Came here on a date and had such a blast. The whole dive bar, hole-in-the-wall feel of the place is incredibly. The lanes themself feel preserved in time in the best way possible. We reserved the lanes for an hour and had it was the perfect amount of time. We didn't order any food, just a pitcher of beer. The service was great and staff was friendly. Would absolutely come back. read more

Bouncers are incredibly hostile. Yelled at my friend for having a foreign ID. Turned away others angrily when their valid ID wouldn't scan. Warped crooked lanes, chipped bowling balls. read more

The Gutter is the only bowling option you have in Brooklyn. Located in Williamburg, they offer about 6 lanes and it's first come first serve. The wait times are usually pretty long. We waiting for about an hour. In the meantime you can drink, play pool, or sit in a booth with your friends and chat. It was pretty affordable. For a group of 4 people it was about 15 each including shoe rentals for 35 mins. The alleys were grouped in pairs. They tend to glitch out a lot. If one alley was glitching it usually affected the alley next to it. I wish they'd have people monitor that a bit more, but besides that this is great, affordable, 21 + bowling option. read more

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Between the bar and the bowling alley, I give it three stars. Bar is great, very chill. Good selection of beers and decent cocktails. I do wish there was hand sanitizer or wipes to allow us to consider wiping our tables after use or before! I get that staff can get busy tending to so many ppl. My friend went to the bathroom to grab paper towels with some water to wipe down. Bowling alley, is a cool concept and it is what it is. Not your latest bowling technology. No big screens for you to see your score. It's for a casual bowl. The scoring gets a little wacky because you can bowl a 7, and then it resets the entire thing, leaving no chance to spare. I also forgot where the reset button is located and the directions don't really tell you exactly where it is (by the machine that spits out the balls). Overall a good night but prepare for a long wait if you're here to bowl. read more

The Gutter - Bowling Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

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There's a reason this bowling alley is significantly cheaper than any other in NY-- it's way less glamorous, way more dingey, and is essentially a dive bar with a bowling alley. This is all part of the charm of the Gutter, but good luck finding a lane that is actually functioning, which you can't always count on at this location (a newer, nicer Gutter has opened on the LES, but good luck not waiting several hours before a lane opens up there). The bowling balls themselves are pretty gnarly and not well kept at all. Everytime I went to wash my hands after using the balls the water coming off my hands would turn dark from the dirt, and I'm not exaggerating! I'll always remember how the Gutter was in the news in 2014 NY's first Ebola patient was reported to have visited the bowling alley while carrying the virus. The thought of how gnarly this place is, especially if you're renting their shoes or sticking your fingers in their bowling balls makes my skin crawl. All that being said, the Gutter does not purport to be the premier bowling alley of NYC at all. They know what they are, and they know you know too, and you're going to keep coming back because their prices are low and the lanes working just sometimes is good enough. Plus, you can order outside food to be delivered to the bar, which is actually pretty cool of them. read more

Ambiance was great. Old school dive bar feeling. Only downside was the wait time and limited time you could bowl.

there was 1 lane being used at 11PM on a Saturday night. I see why no one was bowling, and I see why the bartenders wanted nothing to do with telling me the price to bowl. $88 for 3 people and 1 lane of bowling for 60 minutes. Either the bowling balls are made of solid gold or the bowling lanes cure cancer, either way I don't know what logical person can look someone in the eyes and tell them it will be $88 to throw a rock at some pins. read more

Some of the lanes have mechanical issues but it's still fun and you can't beat the old school alley vibes.

Actually this is not the first time I came to bowling at Gutter bar. This time my best friend just want to chill out so I go with her. On Sunday night it wasn't packed, there were 4 groups ahead of us but we didn't wait too long. It was so fun to come with friend no one care the score you get just having a good time. Bartender and another staff are super casual. The early shift was good but the night shift are kind of lazy and boring. That was one of the reason we left because after changing the shift, we feel the service was not good. read more

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The definition of a dive bar. Came in here as a pit stop before going to an exhibition nearby. Got the Christmas Ale which was a pretty good IPA. Very spacious inside. Apparently they do private events because during my tome there I saw signs that said they'd be closing at 8 for a party. The restroom area is an open space with stalls. I didn't explore much else while I was here besides the bar area. read more

The Gutter - Christmas Ale - Bowling Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

