Grand Central Bowl & Arcade

Grand Central Bowl & Arcade is a fun spot for an evening out. Their food is pretty good, you can get an unlimited gaming card for $20, and they have like 10 bowling lanes. My work has held its holiday party here three years in a row now. We rented out the entire upstairs gaming area, which has its own bar and plenty of seating, along with multiple TVs. The downstairs has a big oval bar with seating all around and booths all around too. They have free garage parking below the restaurant, but it is very small. If you're bored on a rainy day/night go check this place out for some fun!

Great experience, great drinks, and a great atmosphere! I loved that table soccer and shuffleboard were free. I also purchased a game card and had a good time on the other games. The only thing this place is missing is a pool table and darts. Still a great time!

I had a great time bowling here! The bowling experience was top-notch and the arcade games added an extra layer of fun. The staff was friendly and helpful making the visit even more enjoyable. I also love the giant screens above the lanes that play ESPN and music videos. Overall, a great place to unwind and have a blast with family and friends!

After two months of playing Tuesday Night Trivia for Grand Central gift cards, I must say I am grateful. One can play with just a glass of water and win dinner...or drinks... John, Jessica and the entire staff are outstanding, even if you don't spend a dime. Food is great, and you can get a free game of bowling on your birthday...

Swanky Bowling Alley downstairs Fun Arcade upstairs. Both have full bar, restaurant with eating areas. Fun music, definitely family friendly.

They have GLUTEN FREE GOODNESS HERE!!! Our wings were amazing, nachos were top notch, and our drinks were so good! They make their own sour mix and much more so drinks are a major score! Sorry I forgot to take pics of the food, however it was great. Bowling was so fun, spacious lanes and the arcade had Pac-Man 4 player and My Personal Favo: METALLICA PIN BALL ⚡️

Our server Maya was absolutely Amazing!!! We brought our large family gathering into a small area and were constantly moving around. We were chaos!! Maya did incredible with us!! She kept our orders perfectly organized and was really pleasant the entire time!!! I used to serve and I wouldn't have wanted us. She's wonderful and should get a Get Out Of Jail free card for being so Freaking Awesome!!!

We had a fantastic time as a group at our event! The food was great and came out hot. The employees were super helpful. A special shout out to Azura, who served all of us at the lanes, along with others. She was quick to respond and did so with energy and a smile!

I like the ambiance though it's not usually super crowded in here. The TV setup is also excellent, a big bonus for Portland. Right around the corner from my place, I would love to come here more frequently but the prices are pretty high. $6 for a Rainier is the most expensive you'll find in the city. Bowling prices aren't cheap either.

Restaurant, bowling and arcade. Small area with a lot to offer. I did not have any food but our large party had pizza and wings and other appetizers. They seemed to be happy with it. I had beer and there were lots of options. Staff were super nice and service for our group was great. We had some trouble with our lanes not working and that took up about 25 min of our lane time. The arcade was also only accepting cash and not cards. Most people didn't have cash so the kids were getting restless. After an hour or so it was fixed. For a Sunday afternoon it wasn't crowded. We did have a good time.

We had a small group of adults celebrating a friend's birthday. Started with dinner, followed by arcade games. I parked in their underground garage, much easier than trying to find street parking. (NOTE: If you're a woman parking alone in the garage at night it's a bit scary. No security, easy walk-in access from the street in a very sketchy neighborhood, just be aware of your surroundings and be safe!) There's an elevator that will take you from the garage to the bowling alley (main level) or arcade (upper level). We were pleasantly surprised how good the food was. The loaded tots were yummy salty goodness, enough to split between two people. The teriyaki cauliflower (vegan) was AMAZING!!! The sauce was sweet and tangy, and the cauliflower was perfectly cooked. The cocktails were just OK, definitely not enough alcohol for the $ price. The upstairs arcade is fun. Not sure if kids are allowed (?) while we were there it was only adults. They have a few large screen, multi-player video games, including Ninja Turtles, Guitar Hero, Pac-Man and more. Also basketball shoot-out, skeeball, and shuffleboard. I was disappointed that they don't pool tables anymore. There's a separate bar upstairs and a small room that can be rented for private parties

I was not served. Waiting at a slow bar watching others be served first. He was definitely backed up due to lack of a bar back which gave me more patience. Bartender purposely ignored me. Not even a "hey I'll be with u soon" after deducing all reasons for ignoring me. Pretty sure it's because I was Asian.

