I really hate one-starring places but D&B really worked for it. Â The place was VERY dirty with trash and food all over the floors. Â A lot of the games were out of order as well. Â On top of that it was super warm and there were children crawling everywhere - on a Saturday night - like, late Saturday night when they should be sleeping.
The drinks were over-priced (expected) but they don't tell you that they add gratuity on the bill as well. Â Which would have been fine since I tip anyway except the service at the bar was awful. Â It wasn't even busy and I had to wait over 10 minutes for a drink. Â It's like the bartender looked at me several times and then prioritized counting change or staring in the distance before serving me. Â Also, when he finally did take my order, he was curt and I don't think I saw a single staff member smile or greet anyone there.
Wow. What a strange and idiotic place. I really don't even know where to start.
We went for a  birthday party (adult). There is clearly a misperception that this is an adult focused facility. It is the farthest from it. We got there at 10pm on a saturday night and the place was littered with 6 - 12 year olds running around like crazy people. Apparently the place goes 21 and over at 11pm which I guess gives parents the false notion that it's OK to keep your 6 year old out and jacked up on soda and candy till then. The kids never did really all leave after 11pm and there didn't seem to be anyone enforcing the rule. It also makes some parents think they can hunker down at the air hockey table and make out while their 6 kids are free roaming - after hours of course.
FYI, they add gratuity to your bill but they don't verbally make mention of it - you have to read through the check to figure that out and that doesn't work very well when the bar is crowded and you just want to get the heck out of there. Â So you're welcome bartender for giving you a $9 tip for 3 overpriced beers.
There's a lot of out of order machines and the place just feels old and dirty. I didn't want to touch anything...
There's a coat check at the entrance which also happens to be the line for people to pay their $5 cover after 11pm so you get to wait 10 minutes for your coat in a long line of people clearly confused as to why they have to pay a cover for a place like this. Really, they should be paying us for the hassle.
I can say I will never step foot in this place again and hope to steer my customers away from hosting any group outings here. It's basically a chuck-e-cheese without the singing rat and crew.
I was here last night for a friend's birthday party. I came after they had eaten, so this review is based purely on our experience at the bar.
Before I got to the bar, I found out that they charge $5 cover between 10PM-1AM. Seriously? They have an ATM on site, but I walked a block to Chase and got my money there. Also, after 11PM, anyone under 21 had to leave. Yeah, that didn't happen. There were so many kids and their charter/school buses coming out of this place!
Okay but when we got to the bar, the bartenders were busy at the register. They didn't acknowledge us for a few minutes. I was a bit miffed, but my friends told me it was typical. They had to deal with slow service all night. Alrighty then. About $20 for 2 shots of Jameson? Seriously?
I don't really see myself going here. I'd rather go to Headquarters (free games) or Emporium instead for an arcade-type night.
Average food. Â Bad Service. Â Tacky atmosphere.
Let me start by saying that my friends and I did NOT choose to go here. My friend's girlfriend, who I do not think is from Chicago, arranged a surprise birthday party for our friend here. Â We knew it would be an "interesting" evening that may generate a few retrospective laughs, what we did not expect was a torturous train wreck that will provide us with Dave & Buster's jokes for years to come. Â The place was overrun with children (as one would expect), served average food, had HORRENDOUS service and had all the refined style of a cheap cruise.
There was a mistaken belief that this is "a Chucky Cheese" for adults. Â That may be true after 11:30 when all the crumb crushers are put out, but up to that time, the arcade room, bathrooms, halls etc. are all infested with children running around, screaming, squealing, and doing all the delightful things that make children so cute. Â And so annoying.
As for the service...gratuity was automatically included so our waitress thought less about our "dining experience" than the children in the game room thought about the returns on their future IRAs.  A few examples: it was faster to go to the bar for drinks than order from the waitress, 3 requests and a 30 minute wait to get a glass of water, an appetizer order was taken and placed with the kitchen...for HALF of the table, a friend's salad arrived 20 minutes after the other entrees, another friend's chicken entrée finally appeared 45 minutes after the rest of the food, 15 minutes after 2 salads were accidentally delivered to our table a manager reclaimed them and almost definitely served them to unsuspecting customers, a 15 minute wait for the bill, a 20 minute wait to have the credit card run.
