Great Escape

We hosted my son?s 4th birthday party here. When I arrived to decorate, they had put us at the far two lanes which gave us ample space and privacy. They had a food table set up and decorated for us and had lights that spelled out his name! We also got the gutter guards and the ball slides to help the littles. During the party, the staff kept food coming and drinks full. The manager on duty, Romeo, was especially helpful. We ended up ordering a lot more food than I originally thought and added a lane, all of

Went to the arcade and played games then went to use our points and were told we would need to wait until 4pm it was 12:45 at this point I explain I don't get her often and If she can't use them now she may never be able too. Romeo then says give me 10 minutes to see if my cook can help. We have now been waiting over 30 minutes and we're being told he just can't help us. We are not waiting in line with everyone else to see if Romeo can give us 10 minutes of his time to spend her tickets. We've waited on at

We had our sons 11th birthday here and it was absolutely amazing! Andrea really took care of us and made sure he had everything he need to have a great birthday party! The food was great and they had so much fun in the arcade

Came here twice on vacation with my 8 year old. Had a blast! Can't say enough good things about the staff. They were so helpful and pleasant! Excellent deals during spring break. An absolute delight!

This place has to be the most over priced, under staffed, nasty ?? ?? food, broken arcade place I've ever been. $5 Water down soda, 16 nacho that taste like it was sitting out for hours, $36 sampler that was way over cooked. Not to mention how long it took for food and drinks. Just plain nasty. They were vacuuming while you were bowling and stirring up dust like crazy ????. One and done for me. Who is running this place, how did you decide on the name and how are you still in business.

This place is so much fun! They seem a little short staffed, but every employee there is incredibly friendly and quick to help! The arcade has plenty of variety for hours of fun, but if you get bored, you can play Lazer tag or go bowling on their fantastic lanes! Wednesday's are half off arcade games! They almost always have specials on food and game cards too ?????

Update 12/26/2022 Staff was great. The arcade offering was subpar. They took away the duckie machine, my kids favorite. The arcade price is astronomical, example..for $30 you get 60 credits and can only play 10 games of Halo, roughly 20 minutes. The previous experience was outstanding...now it's lame. I do not recommend this establishment. Wait til Dave and buster open in west Des Moines and go enjoy the real experience. Will no longer bring the kiddos here. No wonder it's empty....high price and fewer

If you're looking to league bowl, go somewhere else. This is my first time back in league in years, the lanes are decent but the cleanliness is trash. No one has cleaned the seating area this year or vacuumed the carpets either. Non stop trash on your shoes, unavoidable. It's disgusting. I've worked in entertainment/bars, there was a nightly mop and vacuum part of the job. This place has a no closing clean up besides wipe the tables down. Everything hits the floors and no one does anything, or cares - bowle

I took my kids bowling here yesterday, and unfortunately, our experience was very disappointing. We arrived shortly after 4 PM, just as the website indicated they opened, but upon entering, we were greeted with little to no assistance. After standing around for a while, I was finally asked what I needed, and when I said we wanted to bowl, I was told there were no lanes available until 9 PM. There were only 3 or 4 lanes in use, yet the rest were "not available." This was very confusing and frustrating. We d

Bowling was good, lane broke part way through but they quickly made it right and got us into another one. Not a bad price either. Food was a definite 1 star. Not good at all. My party got a few pizzas, wings, a chicken sandwich, and a milkshake. The pizza was hardly cut and dripping grease. The wings were good. The chicken sandwich tasted good but also very greasy. They were out of milk and refunded us for the milkshake.

We had an appreciation party for ministry volunteers on Saturday, and it was a GREAT experience. Andr?a made the planning process so easy and took great care of us the whole time. The food was amazing, and having our own space in the banquet room and VIP lanes made the event feel extra special. Our team had so much fun while being able to relax together and celebrate all the hard work they had put in. THANK YOU Andr?a and Great Escape!

Was here for a work party this week, and overall it was a great place to go. But. I wasn't impressed when I was told that our bartender/ server doesn't receive any of their credit card tips. Apparently those tips go straight to management. I didn't have any cash to tip this person either, and felt terrible. As a waitress myself, I would never work for a place that kept my tips. All I know is, it wasn't management cleaning up after us, and making our drinks. Wait staff should be getting their tips. Anything

We had a good time here on Sunday, arriving around 11:00. A tournament was finishing up, so it was crowded at first, but died down after about 1:00. We had 2 adults and 4 kids, paid per person/per game. Friendly staff. Waitress came and took our order and provided excellent service. The laser tag was a favorite of the kids. Arcade area was small but sufficient for a bowling alley. The only problem we encountered were the patrons placed in the lane next to us that didn't appreciate the lack of bowling etique

Reseeced my son's 16th birthday party here & it was perfect, had a blast, & the staff there was very accomodating. & the price was way better the BP.Shop just saying! We will definitely be returning here to bowl & also laser tag looks exciting to watch!