Unsure why this place has middling reviews on Yelp - it's exactly what it's supposed to be. It's a dive bar in Williamsburg, with cheap (fun) old-school bowling and pool. Went there yesterday with a group of friends after we found out that the nearby Brooklyn Bowl had a $50 cover charge to get in (apparently they had a band playing there - on a Wednesday night, asking for $50 to set food in the place. No, thank you), and had to scramble to find a place to go bowling. Lucked upon this joint - quick service, easy access to some really neat bowling lanes straight out of the 70s. Drinks are relatively cheap (for Williamsburg), and they have a decent selection of beer on tap - and the barman wasn't cheap with the alcohol in the cocktails either. I saw people sitting down at some of their tables with pizza delivered, so I'm assuming you can bring your own food. The bar area is about as textbook dive-bar as you can imagine, without being particularly dirty or uninviting. Very laid back type of vibe. They even had a comedy show going on in the back, past the restrooms. Honestly the next time I'm in the area and looking for something fun to do, that's where I'll be. read more

Bowling at a price that beats Brooklyn Bowl down the street plus good beer at a fair price is reason enough to come here. They have a backroom away from the bowling noise that host lots of cool concerts and comedy shows, and on Halloween, the cover bands take over the whole place. Not quite divey, but a comfortable place to hangout and avoid the collared shirt and suit crowds further down Wythe. read more

Came here for Halloween celebrations where there was a sizeable lineup of cover bands, rotating on the different stages. This is one of those places that can only exist in this part of the world. Anywhere else, doesn't make that much sense. A mix of your grandparents basement and a small, no frills bowling alley and a communal bathroom area, it's definitely a hodgepodge. I liked that there was no exorbitant cover (no cover at all, actually) and once you learned the layout of the place it was a breeze to find the friends you somewhere lost along the way. When we first got to the place we put our names down for bowling and around 11:30/12am our number got called. The bowling is cash only, so plan accordingly. The lanes themselves are intentionally outdated and the machines have their quirks, we had problems with it repeating terms out of order. Must have been a ghost in the machine on the hallowed night. read more

The Gutter - Bowling Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

I had a really good time hanging out at The Gutter. My mom, her husband and I decided to check out a bowling alley since the Governor approved them for opening. We called ahead and they didn't require reservations but we didn't check to see if we could bring kids--my mom's step-grandson came with us but once we got there, we were told that kids are not allow (they have a liquor license). Since we were there, my mom and I went (my mom's husband dropped off his grandson and came back to bowl). They really enforce social distancing and I think they're doing a great job. They had an employee explain the changes. First, they give you a glove to wear when testing the heft of the ball--once you find the ball that works best for you, you can discard the glove; second, they normally have 8 lanes but reduced it to 4; third, they have hand sanitizer at each station and lastly, once you're finish, you leave the bowling shoes and ball at the station and you exit through the fire door. It goes without saying that we all had to wear our mask. I had a good time and they have outdoor dining as well. The staff was pleasant and very helpful--if you're looking to do something other than watch Netflix, you can try bowling at The Gutter. read more

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Gutter is like a dive bar with bowling. This location isn't my favorite. Would recommend the one in the city. The bowling system is outdated and there are no screens. Definitely better places for bowling in the area so I highly suggest doing your research. read more