The funniest, and most surreal, part of the evening was that every 5-10 minutes the background music cut out and someone made an obnoxiously loud announcement over the PA system such as "Weber party, your shuffleboard table is ready," "Kostner party, your food has been served, please go to your party room," "Daniels party please gather in your room now your host requests your presence." "Julie please report to the Lido deck." Etc. etc. Â The funniest announcement was when they berated one of the parties for not returning to their party room and curtly informed them, and the whole restaurant, "Kostner party you need to go to your party room, your food is getting cold!" Â I'm not kidding they actually announced this.
By the time we'd finished the 35 minute wait to pay the bill no one wanted to remain in the place a minute longer. Â We skipped the games we planned on playing and hit the exits like released convicts never to return. NEVER!
I planned my boyfriend's 25th birthday party at dave & busters, and everyone had a blast. The game cards were affordable, and they have tons of different types of games, from wheel of fortune to war games, so everyone had fun. There's also a full restaurant and sports bar, so it's perfect for large groups to have fun and mingle.
I wish I would've scoped the place out first, because we ended up wasting money on a 'private party room', which ended up being a few tables out in the open next to a shuffle board table that was open to others in the restaurant. If you're planning a party, save yourself the moola and make a free reservation at a table.
Had a nice time with friends-honestly fun. Â A few things stuck out as odd hence the three stars. Â Kids were allowed until 11pm. Â There were kids and babies everywhere. Â Aren't they supposed to be asleep?! Â Also, I was surprised to see armed security guards there. Â Don't know if I have ever seen that before in a Chicago venue... Like ever.
Review Source:This Dave and Buster location is just okay, we always have fun when we are there but I have to say it is not as good as the Addison IL. The Clark street location is usually jammed packed with all kinds of people, which makes for difficult parking and since it is in the city parking is not free. The food is still good. My favorite dish from Dave and Buster's menu is their Teriyaki Sirloin Steak.
This location also has more games out of order than the one in Addison IL as well. I honestly try my best not to go to this location if i can help it.
Good times at this D&B.  It was a  New Year's Day celebration with family and friends.  Got here around 12noon New Years day, and it was an impromptu gathering.  There were 35 of us, including several kids under the age of 12.  We met up, and initially wanted to just play some pool and games in the Midway, but decided to have lunch together first.  We've been here plenty of times before, usually in the late afternoon/early evening and when there is usually more traffic in the restaurant/arcade.  It was hardly empty on New Years day, but I would say it was ideally uncrowded.
We asked if they could accommodate us in the dining room and D&B did. Â They set up a long table for us in the back, and then the rest of our group dispersed in the booths around us. Â Seating is comfortable and the dining room is roomy/airy with the darker wood furnishings. Â We had one server who took phenomenal care of the entire party. Â He alone deserves a 5 (or 5,000) star rating because he took extremely good care of us, as well as a few other tables near us.
Menu is the usual bar fare, and everything came out great. Â Burgers, Fries, sweet potato fries, turkey burgers, pastas (lobster pasta!), pizzas, grilled cheese, nachos, artichoke dip, buffalo wings, pretzel dogs, steaks, salads - you name it, we ordered it. Â Everyone was happy. Â Food was served hot, plates cleared away, and drinks kept refilled.
We spent about 2 hours eating and talking. Â We weren't rushed and we were checked on more than frequently. We were a big group and that alone meant extra effort, so I completely appreciate everything our server did to keep things running so smoothly for us. Â Excellent service from all in the dining room but most of all, our server.
We headed to the Midway to play games after lunch. Â We all purchased game cards (btw, there are some items on the menu that come w/game cards if you order them) and spent the rest of the afternoon accumulating tickets. Â They offer small buckets for you to keep your tickets in, but my nephew came prepared with his own plastic bag to hold his tix. The arcade is pretty spacious with a good variety of games for all ages . Â Some of our faves were the gigantic Connect 4 game, the basketball hoops, and any game that could potentially earn you 500+ tickets. My daughter, niece and nephew all won 1,000 ticket jackpots at one point (my niece won twice!). Â They all came away happy with their prizes...and they offer good ones, not just the cheesy usual arcade ones (though they have those as well, i.e. stuffed animals, various plastic party favor type toys).
