The Lanes in Bristol, City of

The Lanes in Bristol is a fantastic venue that offers a unique mix of bowling, live music, karaoke, and great food—all under one roof. It’s a go-to spot for a fun night out, whether you’re with friends, family, or celebrating a special occasion. The vintage-style bowling lanes add a cool retro vibe, making it a refreshing change from standard bowling alleys. The atmosphere is lively, with a mix of indie, rock, and alternative music playing in the background. Beyond bowling, there’s also a great selection of arcade games, pool tables, and even karaoke rooms for those who love to sing their hearts out. The bar serves up a solid selection of craft beers, cocktails, and pizzas that are surprisingly good for a bowling venue. The staff are friendly and keep things running smoothly even when it’s busy. The Lanes also hosts live music and themed nights, adding to its charm as a great social hub in Bristol. Whether you’re here for a casual game of bowling or a full night of entertainment, it’s an awesome place to have fun. Highly recommended!

Always busy and always seems to be some live music

My mate had issues hearing and couldnt hear what the bouncer was saying. Bouncer assumed him saying "pardon" meant he was being racist noone gave him any chance to explain before violently expelling him from the club. If you are in a position of authority you have a responsiblility to conduct yourself in an appropriate manner. Even after the issue had been explained instead of accepting that they may have acted poorly another bouncer deciding to bar my other friend for defending them.

Fantastic place to go for a laugh, great fun !!!!

Great place love the music and vibes

Great band great venue. Loved it

great place, weird man in the toilets

Went to watch live bands,and was expecting a great time but was sorely disappointed, also the doorman/ bouncer if you could even call him that was pretty rude, asked if I could go buy some smokes and come back in and was told there's no re entry even though we had stamps on our hands and we just wanted smokes. So what's the point of the stamps??? He was also being rude to other patrons, and it doesn't matter who you are, you don't get to treat paying customers badly especially if they've done nothing wrong. Definitely wouldn't be back, toilets are a disgrace too, tables outside are filth. Don't recommend

To be honest.. it is not the greatest place where to have a good night. Staff quite rude to customers and low quality pizza. Staff sounded a bit frustrated and answering quite annoyed. Be careful when you order! Cause we ordered and paid the big size ones but the pizzas we got were smaller than they supposed to be. I guess it was because they were about to close the kitchen so they didn't really care about it. I DON'T RECOMMEND The Lanes if you're planning to have a good night with friends.

Just like..... Idk Ew ya know... Plus £20 for two large wines and they taste like a pickled rat

I've been to the lanes quite regularly, but my previous visit will be my last. The bouncers were abusive and cruel, with no regard for people's safety.

I come here mostly on Sundays for the Fighting Game tournaments (Tekken) and bowling. Bar keepers are friendly and I enjoy my time here every time I visit.

Went to fatlip on saturday and the way the security bouncers treated people was vile. Unsafe, never going back here again. Avoid at all costs

I been coming here to the fat lip event monthly for over 6 years now, the new power hungry security team has made this event extreamy unsafe. I witnessed multiple paying customers being assaulted and being treat like animals. I ofcouse will never be returning to this establishment.

I was at the fat lip event on Saturday night, what I witnessed was absolutely disgusting and scary. Bouncers who are there to protect people, keep them safe and have a duty of care we’re using their power to bully people, be aggressive and treat people like animals. There is no excuse, it is their job to be able to deal with drunk people, not take advantage of them. I didn’t feel safe at all, I know a few people that was threatened and abused by the bouncers. They should be ashamed of them selfs, and more so you for allowing them to work for you.

shocking the way people were being dealt with on Saturday night!

