutter when it's their turn. - the food from the cafe in there is actually pretty good Cons - it's expensive for bowling and I haven't seen any deals that would want us to make this a regular bowling night - they won't let you wear ur own shoes read more

Saddleback Lanes - Bowling Near Me - Mission Viejo, California

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I had my daughter's birthday at Saddleback lanes Mission Viejo location and the employees are amazing , super nice and caring, we all had a great time and my daughter and her friends had so much fun. Amazing service. They also have good food. I definitely recommend this place for birthday parties. read more

I'm in a league at Saddleback Lanes and this location is my go to for open bowling too. The staff is always friendly and accommodating. Travis was exceptional today and always willing to assist as a group of us came in to enjoy an hour plus of bowling. Keep it up! read more

Employees are rude AF and super SLOW, couldn't care to be there. We walked in and the 2 employees at the shoe rental just ignored us. When we did get our shoes, I asked for a toddler ramp since I had a 3 year old with me. The ramp they set up at our lane was crooked and disconnected at one part where it is soldered. We tried to use it but it was obviously warped. The disengaged teenage staff member should have seen the condition of it when he picked it up and it fell apart, but he still gave it to us. I went to the front desk to have it exchanged and stated it was warped. The older man at the desk looked annoyed and wanted to come to the lane to inspect it as if he didn't believe me. Then he saw the condition and agreed it wasn't useable. Finally, we got a better ramp so we could start the game. Then, after starting our game, the lane wouldn't reset the pins and just kept dropping. I called over another teenage staff member who came to assist and when I thanked him, no eye contact..he was already walking away. Customer service is seriously lacking here and makes you feel unwelcome. All that time to fix their mistakes and we didn't get our time back for game play. They should have stopped the clock. We were only there for an hour's worth and after all the staff interaction, we hardly got to get a game in. read more

Made a reservation for my fiancés birthday party here. Dinner went a little long so we showed up late to our reservation, which we knew from the website we'd lose that bit of time bowling & were fine with it. However, it took an extra 15 minutes FROM THERE for two of our three lanes to get set up. Partway through our time a ball got stuck in the gutter and yet again we had to wait 10 minutes for someone to come fix it, even after talking to two attendants about it -- a fix that literally took seconds. Of our 1hr50min reservation, we spent only half that time actually bowling. Only thing we really enjoyed was the atmosphere & access to alcohol for purchase. I do not recommend making a reservation. Show up & claim a lane, pay by game. When our time was up (10min to close) those who payed by game got to continue playing while our lanes shut down. read more

My friend and I ended up contracting COVID the following days after we bowled. Upon retracing our steps we both came to the conclusion that bowling was the only time we could have been exposed. I called the front desk to let them know and they said that they clean the balls every time between use but they do not. Just letting people know. The venue was great, beer was great. COVID measures on the other hand not up to standard to protect their consumers and the general public. read more

Called ahead of time to ask if there is available spots. Got an answer from the Manager that they are available with more than 10 lanes. Drove from all the way from Laguna. Thanks for ruining the date night. read more

Really disappointing. They "redid" this place, but it's more like a bandaid. Things that actually matter, like technology and equipment remain untouched. The woman's bathroom smells like bad mold. The stairs down to the floor are peeling and have separated rubber which is almost dangerous. They have this cool looking from the outside bar called Lebowski's. I'm expecting something...ANYTHING. It's nothing. Plain blue walls... is it not finished?? You're named after an awesome, iconic movie and there is nothing TBL related or even bowling related anywhere. Why? Now let's get to the game play. First, I don't know what they did to the floors here. Pretty sure the original wood was cut out and then renailed down leaving a very distracting horizontal seam on the boards. It kept throwing me off when I was trying to bowl. Lots of issues with pins. It not dropping 10 pins multiple times. Not resetting properly. Not returning my ball. A lane a few over just dropped 10 pins down... literally dropped a pile of pins. I've never in my life seen that. They switched our lane since the first one was malfunctioning so much. Which destroyed our game play. This place sucks and I won't be back. read more

Love this place. Kids love it. Easy to use. They are pretty nice. There is one grumpy lady that works there. As long as you don't have her the place is wonderful! Just beware of grumpy sour face lady that works at the front desk. She's awful but I won't take away a star for one bad apple. read more

I love this place to bowl and have fun and good times the pizza is okay but gets cold easily The food is okay but some special things are pretty good like the hot wings!!! Love.. It is a bit of a pretty penny but worth it !! The shoe sizing is a little off so when you are a 7 you probably want an 7 and 1/2 .. the chairs are gross they had weird stuff all over them . The bowling balls had many scratches on them and the holes on the balls , they had pizza sauce in them . I only real reason I go here is because it's the only place near me . I want to find an other hang out placed because after a while it gets boring. I would only play for 3 hours at most time goes not fly by it slows down and gets boring fast read more