Staff in the Midway, particularly at the prize counter, were also terrific...friendly, helpful, and most of all patient. Each of our kids had more than 1,000 tickets so it took a while for them to choose. Â She took care of our kids and was great in suggesting toys, even going into the back and bringing out some prizes that weren't already offered within the counters or on the displays. Â She also checked to make sure batteries were working in the toys they picked out. Â There's a bar in the Midway as well, so the adults who weren't partaking in games hung back at the bar and chatted. Â Bartender was nice and quick with the drinks.
We didn't end up playing pool like we'd thought, but the pool/billiards tables are outside of the Midway and on the other side of the dining room. Â There are numerous TVs in there for those who want to play pool and watch the game, and a bar in the center as well. Â We used to play pool here a lot back in the day and they have a good number of pool tables (but there can be a wait for a table on busy nights). Â Also, downstairs there's more bar seating and a couple other bigger, arcade games (interactive golf).
All in all, a wonderful start to the New Years and a great time at D&B.
Dave and Buster's has been my adult fun place for 5 or 6 years now. Â The company has been on steady decline; I have visited DB's in Texas, Ohio, New York, California and now Chicago.
This DB's in the Chi was not very nice; the place was littered with trash and tickets. Â Everyone seemed grumpy from the front service desk, to the bar tenders, to the game mechanics to the ticket booth. Â The ticket line was rough throughout the night with very little customer service. Â
I really enjoy the concept of Dave & Buster's and maybe the fact they went public on the Nasdaq (PLAY) this week we might begin to see some positive change in what used to be a wonderful place for kids and adults just 5 years ago.
I do not recommend this Dave & Buster's; you'd be better off hitting up a museum, a Chicago sporting event or even heading to a local putt-putt.
It was my first time at Dave n Buster's last night and I had a lot of fun with my husband and sis-in-law. We arrived around 11pm and it was not crowded at all, the food is good and the drinks are great and not priced too high. The bathrooms where nice nice and clean too.
We had a decent time last night and witnessed when two security guards had to kick out two  drunk guys for acting like butt holes, kind of entertaining to look at lol  . Will visit soon !
Fun! Fun! Fun!
This is really suppose to be an adult type of game place, However kids of a certain age are allowed up until a certain time after which only adults can enter.
I love this place, the food and drinks are awesome. Plus, you can get a combo were you get a meal and a game card. I usually do that but have them load the point onto my existing card since I go so much.
The only bad thing is I which the games held more tickets I always run the machines dry quick, and I wish all the good stuff wasn't ridiculous amounts of tickets.
Great for a night out, Birthdays, graduations, company parties ( if the people you work with don't have sticks up their ass) or just a good time with friends and family.
The food is not very good here. You shouldn't eat it.
The game's super fun, though get a bit monotonous, since many of them are the same type of game.
The prizes they offer, not very good for how much money you pay for credits. Though, if you hit a jackpot a few times, you may walk away with a sick coffee cup. lol
Dave & Buster's in general kind of confuses me. Â Obviously they try to attract the adults with the full bar, but this is a double-edged sword. Â So in the game area there's also a bar, which could be fun except that parents bring their kids here. Â Why? Â It weird me out with kids running around while the bar just sitting right there and people drinking. Â There weren't just a few kids, there were a ton of kids - the place was pretty crowded.
I was here after a training session with my coworkers so we had a buffet-style set up. Â We then sat down at...billiards tables? You wouldn't notice if there wasn't that wall along the sides that makes it awkward to eat, because they cover the up with table cloths. Â The food was probably what you would expect: yellow (pizza), yellow (tortilla chips), yellow (cheese), green (salad!), brown-ish (buffalo wings), yellow (burger...bun). Â Mediocre at best. Â
The waitstaff were nice though.
I was here for a birthday with a party of 12 people. We had dinner and played games.
I had their pecan salad and the dressing was too sweet that it tasted like desert. The waitress was patient with us and friendly. She gave one of us coffee on-the-house and surprisingly... did not say anything when someone at our table put all of these sweets on the table brought from home (she was considerate enough though to bring her own plates, forks, and napkins for the sweets).