Not a place where people (or bowling equipment) are respected. Wow, the staff were so incompetent AND straight up hostile to us that they managed to make my whole group and at least one other group uncomfortable. I don't think I'm gonna come back any time soon. I never leave reviews but I just had to for this. Let me get the good stuff out of the way: Nice divey vibe, nice bartender, and decent beer selection. The bowling lanes were functional, and we actually had a nice time, despite the bad: Getting a reservation here was like pulling teeth. First we emailed, no response. So we called as soon as they opened. The woman on the phone would not confirm or deny whether there were lanes available for that evening. Instead she just kept sighing and saying that they "usually like more notice for reservations". When my friend asked why, she said it was because they "need time to take down your information and get a deposit" As if that takes two days to do?? My friend calmly said "But I can give you all that information right now, that's why I'm calling." (lol). The woman sighed again and put the manager on the phone, seemingly just not wanting to deal with having to take our information or talk to my friend anymore. The manager echoed what the employee said, then said she'd "make an exception" for us, but she'd have to charge my friend the full price of the reservation over the phone, as opposed to just a deposit. My friend agreed, since we were set on going anyway. When we arrived at our reservation time, it turned out they had double-booked us with another group! And they had charged BOTH groups over the phone for the lanes. When the staff member (who may have been the same woman from the phone) realized they had double-booked the lane, she went into the back office and was literally gone for a good 10 minutes. She came out with the manager, and rather than apologize, the manager just told us "You see, THIS is why we don't do same-day reservations!". As if it was somehow *our* fault that they can't keep a basic list of what lanes are reserved for when? How is a same-day reservation any different than one made two days earlier? A lane is either reserved or it's not. What happens on the day-of? You throw the reservations spreadsheet into a fire? The process of making reservations has been around for hundreds of years, but here we are being told that an 8-lane bowling alley requires two whole days to sort through the mind-bendingly complex logistics of which lanes are available at what times? Why bother taking reservations at all? We tried making it easier for them by speaking to the other group that was booked for our lane and agreeing that we could split the lanes if they gave us each half our money back, but the staff wouldn't allow us to do this (presumably because they already had our money). We literally offered them an out and they were too stubborn and/or greedy to take it. We ended up getting lucky and another group was leaving, so we were able to get our lanes about an hour after we arrived. The whole thing made it feel like the whole staff, including the manager, not only didn't understand how to manage reservations, but that nobody felt it was their responsibility to do so, and so everyone was just passing the blame to the customer. Keep in mind that their website says to email to make a reservation, and doesn't say anything about reservations having to be two days in advance. If they had properly kept track of who had reserved a lane, they could have just said "sorry we're full" and we wouldn't have come. Instead they charged us over the phone for a spot they didn't have and then told us it was our fault. Oh also, we pre-paid for shoes, but when we got there all they had available were sizes 7 and 10. As far as the bowling went, it was fine. The lanes are not well-greased, the balls are about 50 years old and very chipped, and there are no overhead screens. People are not required to wear bowling shoes so the floors are gross and it kind of defeats the purpose of anyone wearing the shoes. Nobody came to bus our lane so there were dozens of glasses left over from the previous people that we had to bus ourselves. This isn't the kind of place where someone comes to your lane to check on you or take your drink order. This is all expected from a place like this, and on its own would be totally fine. But in conjunction with the rude and lazy staff, it's like what are you really paying for here? read more

This place sucks!!!! It's awful!!! The lanes are uneven, the scoring machine is broken, sometimes pins fall out of nowhere when your ball has already gone into the gutter. It's fantastic! Could not recommend it more highly. Once you shuffle off the mortal shackles of things like "consistency" and "reliability" in your game, you're free to focus on the things that really matter. Like bonding with your friends over a dumb game where you just throw a heavy ball around. That's what we're all here on this earth for, right? Your pretentious frenemies will not want to come here, which is great. And your annoying friend Dave who thinks he's great at bowling will be knocked down a peg or two. He'll have to just be one of the boys for a day and use his humor and charm to impress people instead of his rock solid wrist and superhuman follow through. Also everyone working here is nice. They're more consistent and even-keeled than the lanes are. read more

The guy working the shoe swap has smallest amount of emotional intelligence I have ever experienced in a grown ass adult. Imagine thinking not having the decency to be decent is a cool way to Come across to strangers. I tossed an extra star there bc I like that's it's spacious and I appreciate high ceilings read more

There's usually a fun and hot crowd at this bowling alley. I love that they are open till 4 am most nights. They also will let you doordash food whenever they are no longer serving food. read more

The Gutter - People bowling - Bowling Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

Been coming here for the better part of 5 months very consistently with the same people on Wednesday nights and while understanding a physical ID process and currently losing one and making use of government issued as we do in other states by offical apps in waiting for a new one the bouncer at the door was incredibly hostile from the get go without us even saying a word in walking to the door he stormed and hid inside behind the door. Tall black gentleman with a stupid mean mug on his face all the time. While totally understanding and me having the Uber app open ready to go comes yelling at my friend who was gonna say it was just the other 3 coming in yelling that he doesn't want to hear none of it. Wouldn't post a review but only doing so because as soon as I was about to leave a group of guys looking a lot younger than me where let in and he didn't even look up from his chair to ID them. Is it only when he standing and not feeling lazy that he does his job. Anyways, what are you gonna do. Will say other than that pretty good spot to go bowling for late night vibes and nice bar. read more

Best comedy in Brooklyn, hands down. Wednesdays and Saturday nights at 9pm are great. I think they undercharge. Really nice back room with brick backdrop and little bar for the comedy shows. I always see amazing comedians who should be on Netflix but aren't there yet and usually at least 2 amazing female comics - I'm in the nabe so I'm here somewhat regularly read more