If I could give them zero stars, I would when I was in the arcade. I was playing the toy machine where there's like big plushy?s the claw was broken. I had the toy in the griper, but the claw opened up I must?ve played this game at least 12 times and I won nothing. Do not recommend!

Always have fun here, been coming here for years. Staff is super nice they always take care of us. The place is beautiful inside out and very clean, we had three parties here in their vip room. We enjoyed it. It's a five star bowling alley with five star service

There food is cold, there was a giant mess in the bathroom near the toilet and wall and the toilet seat was covered in urine, the staff wasn't bad although there was a old white guy that was mean when I asked a question. The smell is another thing as soon as you walk in you get a wiff of something that is unpleasant

Fortunately for them I can't give a zero. Considering this is one of the most expensive places to bowl, one would expect high customer service. We get there and told we would need to wait while they cleaned an area. We sit down in front of lanes 1,2,3 &4 which aren't being used and ready to only wait 30 minutes to put us on one of those open lanes. We ordered pizza which took 35 minutes to get to us and had to go back up cause they never gave us our picture of soda. Over priced and bad service!!!!!

Brought a gift card back in to use the rest on it, keep in mind that it supposedly never expires. They couldn't get it to work and suggested, "just pay this time and use it when your next in" like your the manager why cant you honor it?

Great place to bowl. They have several leagues. Really like the Wednesday morning Geezer league. Like the format and meet many interesting people.

Hosted a elementary school birthday party here. The booking website was easy to navigate and the process was very quick. When we arrived, everything was set up and ready to go. Staff was friendly, welcoming, and very attentive. All of our guests had a great time. My only caveat is the music and videos streaming in the background are not school age friendly. I did draw that to the attention of the staff but unfortunately they cannot control the content.

this was the first time i had been their it looked really cool so i took my 8 year old son to play in the arcade they had a resturant their and a bowling alley im going to go back when i have more time on a weekend with my son . they has alot of arcade games we had alot of fun ,but it was a school night so we wasnt able to stay long

This was a wonderful afternoon date! The food and drinks were an added bonus.

Tyler at front desk when you first arrive was very racist towards me and my group. Upon observation that is what I perceive. I had to ask for another employee to even receive some assistance. It was very obvious when I finally received assistance from another employee and I observed Tyler's level of customer service with other customers who didn't identify same as my group, that Tyler could be more professional and accommodating as I would expect to receive same customer service. My purpose in this review

We had our daughter's birthday party here. The staff was super friendly, the prices were reasonable, and the food was served promptly. We will definitely be back!

Nice place..bowling.. games..food..and laser tag...pretty good quality laser tag arena..the arcade area is kinda cramped but fun place to take the kids.

This is such an amazing place. Took our girls today and the check in was simple and the atmosphere is very friendly. I immediately look at the cleanliness of places and they get an A+ for this. We bowled for two hours and had a blast. The balls are marked and the shoes are newer than most establishments typically have. Drinks come with free refills. The food looked amazing, but we had already eaten. Afterwards, we headed to the arcade, which our girls absolutely loved. They also have laser tag, which we di

Great time at Bowlero Great Escape. We wanted to check out the place and see what the new owners had done. Brand new shoes and balls were awesome. We ordered pizza and burgers and they were delicious. The new milk shakes we are amazing. Kids had a great time in the arcade and loved the new dodgeball game. Staff was just as friendly as before and it was great to see everyone working as a team.

Walked in to watch Sunday football at noon up at the bar and could not sit at the bar due to employees kids spread out taking up the bar section. We were the only people dining in and service was bad. My husband requested salt and the waitress/bartender never came back. Waitress spent her time speaking with the kids at the bar instead. Only one tv had nfl Sunday football on it. Would not recommend coming here to eat and drink and watch football.