I'm not a big arcade goer so I spent most of my time playing pool and then some time playing basketball. Since none of us wanted any prizes, we put our tickets together and decided we would probably get something for the family dogs. When I went to see the selection, the place looked empty.
The ticket value for the prizes was so ridiculous that I had a hard time picking out two stuffed animals for two dogs. Keep in mind that 12 people were playing arcade games for 2 hours.
I had never been to a D&B before as I am not much into the whole playing games. Â My company had their holiday event here and everyone seemed to have a good time.
I am not sure the expense but there was plenty of food (buffet) style and open bar. Â Everyone was also issued a $25 game card which was estimated could last up to two hours.
The staff was friendly and there was not a long wait for beverage service. Â While I did not eat, the food seemed to have a wide variety.
For a low-budge non-profit office outing, this was about the only place that fit the bill. Whirly ball? Way too expensive. Cooking class? Yeah right. $15.99 meal and $10 game card? That's about all we can afford...
I contacted Dayne to set up our reservations and keep things within our budget, and she was a pleasure to work with! Easy as pie. The food was decent, and I kind of loved the wide array of shoot-em-up games in the game room. There were almost zero people when we came on a Thursday afternoon, so that was kind of... odd. Â Everyone enjoyed themselves though, so win for me! Â We don't get out much :/
You can find 2-hr street parking for around $6 two blocks north of D&B's, or there's a $9/all day public lot across the street.
I booked my best friend's 28th birthday party at D&B in Gold Coast and it was a blast! Â I worked with Kristen and Dayne to plan the event and they were very accommodating and took the stress out of planning. Â
The food, drinks (esp the copa cabana bananna), and atmosphere was worth every penny. Â If you get a private room....you will be removed from the running kids and have a nice adult gathering. I feel like I got more than I paid for and would happily return again!
PS: The sales staff is not only friendly, but very easy on the eyes too!
Wanna know how to ruin Christmas? Â Have your company holiday party here.
Dave and Buster's isn't really my thing, but I went along with it because I'm a team player and my bosses seemed really into it. Â Plus...free drinks...
We had a private party room and the staff was really nice. Â The food was ok. Â The drinks were needed in order for me to survive. Â
We were divided up into four teams and then were ushered around Dave and Busters to compete in 4 (or maybe 5) different games. Â It was all very fast and confusing with very little instruction from our "usher". Â The game room was very loud and the people that were there during the day just looked sad and lonely. Â Sensory overload. Â
I just don't get it. At all.
I really liked this place - not the prices, the place.
I was entertaining a 13, 12 and 5 year old on a Friday night and this place was the perfect choice. I was a little leery because everyone calls it a Chuck E Cheese for grownups, so I figured Friday night would be date night, but I was so consumed chasing these 3 around that I didn't even notice who else was there. Except for one creepy drunk lady ranting to them about how mad she was she couldn't win at the claw game like my niece did, but whatever, it all worked out. We had a great meal and the kids had a lot of fun in the play area.
My only complaint (besides the high prices) is that no one is there to "guide" you - Â I didn't know there were food/game packages, I didn't know what the hell I was doing with the game cards, its kind of like if you don't know what you're doing, the more money they make off you. And they really did make bank off me.
Good times though.
I came here recently for a company-sponsored happy hour, so my review is probably a little biased since I didn't have to pay for any food or drinks. There were 20+ people in our group, so we had our own private area with two pool tables and a tabletop shuffleboard game. Our server was very attentive and remembered what everyone ordered, which was a feat given the fact that we were all roaming around the room. That said, my gin and tonics were mostly tonic, but I can't complain too much about that since I wasn't paying for them. I only tried one appetizer, which seemed fine. Other people complained that some of the appetizers (the quesadillas, I believe) were not good.
The fact that we had a private area that was on the opposite side of the floor from the video game area, meant that we were isolated from the hordes of children that other reviewers have mentioned. The only time I encountered them was on my way to the bathroom (which is in the video game area). Fortunately I only had to visit the bathroom once since it was pretty trashed. I can't remember the last time I was in a restroom that had that much toilet paper and paper towels strewn all over the floor.
The area our group was in was clean. It was, however, approximately 45 degrees in there. I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and a heavy cardigan. Other people were wearing jackets because it was so cold. I guess they expect people to really work up a sweat while playing pool.