I've never left a google review before, but last night’s experience needed sharing. I was grabbed by a random woman, told I was too drunk even though I caused nobody any hassle and forced to leave. I asked what I did and the response was "legally I don't have to tell you". I then had bouncers swear at me, whilst ironically telling me to watch my language even though I was being civil and only asking what I did. They were clearly trying to work me up as an excuse for me being kicked out. The worst happened later. I came across somebody l don’t know very well, passed out in the alley next to the Lanes asking for water. I asked the bouncers if I could get some water for him. They laughed and pointed to the place across from the entrance and told me to buy some water there. This person was in there on this night, he was a paying customer, and to get him some much needed water I had to go and buy it from somewhere else. Absolutely disgusting treatment. Another friend disappeared that night, he said he made a joke to the bouncers, they then falsely accused him of spitting at them to the police, and he was arrested. He’s now covered in bruises, all for a joke. Given how they acted towards me and others I fully believe him. If you value your safety or that of your friends, don’t go here. Go somewhere else, seriously, go somewhere else. I've been to many clubs and none have treated me or friends like this. I’ve even been here many times before without issue. Whoever they had working as security last night was on a power trip and should not be allowed work in this industry.

Always a great time even though the mic and speaker quality isnt as great

Great atmosphere and super fun with the music and bowling! Great drinks as well

I had my birthday party here a couple of months back and I booked 2 bowling lanes that were a pre-booking in full payment. I did this as I was originally expecting 11 guests, when only 6 attended only 1 of the lanes was needed, this was before the time slot had started. When I enquired on the front desk about this I was told that unfortunately the lane bookings were non refundable and that I couldn't have a refund for the 1 lane that wasn't needed. Which cost £50 a lane which isn't a small amount of money. I was gutted but accepted this... Until when I was using the bowling alley with my friends, about 20 minutes in they had opened up the lane that I had paid for, for random people to use who weren't apart of my party?? How is this fair?? Considering I had still paid for the lane, I don't think it is right that they let other people use it and deny me a refund???

I went here as part of a work party on 06/12/2024. Was a bit nervous due to some recent reviews but I cannot say enough good things about our experience! Was immediately greeted at the door when I arrived early by Ella who explained what was going to happen and helped us all night. Food was really good and we had more than enough to take home with us after. Karaoke was great, had a great night and hope we come back next year!

Nice place. 6 bowling alleys. Bar Some kareoke rooms upstairs. Lots of fun. I'll return

Great fun here we booked the karaoke room for a friends going away party and was brilliant! Private room with good sound, ordered food delivered to the room, reasonably priced drinks all around great experience. Thanks

We had our Christmas party here. The bowling was decent and was a lot of fun....however food and drinks was a different story!!! We got two drinks and food included with bowling for just under £40 This would breakdown to something like: - £12: Bowling - £12: Two Drinks - £14: Less than two pizza slices and a few chips Which is a shocking deal. We were put on two tables and as none of the staff told us what the deal was with food we assumed the food would be spread out equally, or that there would be enough for 18 people. How wrong we were... We were provided with 4 pizzas which equates to about 32 slices of pizza. Like 1.5 slices of pizza per person, a few chips, some smal garlic breads and nachos. But what's worse is, the waitress only provided those to one table. We figured we would be getting the same amount of food as them since no one had told us otherwise. When we figured out they didn't plan on bringing any to our table I complained and they said they'd have a word with the waitress......which they clearly did because she then came back with a load of attitude and delivered two very dry garlic breads. We were lucky the other table hadn't eaten everything and we managed to salavage a bit of pizza. Afterwards I then raised this with the staff again about how we'd basically been given no food and 9 people were hungry after having barely a slice of pizza. The staff member then proceeded to blame us and tell us it was out fault because we should have magically known that the staff wouldn't share the food out between us and would give it to just one table and we would have to go take food from that table ourselves. Genuinely shocking service and poor manners. In addition to this, you'd think our £6 drink tokens would be something we could pay the difference on if the drink came to something like £6.20.....apparently not. Since most drinks never come to £6 it means you don't really get a £6 drink token..it's just a lie to make you feel like you do and they can profit off of the token money you can't actually spend. Overall, bowling was good but the staff, the food and the drinks were genuinely appalling. DONT GO HERE FOR A CHRISTMAS DO UNLESS YOU WANT TO LEAVE HUNGRY AND RIPPED OFF!