Set your expectations accordingly - this is not a typical bowling alley. Picture your favorite dive bar with some old fashioned bowling lanes and you have The Gutter. A group of us went on a Wednesday night and had about a 30 minute wait for a lane after the one we were initially put on was shut down for repairs. I imagine the wait would be much longer on a weekend night. Prices were very reasonable for both drinks and bowling (we paid $62 for an hour of bowling for 4 people, including shoes). They don't serve food but you're welcome to bring your own, I saw lots of other customers with pizza from a nearby spot. Definitely looking forward to returning. read more

I love bowling so so much. Favorite place in Williamsburg ever! Can't wait to bowling have fun with my friends relax enjoy life! read more

The Gutter - Bowling Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

Super cool little dive bar with an 8 lane bowling alley. Drinks are pretty reasonable in price , beer is 8$ so are shots. Its been open for about 12 years and it has a cool vibe .. we really enjoyed it read more

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The bartenders are what make this place special. The bowling is cool too. Will definitely be back.

Great drinks but took us two hours to get on the lane on a Tuesday night so get there early unless you don't mind waiting. And if you do wait the pool table is great. read more

This is a bar/bowling alley. We were a group of 5 and went for their bowling. We waited for about 30 mins and it was priced around $60 per hour. The place is preserved well. Ambiance is old school. In the middle of playing our ball and pins got stuck several times and we had to reset or ask for help. But overall we still had fun. read more

A gem of a dive bar with character. Good beer selection, great music, can usually get a seat, but still lively. Bowling late into the night and while it's sad you can't make a reservation, the wait list can move quickly if you have a drink or two while waiting. Epic Halloween party every year too. Check it out!! Also it seems the smallest bowling ball they have is an 8, wish they carried 7. read more

The Gutter - The front bar - Bowling Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

"Dive bar+bowling = happiness" On the outside, one would not expect a bowling alley because of the divey and slight sketchy factors. But, this place is great and on top of bowling it has an excellent craft beer selection with decent prices -6 bucks a pint and 21 bucks a pitcher. For the clientele is kind of chill. Just note that the bar does have chips (I have not seen Andy Capp hot fries since was a kid) but no real food. But it seems that the place is very relaxed with people bringing their own food. I wish that I had know that before so I would have avoided "Hanger", anger induced by hunger. As for the bowling, it did take a couple of hours to get a lane. I believe thursday nights are league nights so that could have explained the long wait. However, I did not mind too much because of the wonderful beer selection. The lanes are really old school; I think your score is recorded on a Commodore 64 ;) Plus, there are no bells and whistles that many of the bowling in the city has. Unfortunately, They did not have too many balls for thick thumbed individuals such as myself but I find that to be the case for many bowling alleys. Oh, Emily, the woman who assigns the lanes, is AWESOME. She was very nice, friendly and outgoing. Hell, she even helped me walked my drunk friend a few blocks and told us a few places to get food and soak up our booze. read more

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Not a huge bowler but a couple weeks ago my girlfriend and I were doing a couple things in Brooklyn and decided to come here to bowl. Some might not like this concept but there's no kitchen BUT they allow outside food. We personally loved that so we had brought arepas and ordered drinks from their bar. The bar is separate from the lanes so if you want to strictly drink you can without being disturbed by bowlers and vice versa. While bowling we did find the the machine would fall out of sync (I'd bowl once but would register 2 bowls and would move onto the next player's turn) but it quickly rectified with a reset button and the staff is readily available to help with those concerns. I recommend paying per game vs. paying for time unless you bowl quickly. You'll save money going with the first option. read more

The Gutter - Bowling lanes - Bowling Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

I belong in the Gutter. Very chill and got some bowling in and the pitchers were on point.

Honestly, not the best place and if you're a person of color (I'm Puerto Rican by the way) please be cautious because there's a bit of a racist vibe about this place. For starters, the woman in front had a really horrible attitude towards me although I asked the most simplest of questions. Then I complemented one of the patrons who wore a shirt that I liked and replied in such a hostile way and I noticed he was nice to the white people but not people of color. But regardless of race or color, try keeping your distance from here. read more