The service was great, and the atmosphere was just so cool. It's a place where you can enjoy amazing food, have a blast bowling, and play all sorts of fun games in the arcade.

Such a fun atmosphere! Our bartender, Jessica, was so fantastic and nice and helpful. We got the cauliflower wings, so pleasantly surprised how tasty they were! Bowling might have a wait cause it's busy here, but the ambience is amazing either way. Plus, there's arcade games upstairs. Best bowling alley I've been to tbh.

Went there to play games and have some drinks on a Saturday evening. Frustrating that half the games upstairs were broken in some manner. Some the swipe card wouldn't work, some were free because the scoring didn't work, and some had broken controls. Next time we will just go back to one of many dive bars with less problems. So much potential for the place...

I ordered a Mexican style burrito bowl (like chipotle) and requested to have a burger patty on top. It was an unusual request but they didn't hesitate to add it on but it did cost extra. They paired nicely with each other and the char on the burger patty was unreal and complemented the bowl very nicely. I went during lunch time when it wasn't as busy and the food came out within 8-10 minutes. I would honestly get this again with the burger patty on top.

What a cool experience. I had driven by a number of times but never had the opportunity to check it out. A perfect location off of Morrison I was pleasantly surprised to see how upscale and modern this place is. Was expecting a dingy bowling alley... this was the farthest thing from it!! They have a nice bar with good eats. Plenty to choose from. Burgers, wings, tacos, bowls, and much more!! You can stop by for the food or swing by to get a few frames in, or check out upstairs for the arcade. There is something for everyone to have a good time. Service at the restaurant could be a bit better and more friendly, but it was an overall good experience. Would recommend checking it out.

Another hit in Portland Great drinks A huge selection in appetizers Many main entrees to choose from I had the fish and chips and it was quite good, Love the fact that you can bowl here and play games If I lived here, I would be here at least twice a month. Parking could be tough, but worth it

The former Grand Central Restaurant & Bowling Lounge has re-vamped and has new purpose during this pandemic. It has been re-branded as Central Kitchen inside Central Bowl and it is an online food hall with 6 virtual restaurants all utilizing one shared kitchen. They offer take out and delivery from this location from 3 to 9 p.m., seven days a week. The 6 diverse restaurants within Central Kitchen, each feature scratch-made food. The restaurants are Soy Joy, BYO Burger, Tortilla Sunrise, Southern Jewel, Killer Wings and Thirsty Lion Gastropub. Each restaurant has its own menu, logo, and packaging but you can order all menu items from one website at CentralKitchenPDX.com or through delivery services such as DoorDash. We decided to go for some appetizers from Southern Jewel. So we ordered up Chicken tenders, onion rings, tater tot's, jalapeño cornbread with honey butter, deep fried pickles and mac & cheese. Everything was ready when I got there and I love the fact that the bags were stapled shut and had a safety seal sticker on it. Everywhere should be doing this during the pandemic especially with their take out and delivery orders. Big kudos! The deep-fried pickles were just a tad bit spicy with the perfect cornmeal coating. The chicken tenders had a little bit a jalapeño as well in the light coating... delicious. The onion rings were beer battered and the jalapeño corn bread with honey butter was perfect. My only complaint would be the mac & cheese... The noodles were not cooked enough and there was definitely was not enough cheese... Very bland. This is a super cool place to get different types of food in one order because you can choose items from all the restaurants in one order. I'm looking forward to doing that next time ! What a great concept in these times! Check it out!