Paid £90 for a karaoke room, only to find both microphones were broken. They'd clearly been smashed in and they kept cutting in and out. Kind of ruined the experience. However there was a very good selection of music on the app. It was pretty difficult getting someone's attention to let us in to the room though as we just had to ask someone behind the bar while a live band was playing!

This place is amazing 🤩 especially if you get to meet Quinn, absolute gem 💜 never been to Bristol but will be back for this bar alone drinks and good time fun from the moment you arrive xx

I loved this place. The bar is an awesome live music venue with an amazing vibe. If you like your grungy alt bars, give this one a try. I will be back :)

A relaxed and fun restaurant/bar/bowling alley/karaoke/pool venue based in an old office in the heart of Bristol. Lots of groups of people having fun. Live music sometimes. Pretty basic decor and a down to earth menu (decent pizzas to share). Good range of beer and other drinks. Rough around the edges but lots to enjoy if you want to let your hair down!

Lots to do but hard to pre book due to upfront cost being so high

An amazing band played tonight at The Lane.

Ella was absolutely amazing behind the bar !! Amazing knowledge and very friendly! Amazing asset to the team :) do not leave reviews often, but definitely needs acknowledgement! Xxx

Really awful service. Had karaoke booked and the woman who showed us to our booth had zero customer service skills. There was soap on the floor and I told her and she went "urgh" all other staff were lovely but one bad apple spoils the crop unfortunately

I popped in for a beer really quirky place and great to visit in a group and grabbing a bowling lane. Food smelt good to

Great place. Good vibes. Good bowling.nice staff

Didn’t catch his name but the guy at the front desk was so funny and friendly :) really makes a difference, we used the karaoke room which was a good, spacious room. Most of the songs we wanted were available and the drinks we had were nice too.

Very good vibes overall. The Lanes offers a fantastic outing for anyone looking to combine classic activities like bowling and pool with a lively atmosphere

I came here last Friday evening with some friends. It was understood that we were paying to go bowling. They charged up £8 for the club entry instead so we were surprised when we walked in and was asked to pay an extra £8 for bowling, after we bought drinks at the bar. We went back to the receptionist and they didn’t give us our money back. We wont be coming back here again.

We chose it as our works night out. It has pizza and bowling! Check out the photos. Children are allowed in until 8pm.

Great place own bowling ally and good beer. Wide range of local micro brewery

Great team. Our stag do were so well looked after. Great bowling and food after

Karoeke was our plan and sadly was disappointing. In no particular order of faults; the volume on the mics was too low, along with general sound volume. The both itself has a very unusual layout and thw user interface on the system used was very clunky, slow to load and felt like it was from 2005 let alone 2024. Everything else was passable, but the software they use is just awkward and poor, for your money you'd expect something more responsive. Otherwise a decent venue, reasonably priced drinks and good variety for alcohol and no alcohol drinks.

Great place for a bit of bowling and a few drinks

Nice selection of drinks and a nice atmosphere. Pizzas and chips were very nice

Well what can i say. I Never ever write a bad review about anywhere because I am a manager of a bar and I understand the stresses and strains of the job and what comes with it however when your drink is poured away twice at the end of the night and they deny any responsibility for it at all and charge you ridiculous prices for cheap alcohol that crosses a line for me. Harry (if that was his name, I'm not sure he has the balls to give me his real name) apparently was the duty manager and couldn't see the difference between somebody being a little slurry with there words and being genuine. I tried to be super nice about it but turned my back for 30 seconds and my drink was gone. This is after paying for bowling, karaoke and drinks for my friends all night. Wow well done buddy i hope you got a kick out of denying me my truth. If you are going to have a place right in The city centre and open on Sundays maybe don't force them out at 10.00 pm at night after spending alot of money. Honestly felt like a place run by students with no clue. Toilets horrible, prices ridiculous. Music turned to full blast at 7.30 when we had kids with us and were allowed until 8pm. And honestly if a guy spends 5 minutes at the bar politely explaining to you that his drink was taken away twice. Maybe just take his word for it and pour him a small one out as a compromise. Its not rocket science. It's hospitality. Harry was the short guy with glasses on a major power trip. Good luck in your future endeavours sir. You really need it. Will Never spend a penny In.here again there are much better places In Bristol. #lettingthesidedown.

