I am a self-proclaimed epically awful bowler, but I went here with a group of friends last night and we had a great time. The cost of shoes and games are incredibly cheap and there's a coupon for a free game for one person online. Their snack bar is pretty well stocked with a wide selection of greasy munchies, soda, and beer. Some of the beer comes in bowling pin shaped bottles, which was a kitschy little treat. I tried to order a Lone Star, and the guy working the snack bar looked horrified and actually ended up talking me out of it. He seemed relieved when he up-sold me to Dos Equis. They also have an arcade with some classic games and a jukebox in the corner. The one disappointment of the evening was when they switched off the jukebox around 9 PM, prematurely ending our BB King, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, etc., play list and started playing horrible pop music (I am so SICK of Lady Gaga I could scream). However, they refunded our money from the jukebox when we complained, so that was a minor issue. I've heard it can get pretty crowded on certain nights, but we were there on a Saturday night from about 8 to 11 and we didn't have any issues with the crowd, so I guess it's a hit or miss phenomenon. read more

I'm personally terrible at bowling, but I love it. So I come here and I asked for the bumpers. The idiotic employee wouldn't give me them until I had a long streak of gutter balls. So there went my money. read more

Garbage place. Rude staff, both at the counter and bar. Crummy system, poorly fitting shoes, greasy balls. Simply could not imagine a worse place to bowl. read more

There is always a long wait. The price is good for the bowling but the beer is outrageously priced $2-3 for a lone star or keystone can. It has a very smoky atmosphere. The shoes are very old and barely stitched together and they run out of popular shoe sizes. The lanes are nice but the scoring computer and pin racker-upper messes up a few times a game. read more

Won't be coming back. Twice the cashier has tried to charge us $12.50 instead of $5.00 for the special they had. Both times I had to call him on it. It seems like common practice to just do that. The owner is totally unprofessional. He yelled at my wife because our daughters walked in with outside drinks. A simple, 'We don't allow outside drinks,' would have worked. Instead he yelled at her to throw those drinks away. Totally rude and uncalled for and ruined our night. We get it. You need to make money on concession sales and we have bought burger, popcorn, beer and soda on previous visits and had intentions of doing so again. You don't have a jerk to your customers.....or is your staff just rude to Hispanic customers. read more

Pricing on the website is vague. It does not specify that the prices are per game PER PERSON. We paid for two games, and were only able to play one and a half because apparently, there is also a time limit on how long you take to play. We did not take any major breaks and bowled pretty rapidly but still the middle of the second game the lights went off at the end of the lane and our screen said something like, "prepaid time over." However, we did not have to wait for a lane which was nice since we were bowling on a Saturday afternoon. There were several birthday parties happening while we were there. They had a nice selection of bowling balls. The shoes were as expected for a bowling alley. The snack bar had typical selection of food for a bowling alley. Shiner Bock was $3 a bottle. The staff were all friendly and helpful. Smoke Free! read more

The owner is lazy! No oil on the lanes. Won't clean the restrooms. I reported to him that the ladies room was a mess and toilets were clogged. He sent the cook in rather than take care of it himself. The cook went in and cleaned up and plunged the toilets and went right back to cooking. She never took her cooking apron off while doing that and then went straight back to cooking. The water fountain has been broken for years so that you have to go buy a cup of water from the snack bar. Don't let the new lanes fool you. The place is a dump and poorly maintained. read more

All of the other reviews pretty much sums this place up. My advice, if you do come here, don't buy the food!! It's a COMPLETE rip off. Seriously they charge you a ridiculous amount of money for mediocre food, that you could've just cooked at home yourself. read more

I made the mistake of buying a Groupon for this place. The prices advertised on Groupon was double the actual cost of my family to bowl. Instead of 20% off from Groupon it was actually 30% over retail. Then instead of offering a solution they blamed Groupon. I literally would have accepted a free pizza or a free game to compensate for the difference in prices since I wasn't able to get a quick refund from Groupon. I had brought 8 other bowlers who all left with me because of the rudeness of the cashiers and their unwillingness to even act like it was an issue. Luckily after contacting Groupon I was able to get a refund. But seriously $30 worth of bowling should not cost $35 with a Groupon. That's the opposite of how that should work. I will never go back to this place and I have requested Groupon go back over their relationship with this company for falsely advertising a price. read more

Has so much potential. I work in marketing I wish I could have a talk with the owner. However in its current state bathrooms are absolutely disgusting, smells like dead animals. When I got back to the game I couldn't forget that horrendous smell. Concession Food is surprisingly good. Scoring program is from the 80's. The best description i can apply here is "barely functional" read more

This place is a huge let down. No music unless you pay. Not enough tables to sit at. Not enough bowling balls to use. Run out of pitchers.. and beer. Also don't serve out of state people even if they are of age bc they don't know how to check ID's. Smells bad. Run down. Won't be back. read more

Fun...and they have great student discounts and coupons all around town. I am a fan!!

Nothing fancy here. The snack lady was nice but the guys working the shoe area were rude. Do not expect any bells or whistles.

