by Myesha Splane on TERRIBLE SERVICE, EVERYWHERE! Birthday boy really wanted to bowl, and didn't want to travel too far, so we called and tried to see if we could get a deal. They told us $200 just to reserve 1 lane for 2 hours! And they recommended we get a minimum of 3 lanes for our group because they are so 'crowded'. We told the party planner it was out of our budget, and there was no response whatsoever from the party planner. I think a more customer oriented approach would've been to be more flexible with the pricing, take note of our name and give the birthday boy a free drink or something. After all, it is a business, and we are spending money, even if we aren't blowing $1000+ dollars. It was empty when we walked in at 5 on a Saturday. There was only one other booth with customers. But we still waited more than a half hour at the booths for foods and drinks. We directly approached and called out to more than 7 employees who were standing by the bar, or walking around (slowly I might add). They looked us in the eye and passed us by. If you aren't designated to the table, they could have at least replied to us with a 'I'll let your server know' or something. We got up, went to the bar, and managed to ask the bartender behind the counter. Apparently she is our server. I guess she was too busy to see a group of six sitting at the booths waving people down? We FINALLY after more than an hour got our food and drinks. We still left a 20%~25% tip because the food and drinks were okay (not great, even though they hype about david burke, it's just okay, not terrible) Then we tried to get a lane. More than three quarters of the lanes by the bar were empty. Yet, the person chose to put as in the basement, which was jampackedwith kiddie birthday parties. We could not even set down our drinks on the table because kids around us were touching them, knocking them over, playing with them, drooling in them......I politely asked the person at the counter if we could have an upper floor, and he said they were all reserved! I checked during the 2-3 hours were there, and they were empty the entire time! WTF! You have to purchase the games in advance, so he totally could have given us a lane. It's not like we had purchased enough games to stay there for more than an hour. One of the servers even dumped our fairly new beer, before we even had a chance to say 'wait'! After a complaint, we got a replacement, but only after trekking to several people who all said 'I don't know' or 'He just left with your beer'. Who is 'he' and 'where did he go!'. Also, beware people who only carry cash. They insist that you leave a credit card/debit card with them while you go and bowl. After the terrible service, and their attitude I was a tad nervous about that policy. I will be checking my bank account. OMG, this place is godawful. The only thing it has going for it is the location.
by Ema Smietana on This place has a really surprising variety of shows. This diversity does make it dicey to just drop in on, but SF has so damn many other options that I can't imagine just "going to DNA to see what it's about". Who visits a random performance venue, pays a cover charge and then is all, "Boo Hoo! It is pudding wrestling night. I'm going home to whine on rateclubs!"? Serves you right. Proper use of the DNA Lounge is simple: If pudding wrestling/Gothnefs/Burlesque/Metal/Mashups/HipHop/ Circuses/Bears are your thing, then it is heaven. On one to four nights a month, that is. The rest of the time, go to one of those 400 other bars in your town. On those nights, revel in your awesome, diverse city and the great layout of this club (no bad views, decent sound, nooks aplenty). Bring cash. Don't be an ass.
by Vicki M. on Oh come on. The Gallery isn't /that/ bad. I don't love the stores inside of it, but sometimes you need to hit up Old Navy for khakis on the cheap. Yes, it is overrun with teens, but I've never had a bad experience...maybe it's because I just mind my own business and understand that they're bored teenagers doing what bored teenagers do: hang out at the mall. I've grabbed Chik Fil A and studied French in the food court and never run into any drama. The various Gallery employees I've interacted with have been way nicer and more polite than many of the employees I've dealt with in hipper stores, so I have no real complaints. Also, the fact that Market East is right in the middle of the mall is such a huge perk, making it super easy for me to get there from Temple or work.