Nope don't be fooled by the fansy add all the East side trash goes there the beer is slimy and hot and why would you take loved ones there when there's undercover cops present looking for East side trash ??? waste of money feeling uncomfortable just go to Dave and busters

Great lanes and atmosphere! A lot of the balls I looked at were in rough shape, but it didn't prevent us from having fun. Wish they would keep the kitchen open later on weekend nights .

The kids had a blast! & the staff were very helpful and accommodating for our last minute Birthday gathering!

Great Bowling Alley! I came here last week with my family to celebrate my birthday. The arcade is where all the kids were drawn to, and it is HUGE! Tons and tons of games. It was a great time. Today I came back by myself to bowl. The value during the week is phenomenal. I want to give a huge shout out to Romeo. He was working my last 2 visits and he does a stellar job! Very friendly, he's right there when we walk in to greet us and get us set up with a lane. Everything is so clean during my visits (includin

Had a great time with my son. Definitely will return again.

Super fun place for the kids. Clean and well kept. We went on a Sunday afternoon and it wasn't crowded at all. The cost adds up quickly, but that's to be expected. It was a great way to get my kids out of the house and moving around while it's so hot and muggy outside. I just sat at a table and collected all the prizes they won. Win for the day.

Great place to go with the grandkids and the device was very good and helpful. I would will plan a time to go again soon.

Nice location for a bowling alley, lanes are really nice too. Came during a quiet part of the day so the meal was comfortable and relaxed. Had a great time overall and the bartender Emily made me a really nice grapefruit vodka. Would come back again.

I was in for some bowling and had a great time even though I did not play well. My friend was talking with one of the employees and we cracked some jokes about my lack of pins being knocked down. My only suggestion is to load pins into the gutters as well so I don't end up with a score of 13? (that was the suggestion of the employee, I can't remember her name but it was a State? Georgia? Dakota?). It is a great spot with great atmosphere and really fun employees. Definitely recommend.

Holy expensive! When they said, "$5 per person for shoes and ~$8 per game," I never would have thought it was per person per game... lot better ways to spend $70.

Well cleaned and staff was attentive. The arcade prices were very high and the bowling cuts u off exactaly when your time is up.

The best family entertainment center in Central Iowa... Maybe in all of Iowa! Arcade is reasonable priced and so many great games. Laser tag is incredible and offers multiple game options. The Kong VR experience is out of this world!!! I am not much of a bowler, but when I want to, this is the place I go. Lanes are perfect and super fast ball returns. Every time I ask my kids what they want to do for fun, they beg me to go Great Escape.

The new arcade is very clean and well kept. The setup is great for kids around 7 and up, but still suitable for younger guests as well as adults. Joe was great talking with the kids on how to use the cards and do virtual reality and laser tag!

Tony was amazing! He made our experience at Great Escape wonderful. He brought our food out very quickly and made sure we had full drinks the whole time. I've been here a lot and this was probably the best time!! 5 stars for Tony!

Food was better than I expected. Great atmosphere

Let's be honest. Kids suck sometimes especially in the prize room. Aiden was amazing with my boys. Both of them won jackpot tickets and were super indecisive. He was patient and made suggestions on what they should get!! Very friendly, funny, and professional! Great guy!!! This is the first experience in my LIFE that I had a positive experience with a prize redemption department. I know it's frustrating! Aiden, great job!!!

I was in the arcade with my friends and I had trouble with getting an arcade card at the machine. Dakota came right over and helped me and my friends. She was very nice. I also had a game that was missing some of the balls. Dakota fixed the game and then gave me credit for missing out for playing. We have played at other arcades in Des Moines but have not had such great service like this. We will be back again!

Exceptionally clean for a bowling ally. My children love the arcade :)

Had an amazing experience! Me and my son came into bowl and then do some arcade games afterwards. Dakota was super nice and helpful! And made sure we were taken care of! I'll definitely be back forsure!

This was my first time visiting here. We had a large group of 50 people from my church for bowling. The facility was very clean. The staff were friendly and quick to assist with spills and cleanups. We ordered pizzas, sodas, and chicken strips for the group and the food was served hot and fresh and pitchers were replenished regularly. The equipment was in great condition and we had no issues during our 3 hours there. A few of us stayed for laser tag and video games on the other side of the facility and tha

Bowling was fine, but the facilities lacked care and attention by staff. There was a seemingly homeless man slumped over in a chair and seemed to be. Intoxicated or high. I had to mandate one of the staff to check on him to ensure he was alive and not having a medical situation. They didn't seem to care and didn't think it was their duty.

