Dave & Busters

Me and my friend drove from Trumbull, CT (approx. an hour away) to come here on Friday June 10^th for my birthday only to find out that they were closed for the night for a private event. I was livid as it completely ruined my birthday. Not only did we drive far to come here, but we got a hotel room which was nonrefundable at that point. We were told they were closed for 250 high school students until 5am, which is ridiculous. You guys turned away the public (who are over 21 I might add) and lost business, especially in your liquor sales. There was no announcement on the website or even a sign on the door. It will be a while before I even think to come back here. Also, calling you guys is a nightmare. Its recording after recording when all I want is a real person to ask one simple question.

If you plan on dining in at Dave & Busters you might as well go somewhere else, the lack of service was horrendous. I would rate them less than one star if I could. My girlfriend and I arrived at approximately 2:30pm-3:00pm on Sunday afternoon. at the Springfield Mall location. 05/​29/​2016. The hostess was gracious in finding us a place in the restaurant, she gave us the menus and left wishing us a pleasant meal. The whole thing was a disaster of epic proportions after that, my girlfriend and I awaited the arrival of either a waiter or a waitress for about 20 minutes, and no one ever took our order. Upon exiting the restaurant, I decided to locate the manager and explain to him what had happened. The manager confronted the hostesses, and the hostesses claimed that they never saw us?! Really?! Anyway, we will not be returning here. What a shame, expected so much more for my money!

The games were fun. I had no idea that DDR was so intense! They had some classics like basketball and ski-​ball, which was cool. There were still a ton of kids, eventhough it was a nice day outside.
The food left something to be desired, but let’s be honest, no one is coming here for the food, right? Also, the hostess didn’t seem to want to give us a table until everyone in our party had arrived — I wasn’t a huge fan of this since the seating area was big and there weren’t many people sitting down eating. I think they could have just let us sit.

The game attendants, hosts and games are awesome here.
The restaurant food and service suck, food is overpriced and poor quality– ordered chili bowl was ¼ full and tasted like chemicals — in our party a cheese steak was ordered look like the frozen kind simply reheated.
Ordered a drink from the bar, got something different — was told they subbed it since they were out, had to refuse it.
The service pretty much is no good even when the place isn’t full/​full of weird drunk people.

hummm, jurys out on this place. not ashamed to say i went for the first time solo during the day, its ok, i used vacation time.
i think you need to work the system to not spend a fortune in this place, i am partial to the coin pushers, they took my money and left me feeling used…
they have a bar inside, maybe you knew this, i could see a lot of drunks swiping plastic to feed that need to win a teddy or something, not judging.
i will say, this place is very confusing when it comes to the actual price of the games and the cost of units. another duh statement…
also i wasnt thrilled with the majority of interactions with the staff, most of the time it wasnt service with a smile although i did stil get my service, so im not going into the lower galaxy (see you give stars, 1 – 5, stars make up galaxies)

Huge shout out to Dave and Busters Manchester location. We took a large group (63) of middle schoolers for a celebration after a choral concert, and I cannot say enough good things about the experience. The staff was on top of our needs, the event manager went above and beyond to ensure we were satisfied — including letting children with nut allergies order off a special menu and sending food out to the staff table gratis — and the food was above the average for this type of function. The restaurant is clean, the children (and adults) loved the gaming area, and the function room is roomy and comfortable. I would definitely recommend this restaurant, and will book again next year. Great job!

At a birthday party today and everything has been AMAZING! Kids were very happy, service was great and the manager, Phyllis, went ABOVE and BEYOND to make sure the birthday girl had the best birthday party ever!

90 $ for 4 drinks and two meals I thought that was a bit pricey expect a long wait before u actually get your food waitress was rude and not friendly but the food was great! Our first experience was a lot nicer then today.