I’d be here every weekend if I was local to Bristol. Great bowling, great vibes, free pool. Can’t ask for more.

Very good value for money, had a work leaving do there. Had an hour of bowling, drinks & great food, pizza. Good atmosphere.

Always a good night out. Bee sting on tap 🤙

The security guards Vinnie and Tracey were really lovely and honestly made my experience at the lanes wonderful, the selection of music was also great and I even had my favorite band come on, which is usually rare for me! Thank you Vinnie and Tracey for being so welcoming!

This is a warning to metal heads: I went to PHUCT, the “metal” night that is advertised here, but it was anything but metal. Scene metal, for sure at some points, but the DJs are 35+ and have no idea of what is “heavy” at all. If you’re looking for a metal night, don’t try this place, downright disappointing. Do better please.

An okay place, but ruined by the tiny, fragile ego of the bafflingly angry man running the bowling bookings. He had lanes free for us, and we popped back to the table to fetch a card to pay. When we came back, he decided that the way our friend walked was somehow mocking him (“you are taking the piss of me!”) and refused to let us book. Absolutely extraordinary. Can’t recommend this place for as long as that strange, hostile man works there.

Lanes were excellent They held up the time to when you start/ finish so you start and finish when you expect. Good music and atmosphere

Paid an hour for bowling and was given 30 minutes so had to speak to the guy to extend our time. Then our lane broke not once but 3 times, 20 mins wasted watching them fix the lane to only be switched to the next lane over and only given 5 extra minutes as compensation, to then be booted off for another group to come in, bit annoying when you pay 50 quid for an hour and only get 40 mins worth😐

Thanketh the pin time Groomsmen bowl, pins fall Lanes close tattoos cometh

We went for drinks bite to eat on 19th mayz So Shocking! The bar man was miserable, complaining he wished he’d not picked up his shift. The nachos were revolting too worse experience i think ive ever had

Steve was a pleasure and good customer service the whole time I was there he is a asset to the lanes

Awesome venue for bowling, fit with great music and vibes and lovely staff with a great selection of food and drinks. Free pool is always great and the sunday fighting game tournaments are truly a great time. Always have a blast when i come here :)

We celebrated a birthday here, which was absolutely fun! The stuff with who I was in contact was super flexible and very helpful!

Smashing venue,lovely atmosphere and very friendly staff. Karaoke rooms are great fun.....apologies to all for the cacophony that was me singing.

Fairly alreeit bar. Nice smoking area. The Lanes can get a bit cramped when there’s a gig happening but not too bad. Been in worse venues..

Great place...very well organised and clean Brilliant time

Could’ve been better. Myself and a group of friends went for karaoke at the lanes. A main factor which made the experience not as enjoyable was the volume of the music in the karaoke room. We noticed immediately how quiet the music was compared to the microphones. When you look back on the videos we recorded of ourselves all you can hear is our singing and not the music. In other karaoke venues we’ve been to before the music has been much louder. So we asked the member of staff who was assisting our group if it could be made louder. He looked into the settings and saw that it wasn’t able to be turned up (had been locked maybe?) He advised us to speak to the manager as it wasn’t up to him. So we spoke to the manager wearing a flat-cap and he seemed quite rude. Terrible customer service from him. We were told that “there’s been people in that room all day and it’s been fine for them, so I won’t be turning it up”. Overall that ruined our experience and we won’t be coming back. Your best bet for a good karaoke room in Bristol is Roxy Lanes. Much louder, better mics and a big range of songs to choose from

music good as always, toilets were disgusting- sink was over-flowing and covered in hair and toilet paper, we used a karaoke room which had a great selection of music however it was so quiet we could barely hear it- when asked to get it turned up the manager refused because no one had complained apart from us! unfortunately will not be returning and will be using Roxy Lanes from now on.