We love coming here as a family! The bowling, Lazer tag, and arcade is lots of fun! The food and drinks are also very good as well! I do wish they had an option to do bowling, Lazer tag, and arcade as a package as it's a bit pricy for a family.

Dakota was incredible with her customer service! She had a smile on her face even tho the bowling alley was packed with customers on a busy Friday night she went above and beyond for our family of 5 who were pounding the drinks. She's the operations manager and darn good at her job!

Came from out of town to see family and we came here for a fun time and Dakota did not disappoint! We had such a wonderful time. Such excellence service and attitude!

We had an absolute blast in Pleasant Hill, we were treated so well as 4 adults in an arcade and bowling alley! It was a wonderful time had by all, thanks for the staff and especially Tony! Wings were also 5/5, so good!

The workers were great. Very nice and attentive and the place was very clean?however, 4 of us bowled?(1 kid and 3 adults)?$85. We also bought a sampler platter ($35?not a good deal) and a pizza, and 1 drink. Our food total came to $85 as well. We ate 1/4 of the pizza. The sauce was horrible!!!! None of us even finished a whole slice. The worker was nice and asked if we wanted a box for the pizza. I said NOPE and told her that we thought the sauce was nasty. She didn't say anything. She just walked away. Did

We had a wonderful time celebrating my grandsons 6th birthday here. They did a wonderful job setting it up. So cute!!! Food was great, service was great & we all had loads of fun!!! Highly recommend!!!

Went with the family to play a round of lazer tag and ended up leaving with vouchers. To start we walked to the desk down by the room and the manager Romeo told us we had to go up front to pay. We get up front and tell the kid what we were told and he said ?I'm sorry guys he should of just took care of you down there.? He went ahead rang us up and told us just to show the receipt. We go back down the guy is nowhere to be found. 20 minutes later he comes back. We go into the room and he can't get the instruc

Good deals, great Bowling lanes, arcade needs updated

Update May 2024: took our kids during a weekday afternoon as a surprise. Spent $100 in the arcade and was not able to redeem our points for prizes due to "staffing". We were told to come back around 5pm. Change the hours or close off sections if you cannot keep everything open.

Place is a joke junk food, prices, and poor very poor management

Great place for family or friends night! Great staff! Dakota took such good care of us! We will def be back!

We Did my Grandsons birthday party here today. What a great time! Rented a party room. 2 games of lazer tag for 10 people. 10 game cards for each kid. Great deal! Food was part of the rental. Pizza, chicken strips and French fries along with pitchers of Pop. The Chicken strips Are Delicious. Fries steaming hot and crispy! The staff was Amazing! Every kid had a great time. And so did all of us! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND A PARTY HERE!! Thank you very much for making my Grandsons birthday celebration extra special..

Way over priced, the food isn't that good, I'm not sure what the definition of an arcade is but I wouldn't say it is plus the laser tag isn't run very well. To add that this is in Pleasant Hill where corrupt police are, I stay away.

A nice arcade and lazer tag. The food isn't great though.

We had a party for 10 kids at 3pm. When I spoke to the party organizer she stated if we had more then 10 kids show up we would be given additional chairs. We show up and there were 2 tables of 10 chairs. We thought this was perfect seating for adults and kids. Within 10 minutes of sitting down an employee told us there was an additional party going on it our same area. Only 20 seats for 2 families? I was a bit frustrated because of the amount of money we spent to have a party here we were given the tiniest

Great time and great service! Can't wait to come back!

We had what ended up being a really great experience today in the Laser Tag and arcade! It started out a little rocky, with a fully booked laser tag room, but after waiting in the queue for awhile, and explaining the situation to a manager we were able to have a wonderful time! Connor and Ryan in the laser tag area were both incredibly patient and helpful and made our 6 year olds weekend! And thanks to management for being so responsive to our concerns. We will definitely be back soon! The bowling look

Went here for first time last weekend with some friends. Dakota was very helpful and treated us like family. Great place

We took our 9 year old grandson for an afternoon of fun. We enjoyed the lazer tag, bowling and the arcade. He had a blast and we were all worn out after a few hours. Great, accommodating staff and fun environment. We will be back for more.