Brought my kids and wife and we all had a very good time! Really enjoyed the food, burgers were surprisingly good. The staff was very nice helping us set up our lane. Definitely gonna bring the whole family next time they're all in town! read more

Sunset lanes is the equivalent of paying a few extra bucks to drive a 1984 Toyota Corolla that you can basically beat around and crash into minivans without much fear of retribution. No supervision, old balls, crusty environment, warped lanes and an overpriced jukebox combine to make a perfect storm of the aesthetic of a struggling gas station in a rural Montana ghost town. Once bowled three balls in one throw and got a strike so believe me I know what I'm talking about in regards to bowling alleys. Overall a below average experience for 8 bucks but the fun of playing kickball with a bowling ball is worth the premium. read more

Not too bad, nothing really special. Maybe a little pricey? And the workers seemed disinterested and like they would rather be anywhere but there, but hey, they got our shoes and set up our lane so, I'm not complaining! Had a lot of fun there :) read more

Are there a few issues here, yes. Are they issues that warrant all these one star reviews ? No. I have been bowling here my whole life, and will forever come here, Many of these reviews seem to be written months and years after the people actually visited Sunset lanes( Now smoke free, the smell is not strong any more, and the guys running the place for Gary are friendly, helpful, and actually pretty knowledgeable). I bowl here at least once a week, usually Saturday afternoon or Sundays since that is the best pricing for one person to bowl. Seems many people have been spoiled by the fancy, bright lights, sucker you in to bowl on crappy lanes in surrounding cities, places. Instead of supporting a local business owner, and just having fun Bowling with your family. If more people would spend their money here, and support local and not Austin, maybe these upgrades everyone desires could happen. OK, off my soap box, now for the negatives, many i've seen mentioned already. The shoes, not a large selection, and most are wore out, almost impossible to get the size you actually need, but you'll get close. ( I need to just go buy my own anyways, since i'm getting competitive now). Floors around the lanes need to be swept more, they get very slippery since it is bare concrete. the only other thing i would add is that more fans could be added above the lanes to cool it down. Thanks for keeping this place going for all these years Gary !!! a San Marcos Icon !!! read more

Avoid it if you can! Our lane broke down on us five times, How is someone supposed to have a good time when you have to walk to the front desk to get them to reset your pins every 5 minutes. The guy at the front desk was no help at all. He made it seem like it was my fault that the thing was breaking down. Want a drink? Good luck with that too. The girls at the "bar" are underage, and don't even know how to pour a drink. read more

I usually have no promblems with this place, but tonight (August 19 from 10pm-midnight) my friends and I had a terrible experience! The manager on duty (I believe his name was Barry) was flirting with the group of girls using the lanes next to my friends and I. He would interrupt the music to flirt with them and give away free beer. This manager was mostly giving free beer to the girls using the lanes next to us and did not card them. I'm fairly certain some of those girls were not 21 years of age. He would offer chances to win beer, by being the next person to make a strike, but conveniently it was only to the lanes of girls next to us. This manager also started to play flip cup with the girls at the main desk that was used to pay for games and shoe rental. The other staff was fairly nice, but did not seem to be uncomfortable with this unprofessional behavior. This establishment also no longer allows smoking and yet this same manager was smoking inside while his customers were forced to stand outside in the heat to smoke. Overall I was very disappointed with this trip to sunset lanes. Oh and if they do decide to card you, you better not be visiting from out of town or only have your passport as a form of ID because you must have a plastic Texas Drivers License to purchase alcohol here. Disappointing and unprofessional. read more

Sunset bowling closed 30 minuets early as they watched us pull into the parking lot. Very unhappy customers and very unprofessional.

Low in cost but for a price; if you don't mind ball machines "eating" your ball, pin racks knocking over pins, computers not keeping score and "freezing-"up. read more

If I could give this place a negative star I would. I'm disappointed I even wasted money going to this out of date, filthy place but my kids wanted to bowl and the spot was packed, for obvious reason. Never again. For those of you still wanting to go, I would recommend a tetanus shot and a heavy dose of antibiotics prior to entering. read more

I'm gonna save myself the time and money and go to the spot or evo. Pretty much all the negative reviews sums it all up. Outdated,dirty, rude customer service, bad food and very expensive. read more

If I could give them no stars i would, mainly because the total lack of care put into the business. As a long time bowler in many of the different leagues held there, I find that anyone who just dumps oil onto the lanes because they cannot keep a machine working properly is sending a very clear message that they do not care for the partonage of the people keeping them in business. If there was any other choices of lanes to bowl on in the buda/kyle/san marcos area they would make a killing. read more

So disgusting. No wonder they have less than two stars already. First time I went here I got random emails from the owner with bible quotes which is super weird. It's also a "family" establishment so if you go to the front desk and his daughter just so happens to work there that night and call you a "fucking idiot" (she has the worst attitude, literally will ask 'what do you want' and all of the staff agreed) and she's rude, all he, which is her dad the "owner", will do when you try to complain is ask for the email and send that religious stuff. Like no, take your daughter from the front counter for being rude to everyone- actually every counter I don't know what the standards are for bowling alleys here but this place is staffed with the lowest, most inexperienced, especially when it comes to customer service, staff I've ever seen. And one of the staff members told me on my first visit that the men that work there, especially the "Mexican one at the front desk" - not my words - says he hits on her constantly and makes her feel uncomfortable in and out of the work place and the owner is always pushing some "weird religion stuff" on her and doesn't care about the inappropriate relationships within his staff. And that's why she wants to quit. I don't know if you want to go to the worst put together, hardly any bowling ball weight choices, most over priced, dirty, uncomfortable, most of the floor missing bowling alley then come here. I have recorded so many psycho interactions I have had with this place. Crazy. read more

Had a great time!! We hadnt been bowling in a long time so we decided to take the kids last night. Sunset lanes was extremely clean and the staff was very friendly! It was nice to see families, couples and groups there. We didnt get anything to eat while we were there (already ate before) but the food looked and smelled great! Prices were affordable which makes a family night out even better! Cant wait to go back! read more