Dave & Buster’s

Terrible already and it hasn’t even been open that long.
Serve cold food, games not giving out tickets. Ordered wings and they look nothing like the ones in Arundel mills. They look like they came out of a bag or something, ew! I’d rather travel the extra 13 miles to the one in Arundel Mills

Eek is right! I don’t think it was a matter of coming on a Saturday night, I think it’s just poorly set up and run. When you enter from restaurant row, you join a line almost at the door with no knowledge of what the line is for and by the time you get your whits about you, you’re dripping sweat and soaking in the locker room smell rising from the game room downstairs– yes it’s winter, but if you expect that many people, please run the AC. I can now imagine what a football player’s locker room smells and feels.
My gf wanted to come for her birthday, we had about 10 – 11 people; she was told reservations were not possible and to just add her name when we arrived… when we arrived they said «you should’ve made a reservation, we can’t estimate a time for you» errrr, what?! Okay, so we put down the name and headed to the bar. the very small, overly crowded, square bar. It took 20 minutes to get 2 drinks, one for the bday girl, one for our friend. and I waited an additional 10 to be noticed before giving up. 30 minutes to be paid attention to at a bar is absurd. Our other 2 of the group went to the other side of the bar and again waited 30 minutes– and received the WRONG drinks– c’mon! 2 others decided to leave to have dinner elsewhere, do you see the track record here?
We stayed and the bday girl played maybe 4 games total in an hour and half because most the games were occupied by children– at 10pm, small, climbing, running, screaming, children. This is where that one overpriced tiny drink would’ve maybe come in handy. A few of the open games were open because they were broken– we didn’t find that out until other patrons told us– no signs on the non-​working games. The tables placed next to some games were a nice touch, yet they had empty glasses covering almost all of them, as well as empty glasses on the ledge above the bench on the game side of the room. Games were dirty, can you put out some cleaning wipes or hand sanitizer? Ick.
Our party of 10 was never called in the hour and a half we were there to sit down and eat so we ended up cancelling our reservation and leaving– I personally will never go back. I get the reason they add more and more points to the cards, you spend $ 20 and earn more tokens every game you play, you always have something left on the card to bring you back, I’m glad I didn’t contribute any money to this establishment (although I still could use that drink thinking back to this fiasco).

I’m pretty sure this is what hell looks like. My gf wanted to come here for her bday and called ahead trying to book a table for dinner/​drinks followed by games. They said no, they said just show up and get on the list. We show up, try to get on the list and the people at the hostess stand can’t quote us a time bc we «should have made a reservation». Whoa ok. It was so packed we couldn’t even get to the bar. Also it was so hot and humid that the beachy waves I had been rocking ended up more like Shirley Temple curls.
You could not pay me to come back here, ever, and I loved the White Flint Mall location (that also got super busy-​but never made me feel claustrophobic like this terrible place).

I am going to start out by saying, if I could give ZERO stars, I would.
My roommate wanted everyone to go to DnB for her birthday this passed Saturday. We all arrived around 8:45 and walked into, what I can assume, is where nightmares go do die. My first reaction was to gag due to the incredible heat and the smell of feet dipped in sweat.
Strike 1.
I am not sure what the curfew is for this location, but at 9:30 there were still more children than adults in the place.
We were told by the hostess at the front door that they would not give us an estimate of a wait and that we «should have made a reservation».
Strike 2
So, we decide to get some game cards and get a drink while we wait. Bad idea. We should have checked out the bar first, before spending almost $ 200 on multiple cards. We stood at the bar for over 35 minutes before being served.
Again, we had a large group, so in order to speed service, we thought that a couple of us would stand at the bar waiting to be served (before we died of dehydration from the immense heat) while the others waiting for people to stand up from the games (which most were being used at tables for people to eat/​drink.
Once we were finally attended to by the bartenders we were told that we could only order as many drinks as people that were standing at the bar, we could not order drinks for our whole party (what a way to make the bar PACKED).
Being a bartender going on 8 years I am keen to the happenings behind a bar, if the bar is packed and the bartenders are hustling, I am very open to waiting, they can only do so much, however… While standing at the bar for as long as I did, I noticed a few things; 1. the bartenders were not working with any sort of sense of urgency, they very lackadaisical; 2. I observed bartenders having to be waved at to stop watching the tv’s to help people (MULTIPLE TIMES); 3. I saw bartenders sitting on the beverage coolers talking to customers, not helping customers; 4. I saw bartenders use GLASS down in the ice bin to scoop ice HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE.; 5. I saw bartenders hand other customers drinks to pass down to customers because they couldn’t reach.
After ordering two drinks, one Captain and ginger ale and one IPA, we were told that they could not find the bottles of IPA but that they could go in the back and look for more. I could only imagine the death I could occur by sweating to death standing there for the bartender to go on an expedition trying to find a beer, so we decided to order another IPA. I handed her my credit card and cashed out (before her pouring my drink) and signed. When the bartender returned with my drink and beer I pointed out that she had made a Captain and Coke, not ginger ale which I originally ordered. She asked me if I wanted her to remake it, I was dumbfounded and simply shook my head and walked away.
Strike 3, 4, 5, 20? I have lost count.
To summarize, your main marketing strategy is Eat, Drink, Play, Watch Sports. If we cannot get a table (and not even given an estimate of a wait time, we cannot Eat. If we can not order drinks from the bar in under 30 minutes, we can not Drink. If we can not get to the games because people are using the games as tables to eat/​drink, we can not Play. If we die from heat stroke or dehydration, we can not Watch Sports.
I am not sorry for this scathing review, but I will not be back to this location.