All in all, I think D&Bs was a fun place for a company event. I probably would not return on my own, however.
I was sad, and Dave and Busters made me happy. For that, it's getting 3 stars in my book. I almost didn't go out last night but then I realized I was being mopey and would end up having a lousy time at home on the couch. I had never head about Dave and Busters, and my friend basically described it as Chuck E. Cheese for adults. I was sold.
Here's how to sum it up: Games were fun, though of course a ripoff. Food didn't look that good and was overpriced, but I had eaten already so I avoided that one. My drinks were tasty (island mojito and a white russian) but were super weak. You win a bajillion tickets after spending a crapload on games and the prizes are all tacky, and not worth anything close to the ticket amount listed.
But it made me happy last night. And that's all that mattered! :-)
Who's a girl gotta blow to play some skee ball around here!?!
Go during the week when it's slow, play the skee ball, air hockey, and maybe shoot some zombies. DO.NOT. try and get drunk here, so overpriced!
PS, if you saw some girl last week destroy the score board on the skeeball machine with an ill thought out underhand throw...yeah, that was me 0_0
You know, I keep WANTING to give this place higher than 2 stars. Â I want to shout from the rooftops that it's as awesome as the Chuck E. Cheese benchmark of video games combined with the awesomeness of liquor-assisted frivolity thanks to the bars they have on-premises.
Alas, I cannot succumb to the glee, because there's always the nagging realization that Chuck E. Cheese would be so much better if it weren't for the children, and the alcohol would be so much more enjoyable if my entire wallet weren't emptied just to savor a nip o' the good stuff. Â And then there are the games themselves...
You know, it's one thing to come up with this neat little system of "you use a card so you're not carrying around a cup full of coins or having to drudge through the tedium of slipping in tokens just to play the games" - but then Dave & Busters slaps you in the face with "you need to carry a bucket anyway just for the volume of tickets you've amassed and by the way, you should really pay attention to the number of credits the games are costing you because you don't have the mental cues of how many coins you would be slipping into the machines now".
Yea, when you consider a "credit" is 25 cents, it's a real knee in the groin when you wander around the entire place and not only is there no machine at all that has a 1 credit price tag, but all of the machines have decimal places to squeeze every last cent out of you while you don't even see it happening. Â If one credit is 25 cents, then each .1 credit is 2.5 cents. Â You should NOT be allowed to charge people fractions of pennies - ever. Â I hate the fact that gas stations do it, and I hate that this place will charge me 72.5 cents to play my favorite game.
But let's say you've been invited here by a friend, and it would be rude to tell that friend, "no thanks, my testicles have been bruised enough by life in general and they don't need any extra punishment tonight." Â So here you are, at Dave & Busters and you want to make the most out of this situation.
1. Get as much value as possible while they wring your wallet dry. Â If you're eating food, go with the deal that gets you a $10 card to go with your mediocre meal. Â And if you're boozin' it up, go for their T'N'Tea. Â It's as expensive as the other drinks, but it's got more booze in it and you get to KEEP THE GLASS! Â Sure, it's not that great of quality and it's got that D&B logo on it, but you can slightly feel like you're stickin' it to them by attaining their glassware (legally). Â Same goes for the bar - the Up-n-Down shooters are the ones where you get to keep the glasses afterward.
2. Get the most from your tickets. Â My favorite game is located way off in the corner, where you have a hoop that you have to ring around the pegs on the bottom, and if it goes around, you get that many tickets. Â The secret to this machine is that if when you start up your round, you just tap the button to shift it right and just let it drop, you will always hook that prize peg every time. Â Sure, it's not the highest value, but you hit it EVERY TIME. Â Don't waste credits on those "fun" games that don't earn you tickets. Â I'd rather have something physical to show for my $10 card, rather than exhaustion from playing the Dance Dance Revolution-type game or itchy trigger finger from one of their shoot-em-ups.
3. No, REALLY get the most from your tickets. Â This is a technique I learned as a child back in Chuck E. Cheese. Â Upon learning that ticket counters didn't actually COUNT the tickets, but rather weighed them, I went back to my table and drizzled some water on my tickets until they were slightly moist. Â I carried around the cup as the surface moisture evaporated, and once they felt dry to the touch, cashed them in and wound up getting more than twice the amount of actual tickets as their weight.