Totally affordable! Made a reservation for an ally a few days in advance. Really great cocktails. Recommend a hazy IPA or the blood orange margarita. Loved late night bowling and the arcade!

Gonna preface that we didn't actually get to bowl, or play games, but this place sorta sucks. We tried to go bowling, they said they only take reservations. We went upstairs to maybe play a game or two, but were a little bummed about the selection. Decided to try and get a reservation for a little later on. We checked their website - didn't see anywhere that specifically says "reservations only", simply that if you want to reserve a lane to give them a call. So, we gave them a call. We were on hold for a good 15 min, then were hung up on. I tried giving them another call, I was asked to be put on hold - ok, fine. 5 minutes go by, sounds like a butt dial and was hung up on again. Best thing about about this place is they have free parking. Ended up at a bar across the street writing this review just because it was an annoying experience.

Great family place located in trendy area of Portland. The bowling alley is located on the bottoms floor with about 12 lanes and the arcade is located upstairs. There is a huge bar that make a great rum punches for the adults to partake in!!

Central Kitchen Food Hall was forced to close right after the start of the pandemic. Closure forced a unique situation where food could be ordered from five diverse restaurants. This mix and match allows customers to order across a wide selection of choices. Imagine the combinations that can be created with: Thirsty Lion Killer Wings Southern Jewel Soy Joy Pizza and Spice Five restaurants in one! I had the Gastro Pub Burger which was awesome! Everything you would want in a hamburger and it wasn't just any old burger like some fast food restaurant. No it had a fresh baked bun, grilled onions, Gargonzola Blue Cheese and white cheddar cheese. Since they had sweet potato fries, I opted for those. Best hamburger that I have had in a while.

The service was kinda slow but I'm not sure if it is just the organ laid back way. Now I'm not knocking the place the food was great and it was a fun place. I would definitely go back.

Went on the recommendation that it's a Timbers place to watch the game. It's not but they changed the channel to the Timbers game for us. Arcade is a little lack luster to what we thought it would be. (No photos online, now we know why). Their game card system was down and they were super cool to help and give extra cards Food- loaded tots were alright. Little small but alright. We ordered a kids Mac and Cheese that came out so F'in hot I couldn't eat it. Seriously if you spice up a kids mean in the kitchen your an ass. So hot the waitress quickly brought some milk. Long story short- nice looking place, food for adults is ok. It just won't be on my list to head back to unless I need to host some awkward team gathering for work.

Bowling is fun . Shoe counter staff is nice and quick , wait staff girl was rude . And the place had a waitress that very passive aggressively told me that since I brought food in my purse ( after work I walked in with my burger ) that my girls and her friends couldn't have the free soda liters left untouched by the table next to us , bad service . and she told me about a policy of no food from outside only way after after I had come in at 445pm devouring my dinner a burger in my hand . she made us feel that because we had brought food from outside that we didn't deserve to have the sodas that has been left untouched on the table from right next to us . families deserve more respect than that .

Great bowling experience for all. Comfy couches and great food while bowling and arcade upstairs if you need a break. Love it.

The bowling felt like a really limited experience, we paid $60 for 2 games for 3 people and only completed 1 1/2 games for the time limit of maybe an hour. They should not even ask how many games you want yo play, when it is ultimately just a time limit. The arcade machine is very misleading. It asks how many cards you want, and how much money you want to spend, and proceeds to multiply that for each card. Every other arcade I have been too has split the amount except this one. The arcade is very limited, and by no means worth the amount of money spent. They take every opportunity to charge you that they can unfortunately. Could be a cool place, but we will never go there again.

I had made a reservation in advance to take my entire staff bowling. When we arrived, they did not have our reservation. At this point, my entire staff was already there and ready to bowl. It's not easy to get everyone together at the same time. The woman working, named Kim, worked her magic and made sure we were taken care of. She did her best to accommodate us and make sure we were able to still bowl. Her great customer service was so appreciated! Thanks Kim for jumping into action and not leaving us hanging!