As many others I am torn about Dave and Busters. I booked a table for 15 in advance for my birthday party and it required a $ 200 deposit and it booked a table from 7−9pm. We had to spend a minimum of $ 400 that night (the 200 already paid went toward that) on
–food
–drinks
— and games
We get there and it took a full 30 minutes to get the appetizer and first round of drinks to the table– yikes I was already nervous about time. We put in the next round of drinks and our dinner order right away. The drinks we great and the apps were very OK typical wings, fries, spinach dip ect. Then dinner rolls in around 8:20 and it took forever! Also three people sent their food back for being not over cooked — but raw! Good thing no one ate any of it so no one is sick from eating raw shrimp. Then as we are waiting for more drinks and for the fixed food to come out I can see the manager in the back looking at his watch and talking to our server. Being ver obvious that we were close to 9 pm — even though most of us didn’t even have our food back. I thought that was extremely distasteful. I knew we had a 2 hour limit, but was not expecting 30 – 45 minute wait periods for burgers and fries. Also to add insult to injury one of my friends found a HUGE clump of hair on her fork and the same manager informed her that the mentally handicapped roll their silverware. Yes that’s a nice cause but not at the cost of potentially contaminating your silverware with someone’s hair– that’s disgusting. The highlight of the evening was our waitress who worked really hard and was extremely pleasant.
Also the games were super fun and saved the evening. If I were to do this over again I would have eaten and drank elsewhere and came only for the games.

If you plan on eating you might as well go some where else, me and some friends went there for a birthday. We thought it would be fun and a new experience since none of us had gone before. The service was slow, and our server was happier to see us leave than when we arrived. He never checked on us and never asked if the food was ok. I had to go up to the main desk and ask for our checks. The only nice person was the bus boy. The food was also sub par, nothing was hot, barely luke warm. And the French fries were better describe as fat chips. The food was also very dry. The only good thing about the place was all the games. If I ever go back, the games would be the only reason

Service is awful
Food is even MORE awful
Atmosphere is cool but they can’t keep up with keeping the joint clean
Went once, never going back.

Designed by marketing experts to milk the most amount of money out of you at every angle is Dave & Busters. Upselling at every possible chance, from buying «chips» to play to the collage of dizzying offers in the bar area for drink combinations. Overwhelming, but also impressive the gaming area will appeal to just about everyone with a beating heart. I blew out my shoulder throwing fastballs at the clown knockdown game. Millions must of been spent just in the arcade area, with most games I’ve never even seen before. You play with basically a reloadable credit card that is easy, but lacks the nostalgia of playing with quarters as a kid. We played for awhile, and were texted when our table was ready. The service seemed confused, stressed, and with attitude right off the bat. We ordered drinks which took awhile and came out sporadically for each of our party. The menu is extensive, and exhausting with every conceivable way a thing could be battered and fried. It’s definitely not a healthy place to eat, but there were some salad options so I can’t say fully that they wanted our hearts to clog and stop. The prices are very expensive with appetizers nearly the same price as regular menu choices. This place is what a casino for teenagers would look like, loud music, loud games, crowds, and flashing lights. The food and service was mediocre. My buffalo wing burger came out topped with two sticks of brown wilted celery. They forgot the food of one of our group as he sat there waiting for ten minutes while everyone else ate. We managed to flag someone down, and it was brought out by a different server. We went back to the gaming area and frantically burned through the chips on our card, almost possessed. You fail to realize that the «chips» you just bought are actually money. And D&B knows that too. Don’t get me wrong it was a fun time, but I feel we also succumbed to the marketing genius of D&B, dropping almost $ 200 for a group of six. Tip: women leave your purse in the car so your husband doesn’t have to hold it while you play games. Yes, he’s the best husband ever, but it’s very awkward for him.

It’s a fun place, we went as a group of 12, they got good arcade games, we all had fun, in general, we are satisfied of our little night there. There is just a few points I thought u should know:
1. Very very loud, when we were eating at the restaurant area, we can barely hear the person next to us. N the restaurant is not even that full, it must be the ceiling or something…
2. No, they don’t have any pool table.
3. They have many latest arcade games, many that I never seen before. And yes, they have a beer pong game.
4. Be careful when u buy the meals that came with the play card. We bought a meal with a $ 20 play card, it cost us $ 28, but we forgot to subtract the $ 20 out for tipping, so basically we tipped $ 6 for our $ 8 meal. (I know, it’s our fault n we r dumb, but we went as a party, and non of us realized it until the second day, we basically tipped 20% on $ 80 worth of the play card, oh well)
Anyway, here is what I have for you, it’s a fun place, food is within our expectation. We all had a great fun night! Would definitly do this again!