First off I have been to two other locations of Dave and busters in white flint and Richmond, this one is awful. The drinks we ordered were not available from the busy weekend and they had no wings!!! Three times they offered boneless wings. It’s not the same!!! They were out of so many things, whoever is ordering needs to get on the ball.
My two sons are 13 and 11., they played a game or two and then were very bored. I think I played more games then they did. The one star is for the games that were fun!!!
The waitress was ok but she didn’t bring us refills. Finally the manager came around giving everyone refills. I asked for a sweet tea for my son and he had a Coke that tasted flat and she charged us another $ 2.99 for it.
Unfortunately we won’t be back, sadly disappointed.

We went here for my birthday. The place was super crowded, I mean to the point someone took half of the seats from our table. Anywho the initial wait was 2 – 3 hours. We scoped out by the bar, and got a table. Again half of the seats. Took a while for the waiter to navigate to us, it was just that many people at the bar. Once he did, he was wonderful.
Jordan was very knowledgeable about the menu. Letting us know what would fit our taste. We got waters while we waited for the food. I ordered the teryiaki steak and my husband ordered the lobster pasta. Hubby said pasta was very flavorful and his steak was tender.
So while we waited we ordered shots at the bar. The young lady that took care of us was freaking amazing. In a bar that’s super crowded, she made me feel like I was the only one there. Did I mention that my drink was on point. It seemed like it took no time to get our drinks. Speedy and the drink tasted amazing. I will be coming back if she’s there. Oooo yeah her name is Aden. And she is a phenomenal bartender. Keep up the great work.
The food finally came out, and my steak was overcooked. I’m usually the type to deal with it, especially when it’s crowded on a Friday night. Dammit I’m the birthday girl, so I told Jordan, the manager came over and bow they fixed it. Got my new steak cooked Medium. Jordan checked on us quite a bit to make sure we were good to go. He was a good waiter. Keep up the good work.
So overall, the décor was nice and clean. I’ve been to other Dave and busters, and this one was nice. Happy its close to home. Looking to come back with a large group of friends. The staff was helpful, knowledgeable, and nice. You guys get two spoons.

As many people can guess, it’s super busy of course because it’s fairly new. So I wasn’t expecting much from it being quick service. The wait was over 2.5 hours so we went next door to &pizza instead. It took about 20 minutes to get the bartenders’ attention, which sucked and the prices are kind of high end.
The games are fun though but the lines were super long for the majority of them. The bathrooms weren’t very clean either. Hopefully it dies down soon though so I can give it another chance and actually try the food.