My son and I stopped in to scout the place out for a place to meet friends for NFL Sunday. We were warmly greeted by the owner (Randy) upon arrival who promptly got us to a table of our choosing. The place was immaculately clean, service was prompt and courteous, and the food was fantastic and very reasonably priced (my son had the BBQ bacon burger and I ordered nachos WHICH I THOUGHT WAS GOING TO BE ON A SMALL PLATE BUT CAME OUT ON A PIZZA PAN). NO COMPLAINTS! ?? Like I said, we were there to check the pl

Brooklyn has become a familiar face every time we go to Great Escape! She's always smiling and willing to go above and beyond to make sure we have everything we need. Love Great Escape!!

So improved! We had very slow kitchen issues last time we were there, which was NO reflection on the wait staff. Servers were excellent as usual tonight and kitchen actually had runners bringing out food quickly. I appreciate management responses to review. We highly recommend it.

I booked an event with Lena and she was amazing!!! She was quick to reply, answered all my questions, and was so sweet!!! She even made our group a sign for our private room! Denise was our server and she was beyond sweet!! I am so impressed with the service we received plus the quality of the games, and bowling! The food of course too was yummy!!! Thank you Lena and Denise for making our group event so wonderful and making sure it ran smoothly! We will be back!

I came to bowl with my kids and they had a fantastic time. Dakota, the worker who helped us out, was amazing with my kids and incredibly helpful.

Didn't think service really existed any more, especially after 2020. However, the staff at the Great Escape proved me wrong! Service was above and beyond. I had made a request when we arrived to have a TV brought into our dinner area so that we could view a game being aired that evening. They had the TV but needed some component to make it happen. They actually sent someone out to buy that component, just so we could watch the game! From our arrival, to the time we departed, the service was non stop a

Awesome place!! Great staff!! Food is expensive! Overall a great place with an arcade as a added bonus!

This place used to have good food but now it's all frozen garbage that you're charged a steakhouse price for. The service is also always terrible. I'd never go back

They have a wonderful VIP room for birthday parties conferences and banquets. It is clean and the staff is nice the food is really good my kids enjoyed the pizza. It's right by an ice cream shop which is a fabulous.

This bowling center has gone down hill since it has changed hands from Premier bowling. I had worked at Plaza lanes and Premier when it opened in 2007. I have worked in bowling centers since I was 17 yrs old. Since bowlero has acquired great escape the service, cleanliness of bowlers area, approaches and the shot they put down are very disappointing. I bowl 3 Times a week at times and it is never the same, also I don't think that mechanics should be hanging around up front (I was never up front except to ge

The manger is a real good guy. He'll help you any way possible. Bumper lane kept having a bumper fall and the games need updated. Plus a few are broke

Good food & great service from Jennifer at "The Social", she was excellent! As a local P-Hill business owner ourselves, we try hard to keep majority of our business in town but its not always easy. So it's great to have such a nice eatery for family outings as well as a place to refer all our customers to try. Thank you!

I don't know who is managing this place but they are doing a great job! The staff was friendly and helpful. Top to bottom they never missed a beat. Restrooms were clean. In fact, the entire place was clean, even though they were packed on a Friday night. I would strongly recommend. Keep up the good work!

Front desk employees were FANTASTIC and accommodated my group perfectly. Busy place, but beyond worth the wait. Servers were pleasant and quick. Mechanics do great work keeping lanes oiled and running, no problems for us! Couldn't be happier with our service! Will return!

I came in to bowl the other day and Dakota was super friendly and helpful! Definitely will go again next time I'm in town

Awesome Time. We had about 40 high schoolers out to Great Escape to bowl and play Laser Tag. We had pizza and tots and our Servers kept the food and drinks coming. Unfortunately I am awful with names, but Whitney, Denise and staff (we had a new person midway during our time) were all awesome in making sure everything went great. Great Escape completely ensured our event was a success. Price was also very reasonable. Thank you!

Haven't been here in years. Place us nice, clean, lots to do. Went to bowl, lane 5 broke at least 5 times I our 2 1/2 game session. Had to keep walking up there to have it reset. To kick hassle. So on 6th break. We just quit. Mid game with a hr left to play still. Spent $50 in food also. But was ignored at bar for quit some time before getting noticed. Food was good. And hot.

Used to be a great bowling alley and restaurant when it was locally owned by Randy Thompson. But he decided to retire and get out of the business and he sold it to a soulless national bowling corporation. The restaurant isn't anywhere in the same league that it was before. The menu has been completely scaled back. And the prices for bowling are outrageous. Used to bowl league and practice here regularly. I won't step foot in here now.

Terrible customer service lady in the arcade was so rude