....don't waste your time and/or money. 

i went to the new Grand Central Lanes for the first time last night. Here's the review I posted in City Search:

"Let me start by saying that I was thrilled when I found out that the Grand Central Lanes was going to re-open. I am a native Portlander and love it when unique businesses are brought back to life in the city. Last night my friends and I decided to take our inagural trip to the new Grand Central Lanes, but what a disappointment. We arrived a little after 5pm to a (mostly) empty dining room. It took several minutes to have anyone greet us, and several more to get our menus. After ordering some beverages, we waited a good 15 minutes to receive them. Since we had a time-line to meet in order to get to our lane at the reserved time (don't even get me started on this one), we had to abandon our dining table before our food even arrived. It was then brought to us and placed on the coffee table that we shared with the lane across from us. The lack of seating in each lane made for a cramped and uncomfortable dining experience, all for food that was just average and too expensive for what it was. Remind me to NEVER AGAIN pay to eat food on my lap. The atmosphere is really nice at Grand Central. The leather couches and mood-lighting are appealing to the customer who is experiencing this place for the first time. However, once you try and actually USE the establishment, it is a huge let-down. The cramped quarters in each bowling lane make it impossible to maneuver around your food and friends. The music is pretty terrible. The huge televisions playing in-your-face-sporting events give the place a Vegas, Stanfords, sports-bar kinda feel. I think they could have done without all the televisions and put that 20K towards a better DJ or reduced bowling prices. At the end of the night, the four of us ended-up spending upwards of $140 on dinner and 2 games of bowling. It's pretty safe to say that none of us will be going back, and we will certainly not be recommending this place to anyone else."


Stick with Hollywood Bowl my friends. It's cheap. It's divey. But at least you can feel comfortable and know what to expect.