Came on a Friday afternoon around 4 and it wasn’t too packed. There are meals that come with play cards at a special rate before 5 pm, Eat & Play I believe. Most dishes are $ 17 with a $ 10 play card or you could double your game play with the meal for like $ 25. Really not a bad deal, I think you can also super charge it (have extra tokens) for $ 2 or $ 3 more (depending what deal you get).
Our waitress was really attentive and helpful. She even steered me clear of the chicken and artichoke pasta that she said was really bland. There’s happy hour m-​f from 4:30 to 7 that includes half off cocktails and maybe $ 2 off drafts (can’t remember) and something with wine too. There’s SO many drinks to chose from, I really wanted them all. She told us nothing was too strong because they basically didn’t want anyone getting too drunk then possibly driving (or maybe picking a fight with a kid at air hockey, ok I made that up).
The place is nice, large, and clean. My nephews had a lot of fun there. There was only one game not working they wanted to play (Angry Birds or something). By the time we were leaving around 6:30 or so there was a really long line for a table to dine at. People trickled in more around 5:30−6 probably right after work. Can’t wait until the one closer to me opens up!

We went here on the third day after D&B opened (a weeknight), so I expected it to be pretty empty since word of mouth probably hadn’t gotten around yet. WRONG! It was the complete opposite actually. In fact, at about 9:30PM, I noticed that they had reached maximum capacity and there was a line waiting for folks to leave before they could enter.
There were some glitches that I’m sure they’ll figure out eventually. For example, it was swelteringly hot. Our server couldn’t recommend an appetizer since she hadn’t tried most of them. And there was some difficulty (aka 20 minute wait) redeeming our D&B points for an appetizer since we were apparently the first folks to ever attempt this.
But overall, I was pleasantly surprised. $ 20 of game play got me about 2 hours of games. We were happy to have the option to redeem our D&B points for an appetizer. And the appetizers we ordered (calamari and chicken quesadillas) were remarkably good. Actually, the calamari was a lot better than in many restaurants I’ve been to (perfectly crispy and not rubbery).
So yea, I’ll probably be back if the opportunity arises.

My friends and I decided to check out the new Dave & Buster’s at Springfield Mall. Since cards from other locations have to be activated upon use, we decided to get new cards. We waited about 30 minutes to purchase cards.
I’m not sure if it was because the place was packed but I felt like the space wasn’t easy to navigate around like the old Dave & Buster’s at White Flint Mall. The space wasn’t a big rectangle but rather lots of plus signs at different angles.
Every game had a line but I enjoyed the mini claw machine, Big One Claw Machine, Gold Fishin’, and Snow Down games. I like how the claw machines aren’t rigged unlike those at the movie theaters. I like how you can win big after a few tries. I went home with a mini dog daisy patterned plush and a large pink Scooby Doo. I felt bad that the kids didn’t win anything! I guess my prize winnings give them some hope that it’s possible to win something from that machine. I liked the Gold Fishin’ game because it reminds me of a game that I would play at the beach’s Boardwalk. I was so close to winning the jackpot. I liked the Snow Down game as it was fun to accomplish a goal of catching as much snow in the buckets as possible.
If you come back, don’t come on the weekends if you want to play games!

I knew D&B would be super crowded when it first opened, and boy, was it crowded like sardines! We went on the Wednesday before Christmas, and it was not so bad around 8pm. We actually were able to play a few games with minimal waiting time. But once 9pm hits, it became so crowded that my group literally had a hard time even moving around in one spot. They did seem to control the amount of people in the place, as some of my friends were stuck in line outside waiting for people to leave before they can come in. The staff were awfully unhelpful and untrained… they didn’t seem to know any of the questions we asked!
The bar staff was nice, though. It was very crowded, but we got our ordered drinks rather quickly. The games were fun. Some of the machines were not working, which was a bummer.
Overall, I’m not particularly impressed, but I’ll be back because they have some of the best arcade shooting games in the area (at least to my knowledge)! *time crisis, wink wink*

What a shitshow. I guess we already knew that though. We came in during a weekday afternoon for lunch. We sat in the bar seating area and waited to be greeted. No dice. I finally got up and asked some waitress for menus and service. As we waited awhile for our drinks, my bf and I both went to use the restroom and, OH LOOK, all the restrooms in the entire place are CLOSED OFF. What could have possibly happened?! So we had to literally leave and go inside the mall to use the restroom. Man, what a major problem.
We ordered the pizza bites as an app (dumb) and I ordered the chicken tenders and my bf got the philly cheesesteak. My tenders weren’t terrible, his cheesesteak was pretty bad and the pizza bites were horrible. Actually, I wouldn’t even eat here. They do have some decent beers on tap, but I don’t think you’re even aloud to walk around with them. Just go to Yardhouse, drink and walk over.
Games are pretty cool, albeit pricey, but the ticket system is confusing. I went in to cash in our tickets and it seems like you have to have at least 350 tickets to even start the bidding. So we basically just held onto our tickets and card for the next time (if there is a next time). Whatever. We wanted to see what the fuss was all about, perhaps we’ll return on a rainy day to see if there are any improvements.