Lively bar, we managed to get a last minute slot on the bowling. We had a problem with them putting us on the wrong lane and we had to relocate, but they extended our time. Good customer service.

Came across this place by chance and really enjoyed it. Good music, nice people, reasonably priced. Worth a visit.

I had such a good night here and then it went a bit south, but the staff, particularly Ella, made it absolutely fantastic. Cannot rate this place and her enough!

Came here for a friend's birthday. They provided pizza and drinks tokens which was great - pizzas were huge and well suited for a big group. It's open late every night and can provide bowling shoes if needed.

great atmosphere and live music

Just. Good. Fun. Fair play to the staff you kill it xx

Phuct is a great night at the lanes

Went to the Abba themed night and had a blast, enough room to dance and plenty of tables to sit down when you need a rest! Great smoking area and choices of drinks. Definitely recommend this place if you want a slightly more intimate vibe.

Second time coming here for karaoke and the bowling for work colleagues get together ...can't fault staff or activities apart from one ... the microphones 🎤 in there were pretty naff again ... just one thing that could be better ... put that aside had a good time ...

Easy bowling along sort of atmosphere. Nice beer. Will be back for a pizza sometime

Living in Bristol for years, this is a trash place, there is way better in the harbour side. Paid for the bowling, waited 15 min after our time because there were issue with the machine. Paid 28£ for a show “Kpop” that is free for other people, no security checking, no body knows why some people paid but no refund possible… drinks with strange taste and no alcohol… good way to do business. RUN AWAY !!!!!

Wouldn't let us back in when we missed our taxi. Cold night.

Usually I love this venue for the great cider and pizza. Unfortunately my favoured cider has gone (lily’s bee sting) and they just had one on tap and one bottled which seems odd for a place in Bristol. Also the booths upstairs are impossible to sit on unless you’re over 6ft tall - am I mistaken in thinking there used to be a bar along the bottom of the seats? Not sure but I remember being able to sit up there usually. It’s a shame as me and my friend usually love coming here and it had been a while. The atmosphere was ok as music was setting up but the upstairs bit is really lacking attention. The pool table was completely dismantled and the whole area felt cut off from the downstairs bit. The pizza is usually great but the lack of drink and places to sit meant we went elsewhere.

Family and friends bowling on NYE really good fun and great value.

Older venvue, bowling is separate to bar. Good for team get togethers and then onto karaoke. High ceilings so feels spacious.

Real shame as we had a great time in Karaoke and it was reasonably priced too. There were about 25 of us in total. The karaoke room had broken glass in (we were slightly delayed getting in because they had to clean it, but then clearly hadn’t) but on balance it was a good night…UNTIL… Security decided to pull my friend out of the corridor near the toilets and escort him out completely ruining our night. First of all they said he was “too drunk” despite the fact that he doesn’t drink, so when we challenged that, the excuse was then changed to that he was falling asleep against a pillar and they had CCTV proof…none of this was true so it was either mistaken identity or they were just being confrontational for the fun of it. They refused to listen to reason so it’s unlikely we’ll want to return to The Lanes solely on the fact that security staff seem to be completely unreasonable. I see other reviews have mentioned similar issues - this is clearly something that needs addressing if The Lanes want repeat business.