I’m very conflicted about Dave & Busters. I love the concept — an adult playground. Half of the facility is full of arcade games and the other half is a restaurant, complete with a bar and huge TVs. However, the execution is where it all falls apart.
This place is always full. Like always. Regardless of time or day. It makes it hard to navigate the games portion. A pro of Dave & Busters is that you’re allowed to bring your beverage to the game section. However, it ends up filling the place with a bunch of inebriated adults. Add in the children running around, and you got yourself a good old clusterf**k. In my opinion, the games are also kind of pricey. One very impressive thing about D&B, I must say, is the sheer size; the variety of games is awesome.
As for the bar/​restaurant part — I would recommend skipping. Service is horrendous. First off, we got a text that notified us that our table was ready. So we quickly head over to get seated only to be told «wow, you guys got here quick. We still need more time to get your table ready.» Why did you tell us that you were ready for us?! So we waited about five more minutes before we actually got seated.
I used to think that the slow service was dependent on how packed the restaurant is. I was wrong. Service is consistently horrendous, regardless how many people are there. One of the root causes, I’ve found is the kitchen. It always takes forever and a half to get the food and I’ve never been there once without someone in my party getting the wrong order. One thing I can say, though, is that the servers I’ve gotten have always been friendly.
Overall, I try to avoid this place. I only go if it’s a special occasion or is one of my friends REALLY want to go. When I go, I know I’m just waiting for sensory-​overload, social anxiety, and a lot of disappointment.

Come here to play games. Not to eat. Ordered the nachos. I think there was one drop of cheese and one Jalepeno on the whole thing. Wait staff told us that how it comes. Well then you should match the picture in the menu to what you’re actually getting. I understand this is a chain restaurant. But seriously ??

I don’t understand a video arcade without so much as one Street Fighter game. Seriously? What kind of video arcade has no fighting games whatsoever?! Is that supposed to make it seem kid friendly? Hardly! That was a major let down. They do have about four games based on Pac-​Man though in case Google Maps Pac-​Man Edition wasn’t enough for you.
It was fun overall, but I’ve been to plenty of bigger and better arcades. I felt like I was always waiting in line to play a game, which was also disappointing, but good for D&B I suppose.
Based on the reviews we chose not to eat the food so I can’t comment on that.

Not a fan.
Touted as a «family-​friendly chain», I would never bring kids here. Between all of Hartford showing up, to the amount of completely-​annihilated adults — D&B of Manchester just stinks.
Service is horrendous. Whether it be a lack of professional training for restaurant staff, ordering and waiting for food is ridiculously long. Forget about getting a drink, if you do happen to flag down a bartender — you’re better off ordering two drinks ahead of time, yeah it’s like that. Light beers are cheap, otherwise average bar prices. The gaming area is deceivingly small. At first, I thought it was huge, but the wall-​to-​wall mirror gives the illusion that the place is bigger than it really is. For such a big building, the dining area is tiny. Avoid the Friday and Saturday dinner rush.
Between the crazy mob scenes on the weekends, the wannabe thugs and gangsters that seem to crawl out of every nook and cranny of every Hartford ghetto — I can’t find myself wanting to spend any amount of time here unless, you pay me!

My first Dave & Busters experience and i was impressed.
I want to talk about customer service:
I have read the reviews of the Manchester CT Dave & Busters and I was surprised at how petty the complaints were.
Here is what they did right for me:
I tried to use the self service game card kiosk. It didn’t dispense a card. I had to go to the front desk to complete my transaction. The people at the desk were friendly and explained that it happens some times. They fixed my problem fast.
My friend Bryan lost his game card. The manager was quick to help us out. He gave him a card with 95% of the credits he originally purchased. It was very generous.
We drink a fair amount and the bartenders were pretty fast considering how busy it was. The glasses were clean and the beer tasted fresh.
We sat down to eat dinner our waitress was personable and did a great job for us. Specifically she saw that the people who brought our food out didn’t remember my side of BBQ sauce. She got it to me in seconds.
The mens room was well maintained.
I have always had a love hate relationship with video games. I dont know if its my poor eye hand coordination but I have never been very good at them. Dave & Busters has created the perfect place for gamers like me.
Its a simple equation and it works. There were lots of kids, young families, couples and of course middle aged men. Everyone was having a good time.
Beer + Games = Fun

