Atmosphere
Dave and Busters brought the entertainment complex concept to the Metro Detroit area with its warehouse-size building, multiple dining areas, bars, pool tables, private bowling and arcade. The restaurant is divided into two areas: the main dining room and a section within the arcade that is made up of several booths and tables surrounding a long bar. In the evening, this area is undoubtedly crowded with a 20-something clientele, but during the day it is quiet, offers several TVs and makes drink refills easy for the wait staff.Service
The waiters are friendly and quick. While the day shift may have drawn the short straw – few day-time patrons order drinks and many are younger kids or teenagers -- the waiters serve the food with aplomb. Best of all, they are friendly and helpful regarding the game specials and even prize-redemption information.Food
The menu at Dave and Busters has a large variety of traditional and innovative dishes , including Philly Steak Rolls, California Bar Burgers (sliders) and a donut-hole basket. The portions are generous and the food is very good. The menu also offers an Eat & Play Combo that includes a list of eleven entrees priced at $15.99 and that come with a $10 game card. Most of the selections easily feed two people; so if you plan your visit right, you can use the combo to pay for all your gaming and eating.
The Parmesan Chicken Alfredo comes with two parmesan-encrusted chicken breasts and a couple of cups of Fettuccini Alfredo. The Alfredo sauce is rich and creamy and easily rivals most restaurant versions. Best of all, the Goldfinger meal comes with six decently-sized chicken tenders and a large portion of French fries. The Philly Cheese steak sandwich is lean steak and grilled onions on a hoagie roll. The flavor combination requires no further sauce or seasoning.
The menu also has some cool desserts, including a cone of donut holes and a dark-chocolate fondue. Like most fondues, the thinned out chocolate is a little disappointing – apparently a side effect of the process that makes it suitable for dipping. The items provided for dipping, however, are very well thought out. The variety provided includes peanut butter cookies, marshmallows and toast.
Arcade
Dave and Busters has a nice variety of arcade games. They have all the standards, plus an old fashion shooting gallery, Derby Owner’s Club, Dance Dance Revolution, virtual bowling and even a trivia game set up like a game show stage. The selection is good for young kids, hard-to-please teenagers and adults.
Undoubtedly by design, the point system utilized in the arcade effectively distracts you from realizing how much you are really paying per game. You purchase a card for a set amount of money, and the more you spend, the better per-point deal you get. Beware: the purchase price includes $1 for the card itself, which is reusable and rechargeable. This gets you a set amount of points that bear little relation to monetary values. Watch out because the point values for several of the games go up past 7:00 p.m.
Most games award tickets and the prize booth or “Winner’s Circle” in the back of the arcade is a small cordoned-off room. It has well-defined lines, as well as space, both figuratively and literally, to make choices. This set up makes ticket redemption much less of a hassle than in a lot of arcade-type restaurants.