Don't blame me for having to resort to these tactics. Â When the system is as rigged as any casino in Vegas, you do what you can to even the odds. Â And after two visits to this place, I have my set of glassware and the ultimate trophy of any ticket-gamer: the largest stuffed animal possible, perched on the highest rack on the wall.
So if you're stuck going here, take my advice and get your trophies and then you'll have all the reason to politely say in the future that you have nothing left to gain from Dave & Busters, and you'd rather just go to Chuck E .Cheese. Â After all, they have better pizza, the same amount of snot-nosed brats underfoot, and if you really need the added booze factor, that's why God invented the pocket flask.
Are we on the south side?
I'm sorry but this place is a nightmare, especially on the weekends. Don't even try to come here. I've never been to such a place where there are so many ignorant loud obnoxious people there, except for maybe the Lil' Wayne concert.
You can't get to any game, especially not the basketball game. Don't even try. And that horse racing game, you'd be lucky to get a seat with a ball at it. Then you look over to the person next to you and they have 2 balls.
And where did all the good games go? Now they have the games where you rarely win anything. Good for them, but no fun for me! And the prices are weak. To get a pen you have to have like 10,000 ticket. Its outrageous.
And what is this VIP card on the weekends? You have to pay a cover charge just to get in! THIS IS NOT A BAR DAVE N BUSTERS! STOP TRYING TO ACT LIKE ONE. Then you have to pay for your coins to play the games. What the hell!
I remember a few years back I went here at night on the weekend and they told me "you have to be 21 years and older to come in here or be with an adult older than 25" What was this about? I didn't come back for years. can anyone explain that crap to me?
After all of this, I'll still come back every once in a while, but it won't be on the weekend. No sir.
Blah.
When we went to DB I expected it to be a a bit of an older crowd not teens. They card you upon arrival, which made me think that they had some sort of age restrictions after 9ish. I was so wrong. The place was filled with screaming children and teenagers. I thought I was at chuck e cheese's. The waiter was good so thats one star. The food is ok, nothing out of the ordinary. The pasta tasted just like the pasta at corner bakery. At least corner bakery is cheaper. My boyfriend and I ended up spending about $100, so yeah. pricey. For being an arcade it is. The other star is for the games. Games are awesome!
1. paris hilton
2. Dyson Vacuum.
3. Dave and busters
What do all of these things have in common? Â They're all overpriced and suck.
Why go to a place with good food and drinks and plentiful entertainment when instead you can bask in true mediocrity at this less then swanky joint. Â Yes, you could just have your friends come over with a case of beer and play guitar hero on ps3 for 5% of the price but then you would be missing out on atmosphere. Â By atmosphere I mean juvenile "adults" pushing and shoving their way through a Chuckie Cheese while swearing like it were pulp fiction.
An arcade with a bar?! On first hearing about Dave & Busters my mind was blown. Sadly, what has the potential to be a match made in heaven is really not much more than an arcade that just happens to also serve alcohol.
While yes, you can kick back the booze while playing House of the Dead 4, the 9 year old having his birthday at the table 20 feet away sort of kills the mood of unadulterated drunken zombie killing fun. The place still feels like Chucky Cheese. While I'll admit it's really cool for what it is, it's not what I want it to be -- Â a dark, dreary, hole in the wall arcade where tattoo-laden miscreants and joystick derelicts challenge each other to games of Pac Man over shots of cheap whisky.
This is a good place to go if... it's Saturday afternoon and you want to get drunk and shoot zombies... Â or, if you are turning 9.
Why did I think going here would be a good idea?? Of course, I didn't yelp it first...
We did not come to eat here, just play games on a Saturday night for something different to do. Now I am not a big video game person, but I do like Skee-ball, anything where you make coins drop, and some of the other kid type games like the claw game.
Pros:
-Drinks are strong
-Skee-Ball
Cons:
-Cover charge if you go past 9 or something (they give you the value in a game card but it only works on certain games)
-Trashy, bottom level clearly lost half its games, and few of the games down there are broken and there are lots of out of order games upstairs too.
- Kids running around without supervision
And this isn't really D&B's fault (well perhaps it was from the food?) but someone threw up all over the floor which was one of the nastiest things ever.