This review is for the Games Portion of Dave & Busters…
This place is HUGE and was a welcome respite from the ice and cold that all CT residents have been forced to deal with this year.
When I first walked in it was almost like sensory overload (sort of like Chucky Cheese on acid) and I did not know which way to turn. The combination of people running around and shouting along with all the bells, whistles and sounds coming from the 50 or so games throughout took me a bit to get used to.
Instead of tokens and/​or coins — each game is «activated» with the swipe of a card that you get pre-​loaded when you walk in or at machines that are more than willing to take your real money and even ask you to «upgrade» your credits for few dollars more.
So with our upgraded card loaded up, Mark C and I headed into the depths of Dave and Busters and proceeded to spend the next several hours competing against both ourselves and each other. We had a blast playing not only traditional video games but a lot of time was spent in the back trying our luck at several carnival games, including my personal favorite Skee-​ball, for the chance to earn tickets. Pretty soon it was all about the tickets — how much we could earn to win one of the prizes at their Prize Center. Prizes at the prize center have not changed that much from when I was small — think over priced candy and stuffed animals besides x boxes and electronics.
The cost to play is where Dave and Buster’s business model is a genius. Unless you are really conscious — and look down before you swipe your card — you might not know that to play a game it takes from 3 – 10 credits to play. Just be aware that all games are not created equal :)
Great way to spend a cold winter afternoon. I can see how this would be a great place for families, as there is something for everyone.

«Oh the games people play now
Every night and every day now»
(Games People Play — Joe South)
Fifteen of us went after work on Thursday to check out the brand new spiffy Dave and Busters. Money hemmorhaged out of my wallet all night long. So what was my conclusion? We had a GREAT time, but it was expensive with constant «upselling» at every opportunity.
Our visit got off to an unfavorable start. We arrived around 6:00 and headed right to the bar, a big two sided bar. There was one bartender who was working as fast as any bartender I have ever seen, but he was there by himself. He was there by himself for a really long time. He was filling orders for the dining room, and really had no time to even look up at the thirsty bar patrons holding up tens and twenties to get a few cold glasses. It was a solid 15 or 20 minute wait to get a beer.
They had a pretty nice selection of maybe ten drafts (Harpoon, Corona, Yuengling) and this was my first encounter with their pricing structure and strategy. I ordered a Corona Light and was asked if I wanted to super-​size it from a glass to a pint. Of course I agreed, and it ended up costing close to $ 6 for a very common draft beer.
We ordered some appetizers and the server suggested a sampler plate that had a little of everything. I didn’t remember it being on the menu, and I just checked the on-​line menu and didn’t see it either. We agreed and a few minutes later we had a platter of wings, pretzel dogs (REALLY GOOD), quesadillas, and potato chips. I don’t know what it cost, I didn’t ask, the price wasn’t offered and someone on our team travelling on an expense account graciously offered to pick up the tab.
Now we were ready to play some games. The games at Dave and Busters don’t run on coins and they don’t run on tokens so you would know what you are spending each time you tossed a Skee Ball up the ramp. D&B runs on a pre-​loaded «Power Card» that you swipe at each game as if it was an ATM card. I asked for a card with $ 20 credit, and was offered a super-​sized deal again, pay a little more for some more games. Sure I said…
The game selection is magnificent. The game room is immense with all sorts of flashing lights and bright colors. basketball games, football games, a crazy fun 4-​way air hockey game, a trivia game, a giant crane game, the choices go on and on. It really is impressive. But as you run around the room swiping, you really have no idea what the games cost and what you are spending.
After I ran out of credit, I went to re-​load at the sales counter, and guess what? I was super-​sized again with «a really good offer» to increase my playing power for a few dollars more.
I played air hockey, basketball, football, skee ball, a few wheel spinning games, a few electronic games, and the trivia game. Tickets poured out of the machines after we played. I pooled the tickets with 2 guys and we ended up with like 1,000 tickets.
Now we went to the prize room to claim our jackpot. To say we were disappointed at our options is an understatement. Check out my photo– we got 9 little goofy toys we’ll use in class as table toys and a few rubber erasers that look like a $ 100 bill.
I probably spent $ 60 in less than 2 hours, but in all honesty, I had a blast. This is a real fun place.