I had the chance to have a date night here and I don't regret it! Growing up bowling was something I used to do often in my hometown and when I moved to New York I only thought you could go bowling at the high end spots on the west side of Manhattan. When I moved to Brooklyn I did some research and found out about the gutter and how they prided itself on being a more old school bowling alley with beer on tap and the option to order food directly to the spot itself (since they don't serve food on location). When we arrived we went to the the front desk and asked for a lane. We were lucky because someone was just leaving which opened a lane but usually if its packed it'll take about 15-20 minutes before a lane opens up. We also had to rent shoes since our sneakers weren't bowling appropriate. When we got to the lane we were allowed to bring our drinks there and then were just given the all go to play! Was a fun time and they also have good music playing which was a plus. Come here for a retro bowling experience, good drinks, and a good time! read more

The Gutter - Lanes - Bowling Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

My friends and I went to the Gutter on Friday night. We originally were planning on going to Brooklyn Bowl (just a stone's throw away) but they had a concert that night with a $25 cover so we decided to check out The Gutter. It isn't fancy, in fact, the decor reminded me of a college frat house basement with wood paneling on the walls, dim lighting and a pool table. There is a bar in one room and eight bowling lanes in the other. The Gutter sells drinks but not food, however, they allow you to bring food in which is super nice! The drinks are reasonably priced. I had a Downeast Cider ($6). I believe that was the only cider they had but they had a bigger beer selection. Now on to the bowling. There are a couple of options. You can pay per person per game ($7) or you can pay to rent a lane- they charge per hour ($40/$45 on weekends). We opted for the latter since we had a bigger group and that was the more cost effective option. Also, you can rent bowling shoes for $3. The bowling lanes are on the old side and we found that they improperly recorded strikes on a few occasions- giving us 9 points instead of 10. This wasn't a big deal since we were just playing for fun. Bottom line: The Gutter is a great find! I recommend it if you are looking for a reasonable place to bowl in Williamsburg. read more

This is a great hole in the all bar that's actually giant inside. Has the Williamsburg hipster feel. Good beers and on the cheaper side. The bowling alley is the main star here. But if you show up on a weekend night. You can expect a long wait, as there aren't many lanes. But it's made up for in the bar area and drinks. Plenty of places to sit. They also have a stage area where live music is played. I didn't see a show. But I hear it's pretty great. Def something I'd want to check out on another day. read more

The Gutter - Bowling Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

Came looking for a casual game of pins and a strong mule. The Gutter delivered both, with a soundtrack and decor that transported me to an edgy British seaside town in the 80s. However my experience was extremely clouded by the sordid attitude of the bowling rental desk clerk. This person might have only been hired for their "lewk", which loudly screamed Bushwick hipster grime, because their customer service and human interface skills were nonexistent. There is no reason why the expected exchange between renter and rentee of bowling shoes and lane should involve feelings of shame, dismissiveness, and humiliation. Gutter, should you wish to maintain the cool atmosphere and spirited activity functions of your establishment, avoid imposing such Gatekeepers of Joy on your patrons. read more

I was here on Saturday for a buddy's birthday. Apparently the lanes are imported from Iowa, which seems like a weird thing to transport across the country, but cool. We were on the third lane and it has this crazy lip on the right side, so I tailored my rolls to try to hit that. I didn't quite hit 300 but that's chill. Probably the strangest thing is when you get shoes they keep one of your shoes - but not both. I get it - collateral. But now I have to keep track of three shoes? At least two are on my feet, right, but that third shoe, it's a strange item to keep up with. It's hard enough to remember which beer is mine since we got a pitcher. Maybe someone could make an app for that. Like find my iPhone, but find my shoe. I'll have to talk to my buddies in tech. read more

This seems to be a popular spot for hanging out. Bowling is adjacent to a bar that also has a pool table. If you want to bowl, expect to wait at least 2 hours before your turn. I came here twice with an attempt to go bowling with my dates but that never happened because of the wait. There are jugs of free water near the counter! If you want to socialize here, expect to exercise your voice strength. The music is loud and the people talking are even louder. read more

The Gutter - Old school - Bowling Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

First things first: we came here at around 3pm on a Friday. We got a lane without waiting, but the whole place filled up very shortly after. I couldn't imagine coming back later that night or on a weekend. If I did, this review would likely be very different. But, if you're looking for a pristine bowling alley to go with your parents, this isn't it. I love this place. It's great for what it is. Super divey but kind of charming? Pretty solid beer selection. We started our pints while bowling and finished up at the bar. I noticed a lot of bowlers had their own equipment. Not sure why the bar accepts credit but the bowling games don't. read more

The Gutter - Bowling Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

We had to leave early however I loved the lay out. They have pool and a cute off section for bowl. They have a bar, take card and have nice benches and seats everywhere read more