We went here for a team activity after work and it was a great space - restaurant, bar and bowling on the main floor, arcade games upstairs, parking available onsite in the basement garage. We bowled one game with a large group and then hung out for food/a drink before a smaller group went upstairs to play shuffleboard and a few other games upstairs. Fun, clean space that's family and company friendly - would totally go back (and plan to!).

Went for a birthday party. Bowling was fun, drinks were great. There was a miscommunication with the staff and manager. Long story short the manager was very rude to us because he wasn't notified about the number of people we had in our party. Mistakes happen but he didn't need to be disrespectful and threaten to kick us out. Overall I have loved this place but would probably pick somewhere else to go.

The website states they're following various COVID safety measures, but my experience last night did not reflect that at all. All of the lanes were being used-- no spacing between lanes and most people were not wearing a mask. The staff was pretty unfriendly & completely disappeared later into the evening and we were left to watch the local news on the screens behind the lanes. Definitely will look elsewhere in the future.

I love coming here with friends, by myself, or when I'm meeting new friends. But last night I was with someone who started to make me feel uncomfortable. The manager whose name is Ryan made things worse by flipping me off (shown in photos) and then also grabbed my phone. He doesn't seem to understand how his actions escalated the situation especially when a woman already feels uncomfortable from the presence of a man. It's the lack of regard and entirely unprofessional stance he took that made everything worse. On top of that I've come here to bowl a few times and their lanes are never working properly..someone always has to come over and reset them. The counter is off and doesn't give you the points you actually bowled. And in all their atmosphere has declined over the last 4 years. Its a shame.

Absolute worst experience I have had in Portland, Oregon since I got stationed here. I made a reservation 3 days in advance to go bowling here with my family that is visiting out of town and was asked my name and phone number and was told I was booked. The day of the reservation, my family arrives and we go to check into the lanes. We are told that we do not have a reservation even though I gave them the date and time of when we called and reserved. The attendant then told me that there was nothing they can do and referred me to the manager. The manager told me to look for another bowling. That is absolutely unsatisfactory and I have never been told to go to another business because an error on their part. As a military member who plans ahead to ensure I can enjoy business I am highly disappointed. No accommodations or alternatives were offered to me or my family. The manager also did not put any effort into trying to come to a resolution. I am highly displeased and felt not welcomed to a place that is suppose to be family friendly as well as fun

Terrible experience! Horrible incompetent staff and manager. Made a reservation and they had it wrong in their system and would not honor it. The manager was not apologetic and when we finally got a lane would not allow us to play a second game. Did not provide a good experience and continued not to take ownership for their mistake.

This place seems to take joy in being rude to their customers. The games upstairs are often broken. Not exactly worth it.

This place is extremely unprofessional. My party of 6 had a 4:30pm reservation. We showed up right around 4:30 and were told by the front desk worker that there was a miscommunication, that they had us listed for a 4pm reservation, and that they had given our lane away. They told us that everything was booked up for the next three and a half hours and that there was nothing they could do. Cool. Terrible customer service. They don't do confirmation emails either, so there was no way to prove that it was their mistake. To add, this is the second time this has happened. We won't be returning.

We came here just to check out the kitchen since they have menus from multiple local eateries. Our server was really friendly and helpful. Place was looking really nice, we could see some people bowling. They have plexiglass everywhere so you can actually see the reflections from different TVs all around, which means I could see different things even though I wasn't facing them. Anyway, kind of cool. We chose items from multiple places because, well, that's the point. Some were completely new and others I've been to before. Personally we enjoyed the food, in particular the very creamy mac and cheese with perfectly crisped chicken. Lots of little sliders to choose from if you don't want a full burger. It definitely makes us want to go to BYO Burger in the future. Quite a variety of snacks or full meals to choose from so something for everyone. For sure more options than you get at other alleys. Good just for a bite even if you aren't interested in bowling and such. Overall great experience.

