Park Tavern

12/30/08

Good Food, Bad Service

by SergeGainsbourg

Some excellent burgers and sandwiches (Amsterdam Burger, Lobster Club), great fried potato options (They got tots and waffle fries), Sunday morning breakfasts (Breakfast Pizza) and late night happy hours ($8-$12 pitchers of beer) are the highlights, but the entire staff could use some customer service classes. Beware of the larger girl with the dark hair that bartends on the pool table side and waits on the outdoor patio in the summer. At least I can always count on saving some tip money when I eat or drink here because the staff is so unpleasant.

If you're going to bowl go early or on a week night because it is on a "first-come-first-serve pay-as-you-go" basis on Friday and Saturday nights and they won't even put your name on a waiting list like every other bowling alley in town. They just tell you to keep checking in to see if a lane has opened up yet and then treat you like you are the most annoying pest in the world for checking back. They should at least make those guys where sunglasses so you don't have to see them roll their eyes every time you approach.

• Pros: Good, Affordable Food and Drinks
• Cons: The Employees

02/04/08

money-hungry and rude

by normanprincess

we used to go to this place all the time for their friday night cosmic bowling, but in recent months, our experience with the place has been getting worse and worse. The most recent time, I went as far as making a reservation (understandable) for four and when we got there, checked in, paid and put our shoes on we found out that they "put 6 people on every lane" (our reservation was for four) so they were expecting us to share a lane with two people we didn't know. Not only did they not tell me this when I specifically made the reservation for four, they didn't mention it when we checked in and the guy at the counter was incredibly rude saying "well let me know if you want your money back 'cause I got lots of people waiting for those spots" to me, it was the equivalent to making a reservation at a restaurant and having extra people put at my table. Not cool. They were just trying to cram as many people in as possible to make the most amount of money... not caring about the quality of service and experience.. I will never go back.

• Pros: It used to be fun.....
• Cons: rude staff who crowd people in... crowded

04/11/07

I'll never revisit this place

by lloyddobler

I went in looking for a casual place to meet with friends, get some food, and maybe play some pool or go bowling. The commercials seem nice enough and I will say the place is clean. But after that it was all downhill....the staff is RUDE...at least everyone I came into contact with. The bartender at the front bar (Mike or Mark or Matt was his name). Seemed like we were bothering him when we made an order for a drink. Then after we ordered one round of drinks and went up to get another he told us he wouldn't serve us??!!

I was amazed since we had been there for an hour and came in right after work and were all dressed in professional business attire and ONE DRINK AND CUT OFF? I thought he was kidding, but he was serious. If you want to go out and have fun I'd avoid this place at all costs!

• Pros: it is clean
• Cons: Staff is RUDE, service is poor, the food is mediocre on a good day.

04/10/07

Wings

by ramaker_critic

Great wings, off the beaten path, lots to do, parking. It is a great place. I love hot wings but you need to try the Jamaican wings. The dressing they come with is also exceptional.

• Pros: Wings, lots to do

02/02/07

Something for everyone

by jjburgst

This is a great hang out place. Whether you're looking to play pool, darts, go bowling, or hang out at the bar, or order food... there's something for everyone. Used to be a lot more fun when they had more pool tables. They used to have 7 pool tables, but took 3 out and put in a very loud, annoying mini bowling game. What were they thinking-- when they have 20 real lanes next door? Now there are lines on the weekends to play pool, and it's a little crowded. However, overall, it's a great place to hang out.

12/20/06

Great food, horrible service!

by vk55426

The food is great, especially the burgers. However, the service is the worst I have ever seen. When I ask for extra pickles, I am told to look underneath my bun; when I ask for a refill, I am told I still have some left over. A great majority of servers there can never remmember what was ordered, and it always takes an extremely long time to get your food. Don't know about the weekends, but I don't plan on going there for my lunch break anytime soon.

• Pros: Food
• Cons: Service

An after-work destination for collars of all colors.

by Contributor

In Short
Park Tavern used to be an old-fashioned blue-collar bowling alley with greasy food, bingo and serious bowlers. But somehow the word got out that this place was a a fun, relaxing spot for the urban commuter too. They started coming here in droves, and the Tavern expanded to accommodate them. There's something to do in every corner of the place: cheap bowling, cheap beer, bingo, karaoke, food and prizes.

03/09/06

Where should I begin?

by brianknows

I have been to a lot of bars in Minnesota in search of the perfect fit for me. Uptown is too trendy and pretenious, downtown too expensive and everywhere else feels like either a club or a empty suburban bar made with a cookie cutter. Fun bowling, cheap drinks, great and cheap bar food. I could go on and on... Karaoke is tolerable when you have had enough to want to sing yourself and sometimes downright hilarious. The best bartenders around. Go a few times and they'll know your name, drink and "take care of you" (just take care of them). A smoking room seperate from the bar, trivia, pool with a back bar. Great waitstaff and just an overall fun sports bar that you need to try to beleive. No joke...

• Pros: cheap drinks and food, great bartenders, just a good ol' bar
• Cons: parking sometimes, crowded sometimes

12/12/03

The PT ROCKS!

by freedomfiyter

Sure, a server messes up an order once in a while or it takes a few extra minutes to find a place to sit, but when you have a place that is CONSTANTLY busy, what do you expect? Saturday night kareoke rocks, I'v been there for Tuesday night PINGO, too. It's great...if you get sick of sitting, you bowl, you get sick of bowling you play pool...the fun never ends!

I just love hanging out here...no pretentious uptown snobs allowed!

• Pros: Inexpensive, Multi-Purpose
• Cons: Seating sucks, Crowded Parking Lot

01/03/03

Good Times

by barinakg

Park Tavern is fun place to bowl. You can even play trivia on the bowling monitors should you feel like multi-tasking. My friends and usually go on Firday night which is designated Rock N Bowl and is 21+. You can bowl all you want for 3 hours for $20. They give away free appetizers and pitchers as the night goes on as well. The service has always be fine for me. My only beef is when I was there during the summer once, the air didn't seem to be working all that well. If you plan on going bowling Friday, you should probably call ahead and reserve a lane.

• Pros: fair prices, lots to do