Pub come eatery come bowling alley

Was great apart from the bar tenders. Was an issue with the karaoke and what seemed to be the manager didn’t really give a care in the world and the waitress with the piercings seemed to hate her life working there. Any inconvenience was treated like someone had smaked her in the face. Wouldn’t go here for customer service, just everything else

Me and my friends came to Taylor Swift party and also played two rounds of bowling. The bowling hall was okay and I’ve enjoyed the game. However can’t say the same about staff, I have asked for two lemonades - no alcohol and just one white wine. The barman started to pour white wine in two glasses ignoring my lemonade requests. I was aware the music was loud so I repeated myself twice but getting annoyed by the incopetence of the barman after repeating the order three times. He then refused to serve me as he claimed I’ve got an ‘attitude’ which I believe was just gaslighting to hide the fact that he was unable to do the order properly. I’ve then gave up and said to my friend if she can order, and they refused to serve her too as she was with me. The security took me out and told me that the music was too loud and I was rude, I’ve explained that I’ve just repeated the order multiple times, politely apologised and left. I suggest that only people who are fit and competent for the role of barman should be hired and the staff this night was not the case. Terrible experience but at least the bowling game was good, however would suggest other place as the staff at Lanes is just miserable.

Great venue but couldn't spend the whole evening there

Good place. Some of the pizzas are hot and miss. Overall a good stay. Bowling lines definitely need some repairing or refurbishment.

Fab afternoon out for bowling, kereoke, pool, table football, beer and pizza

Thanks to the people at The Lanes for making bowling fun. It's nice to have an older bowling venue with more character than the chains, and the set up is really nice. They kept drinks flowing through the afternoon and made sure we had a really good time, so can’t fault the service. Thanks

I recently visited The Lanes and was impressed by the vibrant atmosphere created by the lively music. The energy in the air added to the overall enjoyment of the bowling experience. However, I must mention that the pizza left much to be desired – it was disappointingly dry. Additionally, the tables were noticeably dirty, which slightly detracted from the otherwise enjoyable environment. Overall, a mixed experience with room for improvement in certain aspects.

Wonderful atmosphere, good prices and the pizza was an excellent hand thrown base pizza. I would definitely recommend it.

Alice is an absolutely legend! Best bar in Bristol

Staff were helpful, the bowling lanes were old school mechanical ones rather than being attached to rope.

Went for metal night. Friendly staff, great music, good atmosphere.

Great venue, good groups and good music for oldies like me. Still a great venue.

Alice is the best of person In this history of bartenders, this place is awful but Alice is great

Terrible service from bar staff tonight. I ordered a small margarita pizza from the bar. The wait time was initially 20 minutes which became half an hour. We were sat by the pool tables. I was given a half eaten pizza by one of the bar staff which had already been eaten by the other group upstairs. Admittedly I decided to eat the other half of the pizza. I then asked for a refund for the entire pizza following failure to deliver a full portion of pizza to the right person. Initially the woman issued the refund but I was told by another member of staff to in future return the other half to the bar instead of eating it. We both agreed on this and she issued the refund. Shortly after, the woman in blond walked over to us in the bar garden and told us that we all had to leave because I “lied about eating the first half of the pizza” which I explained wasn’t the case as I was downstairs at the bar asking where this pizza was. Unfortunately my only option was to pay for this half a pizza at full price otherwise they would ban me from the venue entirely. In future deliver your orders to the correct people to prevent this happening in the future. If only 0 stars was an option. P.S I would advise an appropriate response from the manager of the venue and would happily get in touch with them regarding this matter. Many thanks

Great venue, plenty of drinks. Didn't eat but the pizzas looked great and I overheard great comments. Outside area was large. Good variety of non alcoholic drinks

As a bowling alley to spend a moment and have a drink is fine 👍

Small, rough and ready. Good beer selection, excellent pizza, bowling 🎳 and live music

A good hybrid venue, club/bar/bowling alley

Bowling, food and a music venue. All good except for the sound being way louder than it needed to be which was a little annoying

Came here for some food and bowling, the drinks are not your mainstream ones but not a bid thing. Food wasn’t that great just your basic pizza’s mainly, just wasn’t great quality. Price was okay to allow though. Bowling went okay, again lower end but not an issue. Nice they have live bands in the evening too, certainly gives the night a nice twist!

I've been there a few times with some of the best people. Incredible party nights and a very intimate venue for live bands.