Ran-Ham Bowling Center

You either love this place or you hate it. Everything about it is antique. I'm thinking, maybe 1950's, possibly 1940's level of technology here. It's a huge neighborhood hangout and is full of charm. No computer scoring, and some stuff is broken (I was there last night and the lights above the pins did not always light up accurately to show which pins were still up and which had been knocked down). The lighting is... atmospheric/pretty dark, depending on how charitable you want to be. The people who work there are amazing. The bar and the food from the Nook is fantastic. It's small; maybe 10 lanes. They have bumper bowling and ramps for kids. I almost always see parents taking their younger children here to learn to bowl or just to kill an hour or two on the weekends. I also see teens and 20 something coming for a very inexpensive outing. If this doesn't sound like a lot of fun, then don't bother. But it is an experience.

Didn't like the atmosphere, the people playing next to us was taking up two tables and therefore we had no access to the tables, the floor felt very uneasy and I almost fell a few times, we only played 1 game and left, the floor was extremely slippery and we did not feel safe bowling.

My brother, a serious bowler who is trying to bowl all the remaining wood lanes in Minnesota, and I stopped in to the Ran Ham last week. What a pleasant throwback. Going down the stairs to the lanes reminded of some of the pool halls I may have been in during my youth. We got there at about 11am, the time the lanes open, and there was already a lane in use. The lanes featured a large disco ball hanging in the middle of the room with a mural of some serious aliens spraying ketchup and mustard at each other while a couple of burgers and PBR's wait for them to finish.On to the bowling with my bro scoring a 161, 199 and 201. You will have to know how to score since you actually use a real pencil and real paper to write your scores down. The ball return was over the lane type and on one occasion we had three balls in the pit before they cane back but it didn't interfere with our game. BTW I think the lanes have been there since 1928. Once we finished we went to the bar which is to the right of lane eight where they have it glassed off. The bar area has some seating and the bar where you can order food from the Nook, which is upstairs from the alleys. Bro had a Coney Island, which he loved and I had the stuffed Philly burger, which was great. The food comes down a dumb waiter and has flashing light when food arrives. The wait staff was friendly and efficient. We both want to come back for more of the same.

My new favorite spot. Old school in all right ways. Had all 8 lanes to ourselves. And she said they only allow two lanes at a time bc of covid. Totally felt safe about it. They sterilized the area before we started. And obviously the juicy Lucy's were amazing!

I had not gone bowling in 10+ years and Ran-Ham was the perfect place to try out bowling again. Happened to go during happy hour and get reasonably priced beers, unlimited games and shoe rental. This is the most old-school bowling alley I have seen, and I absolutely loved it. I will definitely come back here and recommend it to friends!

Nothing quite like the Ran-Ham. Sure the hours aren't posted, but if the sign is lit up, you are welcome to come go in. For those who know about Bryant Lake Bowl, you'll compare Ran-Ham to it and walk out of this place thinking the guy is sitting on a gold mine and he should do more. But that is the beauty of this place, more isn't needed. The best thing about this place is you can rent the whole thing if you want to have a party and the price is inexpensive. Put some food in crockpots and he'll let you bring them in. You think Bryant Lake Bowl will let you do that? Hah! They would laugh like I am laughing now. Ran-Ham Lane's is a one of a kind. Summer hours are limited as rumor has it the owner likes to go fishing.ps: How the hell did I become the first to review this gem that has existed for decades?

This is a classic set of bowling lanes. What I mean by that is that they break, all of the time. They will break for you. You will have to press reset, get frustrated, then call for the bar staff to help fix it. You will wait. But they do have drawings of PBR on the wall, cheap prices for bowling, and juicy lucy's from the Nook upstairs. What they don't have is working bowling equipment, clean bowling balls, or room for more than 2-3 people per lane.The bathroom was one of the dingiest nastiest bathrooms I have ever seen. I would rather visit a trashy bar downtown Minneapolis for a bathroom break than step into this thing again.My hands were black from the bowling balls, my brain was fried from being in such close quarters to other patrons, and my gut was full of delicious Nook burgers. Will I be back? 'Eh maybe. Will I try to get a seat instead upstairs at the Nook, certainly.

Lanes need some new mechanics. Pins were falling down on their own, lights were out on the pin board, etc. Think it's time for a new inspection. See year on picture.

There's a fine line between retro and wrecked; Ran Ham is squarely on the wrong side of this divide. Their facilities are not maintained and the space is claustrophobic and dank. The bowling is absolutely horrendous by any standard, and their antique ball return sent a young woman to the hospital on my last visit.The ball returns at Ran Ham are open, so you can see the ball shooting back towards the queue after you roll a frame. The ball goes up and over a ramp to slow it down right before it comes home. This typically works, but sometimes it doesn't. One Friday evening last winter I saw a young woman get her fingers smashed to bloody pulp between two bowling balls due to this antiquated system. Here's what happened: The ball return didn't shoot the ball out fast enough to make it up the ramp, so it started rolling back down the hill. The woman wasn't sure what to do, so she awkwardly bent over and tried pushing the ball up the hill by hand. Meanwhile, another ball came screaming out of the ball return, and her fingers got crushed between the two. I still remember the horrible chunky "WUNK!" sound of her poor fingers getting smashed. Her friends ran to her side, and all they could do was wrap napkins around her hand and debate whether to call 911 or just drive straight to the hospital. Meanwhile her hand is dripping blood everywhere, and it wasn't long before staff were out there wiping it up. My guess is that this wasn't the first time its happened.I know, accidents are unavoidable. But accidents are way more prone to happen when you have old and dangerous equipment, and when there's no cautionary signage to help avoid such a thing. Also, the bowling service was super slow, and problems were happening all the time. It was taking 5-10 minutes to get someone out every time the pins wouldn't be set up right, the ball wouldn't return, etc. so this woman perhaps thought "well, no one is going to help us, so we have to help ourselves."This gruesome spectacle aside the bowling was awful. The lanes are all warped and the balls are more pocked than Morgan Freeman's face. It really isn't bowling at this point, but chucking a sorta-ball down a kinda lane to maybe hit some pins near where you were aiming. It's also cramped down there, hot and smelly. If you've got even a little crowd anxiety or claustrophobia you're going to come out with a mild case of PTSD from being jammed in like sardines. This is further confounded if you try to eat food down there, as you almost literally can't get a bite up to your face without having to squeeze aside for someone or getting your elbows knocked. More, try to bring a kid down here and you're in for a truly hellish evening, as another reviewer has noted.The service also leaves much to be desired. The staff are friendly, but they're the band playing as the ship goes down. If there's anything you want, from ordering food to getting your lane serviced, you have to crowd around this tiny window and compete with the hot press of bodies for the chance to get someone's attention. If you're lucky enough to get noticed, you'll be helped in 5-10 minutes. No one out on the floor will ask if you need anything, the staff just zip from task to task and try to avoid eye contact or pretend not to hear you so they won't have more stuff to do. I don't blame them, they seem overworked without the tools or proper facility to do what they need to do.The second star goes to the food, which is very good, otherwise a solid "avoid at all costs" kind of a place. The "charm" here is much overstated, and best reserved for 20 somethings with a fetish for disaster.

Old school lanes! Disco ball and Christmas lights. We loved it! You keep your own score here on giant sheets of paper. Thankfully, I know how to do this. Forgot fancy and think nostalgic. I have only seen one other Center like this before in my life. It may be small, but it's bursting with fun and charm!