Bowling, beer, burgers among the draws at Warrenville's Main Event
Texas-based Main Event Entertainment has been aggressively expanding, opening its first Illinois location in September in Warrenville and already considering other potential spots within the state. Offering a huge variety of activities, the spot is a destination for parties and people of all ages looking for a fun day or night out.
Motif: The massive space opens into a lobby where you can get a game card for the arcade and a wristband for the center's other activities. A dining area features a mix of booths and tables perfect for big groups. There are also plenty of seats around the long bar and rounded booths at each bowling lane. TVs in the bar area are tuned to a mix of college and professional sports. There is even a set of projector screens above the billiards tables and at the end of the bowling lanes, though one of those shows music videos corresponding to the tunes playing. An upstairs private party space has its own bar and five rooms, which can be customized based on your group's size for between 15 and 200.
The arcade offers a view of the back of the bowling alley and contains a huge mix of games including Skeeball, basketball, shooting games and racing games. The most unique attraction is the gravity ropes course, located a dozen feet above the arcade. Participants wear harnesses and navigate ladders, tightropes and other less-than-stable surfaces.
Food: One of the most popular dishes is the Cowboy Burger, which features crispy onion strings, melted cheddar, Applewood smoked bacon and barbecue sauce, though all of the burgers are only served medium well. If you're just looking for a quick bite between games, you can get pizza by the slice, gelato, candy, chips and soft drinks at the La Bella's Pizza counter.
Among the menu items, the Thai wings, tossed in a ginger soy sauce, sesame seeds and scallions, were too sweet, while the roasted garlic chicken pizza was inconsistent, with some bites being quite garlicky and others lacking in flavor.
The best thing we had was the Santa Fe grilled chicken salad, which got some nice spice from the pico de gallo and chipotle ranch dressing and was filled with tortilla strips, cheese and black beans. New options are in the works though, with Main Event planning on launching a new menu throughout the chain with dishes including skillet mac and cheese and chimichangas.
Liquid consumption: The menu offers plenty of specialty cocktails such as the Main Event Breeze, a blend of mango and coconut rum, lemonade and pineapple and cranberry juices. Most drinks tend toward the sweet side. The Warrenville location also offers a selection of local craft beers, though strangely you won't find them on the menu.
Crowd: A truly all-ages destination, you'll find families with young kids in the arcade, teens having pizza and singing along to Bruno Mars, and adults hanging out and bowling. Weekends bring in plenty of birthday parties, and the spot is popular for corporate events. Main Event also hosts casual bowling leagues.
Service: Our server was very nice, checking in regularly and talking about the food based on personal experience.
Music: While they don't do live music, you'll regularly hear popular line-dancing songs play, at which point staff members start dancing and kids quickly join in to learn the moves.
Parking: There are plenty of spaces in the free lot.
Overall: If you want to get a thrill from the gravity ropes course, shoot your friends in laser tag, have a beer while playing some pool or do all of the above, Main Event Entertainment has you covered.
Main Event Entertainment
28248 Diehl Road, Warrenville, (630) 393-9400, <a href="http://mainevent.com">mainevent.com</a>
<b>Hours:</b> 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday, 11 a.m. to midnight Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday