Dave & Buster’s opened a new 45,000-square-foot flagship location in Dallas this week, providing a blueprint for both new stores and renovations in the 60-unit chain.
The Dallas-based entertainment-restaurant company is expanding its sports bar area with more large-screen televisions and designated areas for watching ball games and other sports, said Steve King, Dave & Buster’s chief executive.
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Slide show: A look inside Dave & Buster's new unit
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“This is a culmination of all the things we’ve been working on and evolving with the brand over the last several years,” King said. “Really the biggest thing you’ll notice here is a much bigger emphasis toward ‘watch.’ We’ve always been about ‘eat, drink and play,’ but now we’ve really added another element, the ‘watch,’ and it’s really focusing on watching sports.”
The new unit’s two-sided bar area, with each face featuring eight large flat-screen televisions, is encircled by table and booth seating. Even larger projection televisions are in a viewing/service area to the side. The company has already added sports-bar areas to 10 units and plans to expand that to 20 more. There is also a smaller, 25,000-square-foot version of the design that the company plans to use in smaller markets.
The 30-year-old brand, which started in Dallas, has also added new menu items, including: Poppin' Potatoes, bite-sized potato puffs tossed in garlic butter and parmesan cheese; Bistro Steak and Shrimp, a sirloin steak on a bed of linguine topped with shrimp and a lobster Alfredo sauce; and Chicken Rockefeller, a grilled chicken breast topped with a creamy spinach sauce and sautéed shrimp.
The menu is focused on “fun American gourmet,” said Dolf A. Berle, president and chief operating officer for Dave & Buster’s. The promotional “Eat+Play Combo,” which offers food and games, starts at $15.99, he said.
He added that the bar program has also been enhanced. “At the bar, for example, you’re going to see more ‘flair’ bartending, more drinks that appeal to the ‘play together’ young adults,” Berle said. The Dallas unit is adults-only after 10 p.m.
The new Dallas unit also includes new arcade games, including some from smartphones, and four-sided air hockey.
Three rooms, which can be joined for groups as large as 200, can be reserved for private parties.
Contact Ron Ruggless at ronald.ruggless@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @RonRuggless