Dave & Buster’s opens in Richmond

Published: April 23, 2009, 7:10 pm ET
Collegian Staff

After you sidle past the security guards checking IDs, you’ll be greeted by an ever-cheery hostess and a cacophony of silverware clinking, people chatting and laughing, drinks blending and arcade games chiming at the new Dave and Buster’s restaurant in Richmond.

Dave and Buster’s is a restaurant, bar and arcade rolled into one dining experience. It’s geared toward adults, and patrons must be older than 18 to enter, unless accompanied by an adult at least 25 years old. D&B has locations in more than 50 U.S. cities, but the one that opened at 4001 Brownstone Blvd. on April 20 was the first to come to Virginia.

Assistant general manager Randall Kerney said it was D&B’s welcoming attitude that made it unique. “We want you to feel like this is your house,” he said. “We’re not the kind of place that will rush you. Come stay. Hang out with us!”

D&B’s menu includes a fairly typical selection of appetizers as well as sections for seafood, chicken, ribs, pasta, steaks, burgers, sandwiches and specialty salads. Desserts vary from the basic chocolate cake and New York cheesecake to more distinctive Belgian chocolate fondue
and hot sugared donut holes. It features two Eat and Play combo offers: the choice from seven or eight entrees paired with a $10 game card for $19.99 or $15.99.

When it comes to drinks, D&B’s motto is, “You name it, we’ve got it.” The menu offers a selection of margaritas, martinis, cocktails, tropical drinks, frozen drinks, shooters, beers and wine.

Happy hour is from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and includes half-priced Wells, $2.50 domestic pints and other beer and wine specials. At the same time as happy hour is “power hour,” 60 minutes of video game play for $10. Games are also half-off on Wednesdays.

Arcade games range from classics, such as skeeball, air hockey, racing, shooting and basketball, to newer features, such as Deal or No Deal and Guitar Hero. Even the D&B Web site offers online games.

The winner’s circle, where people can exchange tickets for prizes, offers a range of gifts from a mini frisbee for 10 tickets to a Playstation 3 for 98,000 tickets. There are a lot of gifts in between such as Madden 2009, Xbox, Guitar Hero, an array of clothing, stuffed animals, mugs, shot glasses and other toys.

Contact staff writer Avril Lighty at avril.lighty@richmond.edu

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  • Angela

    whats up with the shooting at the richmond va location on MOnday?

  • Chris B

    I love Dave and Buster’s, and it saddens me to say that the Richmond location is a real disappointment. It’s about 25% the size of the D&Bs in Maryland and Philly that I’ve visited, which means that even in the afternoons the Richmond location uncomfortably crowded and the most popular games are always full.

    One example is with the multiplayer racing game – the location in Maryland I’ve been to several times has 14 seats; the Richmond location literally has only four seats, which guarantees a long wait even when the gaming area isn’t that crowded.

    Throw in the lack of parking (the shopping area next door has literally hired security guards who will give you hell if they see you crossing the street to go to D&Bs), and the rather rough crowd that suddenly takes over the bar around 10 PM, and you’ve got a bit of a disappointment.

    I hope they do well, but I’ve got my doubts over the long term. Hopefully they’ll do well enough to open a second location in Richmond, and this time it’ll be a full-size D&Bs.

  • Randy Hawkins

    Chris B: Welcome to Richmond. We can’t have anything nice. It will get ruined. Toad’s Place: gone. The National will probably go away once the building loses its luster, which will probably be in about 4 or 5 years.