I have been a Dave and Busters lover for years. My husband and I were super excited that this location finally opened. While on Christmas break we decided to go there during the week. Since this location is in the Springfield mall the parking lot was crazy packed. We scored a parking spot within 5 minutes.
Upon entering the place was super packed. We grabbed a beer at the bar and took about 10 minutes. We were there a total of 45 minutes and played maybe 4 games. Sad panda :(there was too many people there to really enjoy and play games.
Most games were up and running. We had issue with one game not giving out tokens and the staff was fast to correct the issue.
I am looking forward to this location being there for a little bit so the new excitement will die down.
One thing that I wasn’t great was the bathroom within d&b wasn’t open for some reason. We had to go within the mall. Of courses lines were crazy. I hope this bathroom situation was corrected

Guys… how bad does a bathroom have to be destroyed before it breaks in the first week?
Anyway, this place is packed beyond belief, which honestly is expected since it is only the first/​second week. AND in the Mall. AND during holiday break. The first time I came, it was so packed they were doing the whole if two people leave, two people can go in thing. The line was freaking LONG but they started to card and approx. ¾th of the line in front of me left…
The first time, we basically walked in and walked out. It was SOOOOOOOO hot in there. It smelled like sweat, tears and children. They seriously need better circulation. I understand it was like day 3 since it opened, so I knew there would be some waiting and whatever but the lay out is so far from what it needs to be. First, the games are WAYYYYYYY too close too each other (compared to Arundel Mills and White Flint). Second, there are way less games than both locations mentioned. So, you end up waiting longer in a cramped space. CIRCULATION. With it being THAT cramped they could at least circulate the air for us. I was freaking sweating within 5 minutes of being there.
The second time around, it was better but not by much. There are too many inattentive people there. From the staff to the patrons. People need to get it together. Just stop.

This is a spot where adults are supposed to feel like a kid again but two hours here actually made me feel much older and more crotechety than I am on an average day. This place is not for the faint of heart.
I know they just opened and it’s Christmas break, but I am surprised that a national franchise like this would open up to so much hype with such an untrained staff. While everybody we came into contact with was friendly, there were so many missteps in service I can’t help but suggest management look into the entire training issue as a whole a bit more.
+ Seating was confusing. for both the parties and hosts involved.
+ No silverware
+ Had to get our own menus
+ They were out of pretty much ALL the beer. Our table had to go back to our table at least three times to let our table know this so getting our drink orders in was almost a 30 minute affair. Server was confused about everything else we ordered afterwards. I honestly don’t think it was her fault — she really tried but the communication between the bar and server /​bar and kitchen was really off.
+ Food came out at completely different times with some items being wrong.
+ Waters were never refilled. Ever.
Overall the food experience was okay — it’s Dave and Busters so I don’t really expect much except super sweet mixed drinks and potato skins (real truth, I had my first potato skins at D&B when I was in fourth grade and life has not been the same ever since).
The game room was crowded as expected on a holiday weekend. It was chaotic and STEAMING hot. They had all of the standard variety video games… and Candy Crush!!! and Angry Birds?!? I’ll play that on my phone for free thank you very much. But I get it, the appeal of a big screen is too much for some people.
Overall my experience was meh. I won’t seek this place out but I am sure to find myself here for the next couple of months due to all of the hype.

Wow. I have never seen such a disaster of an opening weekend for a bar. The bar wasn’t even that busy, they had 5 – 6 bartenders working, yet there were 10 – 15 minute wait times for drinks, and the bartenders acted like this was their first serving job. They also ran out of Miller bottles at one point, so my friend who had ordered said «Ok, Bud Light is fine» and the bartender goes «oh well I already rang in Miller so you’ll have to stick to that but check back in a few minutes.» ??? WTH!
Also they were prioritizing everything wrong. People are trying to order drinks, and you’ve got bartenders taking TicTacs, people organizing tab receipts, clearing plates from areas no one is sitting, before taking orders. It was unreal.
The only reason I’m giving it two stars instead of one is the gaming was pretty fun. They have some cool games there but the gaming area was busy and we had to wait before playing any games.
They have got to get the bar functioning properly, that put a huge damper on everyone’s night. There were so many angry people at the bar.