Well like my fellow yelper Justin, I too was there for a video game presentation from graduating Depaul Students. Â The place itself is very spacious and well, cool looking. Â The gaming area kinda reminds me of the arcade at the MGM Grand over in Vegas...just with less than new games and not quite as many, and not very good games...well i guess it doesn't remind me of Vegas at all. Â I was only able to eat the catered buffet offered to the group. If it was any indication of what the kitchen was capable of, Â STAY AWAY
and if your looking for a place to drink, save the $12 you'll spend on 2 miller lights... go to Dominick's and buy a 12 pack, you'll feel better about yourself in the morning
on a good note, the heat of the room we were in allowed me to burn off the calories of my beer.
We came looking for food and some games. Â We walked up to the restaurant and the hostess was in a discussion with a surprisingly calm man who was saying that he had been waiting over an hour for his food and wanted to know if his order was lost. Â The hostess said she would see what she could do. Â We walked up:
Her: Welcome to D&B
US: Â Can we get a table for-
Her: We aren't serving food anymore because a kitchen backlog.
US: Â Are you understaffed or something cause we could go back and help out?
Her: Â No everyone is here. Â Have a good time!
If half the work force was out sick I can understand having a backlog but if everyone is there why the wait...didn't seem very busy at all. Â We asked if a shuffleboard table was available and the person behind the counter just sat for like 15 seconds before saying "I don't know...Hey are there any available shuffle board tables" to a guy at the same desk. Â The response "yeah." Â Nothing more...our response was "thanks" and we left.
Lara and I were simply famished after the Yelp fashion show and we need to find someplace close by to grab a bite to eat. We decided to go here as it was really close and open and we were both close to resorting to cannibalism in order to fill our stomachs.
The place was not very crowded since it was quite late already. It was very loud though. Our waiter was very good - very quick and very knowledgeable. Â I had the Philly cheese-steak sandwich which was good but it seemed to be missing some onions and peppers. The beef was very good though.
It did not impress me enough to say that I have to go back but in a pinch, this place will do just fine if we need it.
Overall, it is pricey to have a night here, but I suppose if you're into the games, it's worth it. Â The best deal is the 16.99 for dinner and a ten dollar game card. Â Sunday thru Thursday and Friday and Saturday before 5pm... There are a wide variety of dishes and all are decent sized. Â You get tickets for playing games and can buy little toys or trinkets or give them to random kids wandering around and restore (or install) their faith in strangers and humanity.
Oh yeah, and one of my old co-workers swears by the game in the back of upstairs (yes, by the kids games), where the light goes up and down a long pole, and there are ticket numbers that you win on the side. Â When you hit the button, the light stops and you get that number of tickets. Â 500 or something is in the middle. Â Swipe your card 3-4 times in a row to play 3-4 times continuously. Â You will get the timing down and I've seen him nail the damm thing... it's sick... You can get an atv with like 80,000 points...
Ok, it's Dave and Busters and we all know it's not that great...But they  get 3 stars because:
a. They have the race car game that I find incredibly entertaining
b. We had a big work party there and the buffet was good and they kept it full, the bar service was fast and the drinks were strong
Overall it's just a place where you can waste a lot of money and have a decent time if you like video games. Â There's not enough selection of games and you need too many tickets for the good prizes (if there are such a thing).
It's a fine place for a large party, especially if someone else is paying for you to drink and play the race car game.
Dave & Buster's is Chuck E. Cheese for adults. For that reason alone, I have to give it at least a few stars, because as Miss N. observed, it's nice to have a place we can go to play skeeball and other silly arcade games without looking like creepy pervs. That said, the last time I had been to a D&B was in California when I was a teenager, and I remember LOVING it. I think I loved it a lot more as a teenager than I do now as an adult, and having visited the D&B in Chicago, I finally understand why.
The problem with D&B is that they are trying to be Chuck E. Cheese for ADULTS... yet they still let kids in, at all hours of the day & NIGHT. We were there for a friend's birthday this past Saturday, from after 9 p.m. until very late, and the place was packed with not only beer-drinking, cigarette-smoking adults, but also children of all ages, including a BABY I saw being carried around by one woman. Seriously?! The sign says that all minors must be accompanied by an adult at all times, but how likely is that? Especially since each adult can bring along FOUR CHILDREN. This all makes sense during the day, but I'd hope their evenings would have a cut-off, especially on weekend nights: no kids after 9 p.m., maybe? Seems reasonable to me.