We had an amazing meal and really enjoyed all the choices on the 5 different menus. Service was quick and friendly. The space has a nice cool and relaxed vibe, super clean and modern. I was too hungry to take a picture of the food, but here is one of dessert. They have a great selection of wine by the glass or bottle at reasonable prices too.

Little bit of a wait, but the fried chicken was so worth the wait. Nicole was our server, and she was very kind. We had a hiccup w our order, and she took care of it right away. I was blown away by the customer service. I will be returning. Also!! GET THE HUSH PUPPIES.

We went to Grand Central to celebrate my Birthday on Monday. We had a party of 12-14 people. A shout out to Sam our server. He was always on point. He was very attentive and always showing up at the right time. We never had to flag him down to ask for anything. We appreciated his top customer service. The variety of food we ordered was great and came out in a timely fashion. Drinks were also good. Awesome place to watch games on TV.

Excellent food- myriad of choices with the BEST SERVICE. Check the hours because they open earlier than posted here on yelp. Watched 2 NBA Playoff games at the bar- great fun. So clean.......

The food here was really delicious! Ordered the pulled pork sliders. Sooo good. It was shredded perfectly and the bbq sauce was a nice mix of sweet and tangy. I also like the slaw that was on top. The hush puppies were delightful with the bbq sauce. Excited to go back and also do some bowling.

Love the concept of this spot- the ability to order a wide variety of foods is a great option. It would be helpful for families if there were any kid's options, but there are some smaller plates/sides etc you can order that would be kid size (but not necessarily for a kid's palate). The glitch was the food- the pork belly ramen was served with the pork belly on top, and then the pork belly was covered very thickly in some kind of sauce. I like to eat the meat with the rest of the ramen but the sauce went poorly with the broth and rest of the ramen. I tried to scrape some off but it didn't work. I'm not sure if it was served incorrectly because the photos do not show the ramen served that way. The mac n cheese was also a miss unfortunately. It was full of huge pieces of onion (over an inch long each), causing the dish to taste mostly like onion. We'll try them again sometime but won't be either of those dishes again.

I just had a great event @ Grand Central! The event coordinator Haley Minkler took care of the planning and was amazing during the event as well. Food was great! I couldn't of asked for a better surprise Bday Party! Thanks Haley for making my wives Bday a day she will never forge! We will be back again! jason

I was super excited for try this place but ended up incredibly disappointed with my meal. This was my $16 salad. The left side shows the few pieces of chicken in my 'chicken' salad from Thirsty Lion. It looks nothing like the photos they show of salads with lots of avocado, meat, and toppings. This photo shows it before any dressing/being tossed. Luckily I ordered from a food delivery company and was able to get refunded for my meal but was definitely bummed about my experience.

Called in to make a reservation & so happy we got to experience a bowling night again! The staff is very friendly & the place is taking great steps to adhere to COVID guidelines with plenty of spacing. Definitely have plans to return for a fun night as soon as possible

We really enjoyed our meal. We got take-out and our favorites were the jewel chicken sandwich and the queso dip. They have a lot of good looking options and I can see this being a great place to take a big group of people. We can't wait to dine in and bowl here some time!

Had a great time and great food tonight with family at Central Kitchen. They have done a great job sanitizing and setting up attractive barriers and spacing for dining and bowling. The staff was very friendly. Heather and Sara were attentive, personable and accommodating. The manager Dave checked in on us a few times so we felt well taken care of. The food was fabulous! Hot, fresh, flavorful and you can't beat the variety. Teriyaki Chicken Bowl, Ahi Poki Salad and Fried Chicken Mac and Cheese and Fish Tacos all from one kitchen! Don't leave out the wings which were excellent! The underground parking lot was safe and very convenient. Thank you for doing such a great job. Keep up the good work!

Super fast, safe and on time order! We ordered from soy joy and everything was pretty good. Looking forward to trying the other restaurants.

Got takeout from BYO burger! Delicious and safely prepared in packaging, I will absolutely order from them again! I look forward to it!