So, this place JUST opened up on the 21^st of December and well… one thing I can say is, the location has its ups and downs.
Let me start off with the perks of the pros and cons (I’ll eventually update this review once things have died down and its not so crowded (i hope!)).
Pros:
1. Great place for adults to be kids again.
2. The eating area is quite large
4. Bar area is quite large as well.
3. Awesome daily deals (half off Wednesdays on games and Happy hour)!
Cons:
1. High traffic volume for it being INSIDE of a mall.
2. Large number of kids… correction WAY too many kids for it being a Dave & Busters… I’m sure half of those kids are NOT 21 years old or accompanied but an adult.
3. They need to have a ratio between adults and kids. (1 adult=2/3 kids).
4. VERY VERY tight space (games are literally 3 – 4 steps in between each other.
I have yet to try the food. My husband and I were going to check it out on Wednesday, but just the line to put your name on the list was already ridiculous!
Hopefully when the kids are back in school, it will die down and the ADULTS can have their fun and enjoy their happy hour drinks!

*3.5 Stars* Quick disclaimer after reading some of the other reviews: It’s winter break for kids, so yes, the little demons are taking over D&B during opening week, but I doubt it’ll be this way once they’re back in school. So don’t be turned off yet!
Food was pretty excellent — my Grilled Steak Salad was delicious, and the bf’s Steak and Shrimp Lobster Alfredo was BOMB. The waitress was a bit frazzled, and food did take a minute, but I was satisfied once I was eating. The crazy amount of big screen TVs would make this a great place to catch the game, but there aren’t a ton of tables so finding a spot will be difficult during busy weekend nights.
Gaming area is a bit cramped, but I still had fun! The game where you throw balls to knock over the clowns is probably my favorite — a great way to relieve anger/​stress AND get a workout. The 4-​way air hockey is also a good calorie burner. (I only play games that are generous with tickets or will balance out the beer calories). The prize area seemed smaller and had less variety than the MD location — not a deal breaker for us big kids though.
Overall, I’m excited to have D&B so close to home. The dining and gaming areas are smaller than MD, but it’s still a fun place to grab some good food, an adult beverage, and be a big kid!
*Next to JCPenney on the 1^st floor.

This place reminds me of the scene of jurassic world. Bad things happening are inevitable.
Visited this place 23DEC2015 and place was a wreck.
Let’s start with food… chicken bbq was fine. No complaints.
Double cheeseburger… pretty bad when it came to the extras that were requested. I didn’t get my bacon or my jalapenos. I substituted my fries for broccoli. You know how many pieces of broccoli you get for fries? Four pieces. Yes… four. After multiple requests finally got it. By the time I got it… my burger got cold :/​
Multiple request for lemons and limes with water… we had to hunt down our own lemons and limes.
Really… the hard part is the food was fine (except for when my burger got cold) The evening was fine. The service is where it needs work.
Like any place that’s new… problems are expected. This place definetly has some growing pains to go through.
Manager did a good job… made peace with our table all was good. It would have been more appreciated if they would have offered to make amends first rather than me asking for them to make amends.

I’m so pumped that Dave & Buster’s has moved into the Springfield Town Center! As a frequent customer of the White Flint location before it closed down, I’m all the more excited that we’ve got our own Northern VA location now.
I was lucky enough to get a sneak preview of this location prior to its opening, and I can say without a doubt that it’s 150% improved over the old layout of White Flint. Everything is new, shiny, and the layout is more open and flowing. There are all new games, a big variety of different types — shooters, competition games, sports, ticket games, etc, and I really like the layout of the bar area with its 360-​degree bar.
If you enter from Restaurant Row, you’ll have to go downstairs to get to the main area, but there is also a lower-​level mall entrance. The food is what you’d expect: bar food with a few twists. The
LoveloveLOVED the virtual reality Star Wars game (comes at perfect timing with all the Force Awakens excitement happening), and the Trivia game is always a big favorite of mine. They’ve moved to a digital system where tickets are loaded onto your game card, so there’s no risk of losing your tickets or having to wait in line at the end of the night to get your tickets weighed.
I’m sure that D&B will be slammed now that it’s officially open for business, but if you’re willing to brave the crowds, I’m sure you’ll be in for a good time! Welcome to the neighborhood, D&B!