We had our daughter's 9th birthday party at Saddleback Lanes this past weekend - cosmic bowling for 20 people, it was fantastic!! Louis (or Lewis) was very helpful, took great care of us and everyone - adults and kids - had an amazing time. Thank you!! read more

total rip off and one employee was ver inconsiderate. time stated within four minutes of paying. I came there with 2 seniors so paid $50.00 an hour to get the very crappy bowling balls, and get our shoes on. will not go there again. also very loud. read more

Bartender is trash . Treating me like crap , would not serve me alcohol because i let a lady go in front of me to get napkins..... Which i felt bad for her to wait as long as i did just to get service. Finally when she assisted me she told me she would not sell me alcohol because i was rude....... REALLY I am rude because i let a lady go ahead of me for napkins !!!! I did what i would expect someone else to do . Service was great from EVERYONE besides the Bartender .... Flirting with all these guys and not providing service like the other employees ..... I felt awkward to even ask for water BARTENDER IS RUDE AND DOESNT CARE ABOUT SERVICE . (Older women with an attitude) I am not one to leave a bad comment but she was beyond rude so i thought it was necessary ! read more

Nice place to go bowling. Very clean and modernized scoring. Lanes were in good shape as well. First time there and will be back again.

It's a Bowling ally so it's got the standard stuff. Bar / Arcade and Food. The place could use a bit of updating but it's ok. I prefer Lake Forest lanes but what ever it's a Bowling Ally. Shoes were nice and sorta new'ish. Balls were a bit rough for house balls if you don't own your own. read more

BEWARE! My boyfriend and I both were charged a second time only months later from Saddleback Lanes. He saw it on his statement in March (from our visit in November) and told me to be aware if I saw a charge from then. Low and behold after watching my billing statement I saw a second charge from Saddleback lanes and had to contact my fraud department for my debit card. PAY CASH IF YOU PLAN ON BOWLING HERE OR PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO YOUR CARD TRANSACTIONS MONTHS LATER!! Is this how they are able to stay in business? That said, I will agree with the other reviews about the service and bartender service. They act like they have somewhere better to be than to be helping you. The pins in the alley get stuck and often times the lane needs to be restarted. Quarter nights are the only incentive to come here although Lake Forest lanes offers the same promotion just on different days of the week. read more

Beware when you come here!!!! My friends and I went here last week and no exaggeration they charged me four times for the same transaction ($4 more than my actual charge of $52mind you). The same thing happened to my friend and sadly it makes sense because the guy at the checkout counter seemed rather inquisitive to me. That being said the bowling was fun but the memory is pretty much erased with having to work on clearing up these charges right now read more

I was here Monday night and after the remodel I really thought they would also update they're "bartenders" honestly I've been a bartender/server for atleast 3 years now and even I can say this lady SUCKS. She is so rude no matter what and it's so ridiculous. Why update your establishment if you can't even update the staff in a correct way. GET RID OF HER. read more

My boyfriend bowls in a league here every sunday and I love coming to watch him play and ordering a ton of surprisingly tasty bar food & pitchers. Their nachos and tater tots always satisfy my need for something crunchy and savory. Bartender service here can be a little slow at times but there's only one person working the bar and they do the best they can. Lanes here are well maintained and lubricated frequently. There's also a decent ball selection and prices for shoe and lane rentals are very reasonable. Parking is a cinch as there's a huge lot right outside. This spot would be great for a fun family night out or a double date night with friends. I always forget how much fun bowling is til I get here and start playing. I like the crowd here too - super friendly and the music selections are always on point (lots of classic rock and tunes to help you get your bowling swagger on). Saddleback makes Sunday truly a funday. read more

Saddleback Lanes - ultimate nachos - Bowling Near Me - Mission Viejo, California

2 stars. Why? Ya, I bowl here. You will see me there sometimes. Hell, I will even be having fun. Why the 2 stars then? The Lanes? Nope. The Construction? Nope. The Annoying Customer Base? Nope. Two stars because the bar does not take plastic. I mean what the hell? Not only are we in the year 2000; but, EVERYWHERE ELSE INSIDE TAKES PLASTIC! How does a bar not take cards? I personally think the "ATM". Is owned by the bartender and tells people that they don't take credit because he wants and ATM kickback. I don't even want to go there to drink and bowl anymore, I always go somewhere else if I want to do the combo. Besides, the bartender looks at every paying customer like they just took a steaming crap on his table and is so light on the drinks you could swear he just added water. This isn't cup of noodles, it's a business. If you hate the customer, and want to screw people out of a good time, just get into politics and leave the customer service to people who want to make money and repeat business. read more

Great place, good food, decent ambiance. Good family place. However, a little overpriced for my taste for a place without any special bells and whistles. read more