But I digress. We had a lot of fun at D&B, but I have to assume that was partially because we were so drunk the entire time. If we had not been drunk, I'm sure certain things would have begun to annoy us, like the crappy chips & dip, the fact that the games OFTEN malfunctioned, and the overall din that made it difficult to hear yourself think, let alone hear each other speak. However, since we were drunk, those things bothered us (or at least me) only in retrospect.
What everyone else says is true: You're going to pay a LOT of money to play overpriced arcade games (way overpriced) and leave with cheap prizes. But hey -- my boyfriend won me a stuffed lion at the claw machine! and we combined our tickets to get the birthday girl a finger-shaped nose hair trimmer, a gold & bejeweled grill, and a lightsaber... where else can you really do all that, and drink at the same time?
We always have a blast when going to D & B. The food rocks... amazing salads (try the chipotle chicken ceasar one or the parmesan crusted chicken), great staff and enough ticket games to keep you going. Â Sun - Thurs you can choose a meal off of the power combo menu for $15.99 which includes a $10 game card.
The prizes (if you save up enough tix) are pretty good, xbox, PSP, game boy games, stuffed animals galore and  of course the little stuff to make the younger kiddos feel like they're leaving with something.
Remember to park at the lot across the street to save $$ (the valet is $12 - lot across the street is $6).
My hubbie and I are kids at heart and our son has to wrestle the game card out of our hands to get to the games - LOL!
It's a decent place when you're bored out of your mind. Â I went for the first time to play pool, try some games, etc. Â The pool tables are great, and it was wonderful playing rounds with close friends.
But the games were a nightmare. Â I sort of should have expected it, with so many kids screaming about. Â It was just LOUD. Â But I did enjoy playing PUMP, a criss-cross version of DDR. Â And shooting games were a great way to destress.
The price is expensive, especially with the hectic ambience. Â So yeah, three stars; I didn't bother trying the food.
I would actually give the food here 3 stars but everything else gets negative 5 stars.
I have no problem with the little kids, what little kid wouldn't freak out in a place like this, that's cute.
The other 2 major demographics of clientel annoy me. Trust Fund Teenagers and drunk, out of town business people.
However, the burgers are quite good.
When the bf & I got sick of going to the same places night after night, I recommended Chuck E. Cheese. Â He threw out Dave & Buster's, thinking that then we wouldn't look like the Bonnie & Clyde of creepy child fanatics. Â "Good call," I quipped.
I'm not a fan of video games or this kind of place generally, but he, being the younger of us by 8.5 years, LOVED it. Â We ate an average tasting dinner & then went on our merry way to the games.
We shot dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, beat about seven little kids at that "roll a ball to score points to make your horse win the derby" game, got a zillion of those tickets at some random color gambling game, played twelve hundred rounds of skee ball, & he shot virtual enemies in some stand up, put a helmet on & turn around in circles war army game.
He also won me a tiny stuffed animal (we're not sure what kind of animal it is ... is it a cat? Â a bear? Â a mix of the two - a cear?) the first time he made that mechanical arm move to the middle & clamp down.
Lest I forget, we also dodged a zillion little kids running around in packs like wild animals who have no regard for the fact that they come up to your hip at most, knees more often than not, & it is easy to crush them like grapes when they scurry by. Â We also had to push our way through couples & gaggles of skantily-clad teenaged girls who thought it was perfectly fine to just stop in the middle of an aisle & stand there. Â (ps: preteens? Â those '80's outfits you have on didn't even look cute in the '80's & I should know. Â pps: parents? Â you actually let your daughters leave the house looking like prostitutes at age twelve?) Â & I lost track of how many times so-called "adults" swore loudly in front of little children. Â (probably #1 pet peeve) Â Language! Â LANGUAGE!
Our tickets got us a set of cool looking shot glasses, which, when we opened them at home, we found out one was cracked already & the other three broke pretty much the second we set them on the kitchen counter.
All-in-all, though, despite my protesting, we had a fun night out ... even though I did feel like a g.d. tourist the whole time.
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