We had a fantastic Corporate event at the lanes today for 25 people. Everyone had a wonderful time. The 5 lanes were ready, snacks and pitchers of soda and water delivered to our tables. Music was properly set at a volume to play in the background so we were able to talk, cheer and laugh without struggling to hear. Will be the buzz around the office tomorrow for sure. 100% successful. Thank you for a stress free day!! read more

So just for the bowling aspect of things. This place has decent lanes. I have a couple avid bowlers in my life and both of them have a higher rating of these lanes than Lucky Strike or Bowlmor. They are serious bowlers. It stinks that it looks kinda old and hasn't had an update in a while, but for just bowling, great spot. Lanes are clean, waxed just right, and the pins behave. :) read more

Not a bad little bowling alley if you're down South County way. We were here on a weeknight, bowled a couple games at full price, took a break and had a drink at the bar. The bar service here was probably the fastest I'd ever had at a bowling alley! Usually, bowling alley bars are better places to quit drinking then AA meetings (coming from a guy who knows), but here it seemed like you might have a shot of grabbing an O'Douls and making it back to the lanes without holding up the game for your mates. We were told it was cheaper bowling after a certain time (I think 10:00 PM), so we waited it out and had a chat down at the lanes. One of the employees came and got us when it was time for $1.75 games, which I thought was thoughtful. The lanes were in good shape, the score keeping computers were alright, and the customer service was quite good. Nothing wrong with Saddleback Lanes! read more

Ah yes...bowling is a game that anyone can play...short or tall...fat or skinny...young or old. This place is packed on the weekends. We went last night and were presented with a nearly one hour wait to get a lane. That was fine because you can grab a beer at the bar ($4 for a Bud bowling pin) and people watch. That's always fun. This place has everything...automated scoring, arcade, snack bar specializing in fried delicacies, and patrons from all walks of life. Be prepared to see a lot of kids here, rolling huge bowling balls down the lanes with the help of some bumpers. Watching little kids that stand about two bowling balls high try to roll that thing down the lane can be pretty entertaining all by itself. This bowling alley is cheaper than the one in Lake Forest, but it also isn't quite as nice or as well equipped (translation: tiny bar as opposed to a huge bar). The only thing I didn't like was the black-out bowling, where they out the lights over the lanes and turn on these red LED lights on the sides of each lane. Man that really messes up my game and when I am trying to squeak a win over friends I need every little bit of help that I can get. Hey and if you have an OC Entertainment Book, there's a coupon in there for this place and they run monthly coupons on the book website. read more

Back in the day this was THE spot to hang out. I have dozens of childhood memories linked to this place. It held so much old-school charm, feeling like a beacon of '70s antiquity in an era when everyone else was busy retrofitting and upgrading. Well, not anymore. They've done some major construction and it just doesn't feel the same. Major modifications have been done to modernize the place, leaving it looking like a generic bowling alley devoid of charm and comfort. This seriously bummed me out when I came here to bowl a couple of games because I had been hoping to be transported back to those halcyon days of youth. Instead, I entered and immediately felt cold and distant. If you couldn't care less about aesthetics and nostalgia, by all means bowl here. If, however, you're a bit like me and want some of that classic flavor then I might suggest nearby Forest Lanes, which has gotten a makeover but still retains a vintage vibe. read more

Me and my friend searched for a place to drink something, and we found that place so we stop by. when we got in to the place we saw the bowling lane and we star to play. (it's was our first time), And it was so fun experience. And another thing: I won!!! read more

Well it's bowling. But what they do a bit better here is the following: Great events every week where the cost is reasonable and there is always a crowd. We came with group of kids and it was a 2 hour blast. Pretty good food and bar area. They have TVs by each lane so you can keep score and watch a game. Had a drink, pizza, bowled and watched an NBA game all from the same area. Fun couple of hours. Tip...use bumpers for the kiddos. Eliminates the gutter ball and makes it more enjoyable for the kids. read more

Great place for late night bowling. We have been there a few times late at night and it hasn't been crowded. So if you are up late and want to bowl for half price, check out Saddleback Lanes on a Saturday night! Food is ok, typical bowling alley fare. Lots of fried stuff. A friend got their fish and chips, big mistake. Also, they do not allow you to bring your own drinks. (big surprise there) Shoes are in good condition, lots of different weights and sizes of balls to choose from. If you want to talk about oil patterns on the lanes, that is for another review! read more

This place has seen better days but if my company is paying for bowling, food, and booze I'm all in!! Good place for groups and food is pretty good for a bowling alley. Don't think I would go back here on my own accord- Irvine Lanes is closer. read more

Joe gave me too notch service when I went to bowl there for the first time. That's the kinda guy anyone would want working for them!

We celebrated our son's 12th birthday party over the weekend and it couldn't have gone any better! Lewis was so awesome! He had everything ready before we arrived, kept checking on us to make sure everything was perfect, and it was!! Thank you again, Lewis! read more