r/DaveAndBusters

Hi everyone! My kid really wants to go to D&B today, but I'm worried it will be insanely busy. Does any one have any experience with promos like this and how busy it gets? Looking specifically at the Milpitas location.

I get about $10 on a gift card of my choice every eight weeks from selling my blood. I've always wanted to visit D&B and just go crazy, but I'm too poor for that. It's a bit absurd but this is kind of a bucket-list item for me. So two questions:

-How many gift cards would I need to save to be able to play for a really substantial amount of tickets (like maybe two hours worth of gaming)?

-Will they even accept multiple gift cards for the same payment?

-Do all D&B locations have the same layout or is there a way I can l look up which games are at my local one?

My only knowledge of this place comes from watching a channel called Arcade Matt and once looking wistfully through the window at a location, so I don't know ANYTHING about how this works!

Yall how good is power roll for ticket grinding?

I finally made 228,000 and to redeem for the PS5. At my home location, the PS5 they brought out had the seal ripped (it was a very jagged rip between the lid and the side of the box. The lid looked a little loose as if it was opened). So, I declined that unit and went to another D&B location (only 25-30 minutes away).

At the second location, the PS5 they brought out looked like the seal was cut with a knife or scissors since it was a very sharp clean cut. I also declined to accept this unit. Is it normal for these units at D&B to be opened?

for context i have been playing dance/music games at dave and busters for close to 20 years. level 9 rewards member ect. Ive always been friendly to staff, never try to ask for too much because i know how crazy hardcore customers can get.

but today was my last day going to the yorktown location.

I play the game Pump it Up. A dance game much like ddr. Around four months ago the cabinet went offline, which locks you out of basically 70% of the game, as well as updates. there’s around 10 of us who regularly play here, and have asked for updates every few weeks. A tech even went into the service menu with me, showing that all the connections to the online server are working, but that something on dave and busters end is not sending internet to the cabinet. It’s probably something simple as plugging in an ethernet cable.

Today i asked one of the employees, hey can i get a tech over to pump it up to chat for a moment? waited 15 mins, no one came, asked again, and 3 mins later a tech slowly walked over and said “what” like ok man, i have never spoken to you, nor have i asked about this issue for over a month, nor sure why so hostile. i asked if there was any update on the machine being offline, and he goes no. Have you figured it out, spoke about my experience with the other tech a month prior, and then he goes to say “oh actually we called the manufacturer and they won’t talk to us so we can’t fix it” which then turned into “oh the manufacturer actually said it’s a bug that cannot be fixed and it’s stuck like this forever.” which are just obvious lies. like i get if you’re busy or if it’s low priority, but i was nothing but respectful, im not pushing or prodding. was just so rude.

I’ve spent thousands at dave and busters, and just speaking to multiple players across the country it doesn’t seem like dave and busters wants our type of player there. Which i get. we are sweaty, ask for specific things ect, some of us hog the game ect. I just prefer the overall atmosphere of dave and busters.

i guess im just ranting. i want to give my money to dave and busters but it just seems like they don’t want me to.

I've been going to Dave & Buster's since 2015, and I've noticed that since around 2024, the experience has started to feel different in a few ways. Some of it has to do with changes in quality, the overall experience, and the vibe.

I want to share a few ideas I have for the company that I think would improve it while bringing back some of the old feeling and still keeping up with how things are evolving.

Winner Circle Improvements

The first thing is Winner Circle. There haven't been any major changes in terms of prizes for a while. Some things have also gone downhill, such as the candy selection. D&B used to have a really good candy selection, but nowadays it's mostly low-quality or random candies that you can get at any store and aren't that special anymore.

If you look at Main Event, they have a much larger candy selection, and some of the items there you can't get from your typical store except at Five Below, It's Sugar, or online, which makes it feel more special and unique. Main Event has huge Dum Dums, a giant gummy bear, cereal straws, wax bottles, candies with mystery toys inside, and many more candy-related items.

Yes, Dave & Buster's does have the big pizza gummy and those coin bank candy items, but they should improve their candy selection by adding more unique and specialty candy options.

I also know that Main Event's target market is more focused on kids than Dave & Buster's, but since they are the same company, why not test some of the candy and food options they have at Main Event in the D&B prize area to see how they perform?

Another improvement I would make to Winner Circle is adding more regional prizes. As of right now, every D&B has mostly the same prizes aside from a few items (the footballs and the show tickets at Times Square).

A few years back, they had plush bears with sports teams on them in the prize area (NBA, MLB, and NFL, I think). Each location had different teams based on the closest local team to that store. For example, Kansas City had a Royals bear, and Orlando had an Orlando Magic bear. There were also more location-based items, such as glasses that had the store's city or state on them. It would be cool if they brought these back as souvenir-style prizes.

Right now, the footballs are the only unique prizes in Winner Circle since each store has different teams based on its location.

My third idea for Winner Circle would be to make them much bigger at the newer stores. Winner Circle used to feel special because it was massive and felt like an actual store. Nowadays, it's just a small room in the newer stores.

I have some more ideas for Winner Circle that I think would be positive, but I don't want to make this post too long.

App Improvements

As of right now, once you get to Level 9, you don't get any offers or free rewards besides the 15% bonus and occasional deals like the $2.50 Fourth of July offer.

I feel like they should do offers such as:

• "Spend $25+ on chips, get a free entrée on us."
• "Play 6 of the new games and get 1,000 tickets on us."
• "50% off food up to a certain amount."

These deals would be app-exclusive and would be different each month to get people to come back into the store. They would basically be rotating monthly app offers. A lot of restaurants and stores do offers like this, and I'm surprised D&B hasn't done something similar.

I think this would be better than having multiple Half-Price Game Days since that can get repetitive after a while. Stick to two Half-Price Game Days a week (Sunday and Wednesday) and do rotating app offers instead.

The issue is that you don't want these offers to be abused or overdone, which is why you create a decent variety of them so they don't become overused or repetitive over time. This is an issue I see with the current passes and Half-Price Game Days.

I would also offer an exclusive Power Card if you download the app that you can redeem in person at the store.

I know a lot of people would agree with this improvement: upgrade the Level 9 prize pack to include the gold Power Card again to make it feel more exciting and special.

Improvements with the Remodels

Some parts of the remodels are nice, such as the new midway carpet, and the new bar looks incredible. However, the Social Bays (darts and shuffleboard) don't seem to be that popular based on what I've seen at Friendswood, St. Louis, Dallas, and Orange. They either should have made these work with Embed readers like they later did with The Arena, or just scrapped them.

One thing they have to think about is, "How can we be different and unique compared to other sports bars and entertainment centers?"

One idea I have is adding a stadium-style seating area on the restaurant side. The seating would be curved, making it feel like you're sitting in a stadium.

The goal would be to make guests feel like they're actually at a live sporting event instead of just watching a game from a regular table.

Some restaurants have done similar concepts, but I think Dave & Buster's could take it further and make it a signature part of the experience.

It would make them feel unique again since they used to have the same kind of vibe as Rainforest Cafe, Hard Rock Cafe, Bubba Gump, and other specialty restaurants.

I also have another idea for the remodels, but I'm not sure if it would be successful or not.

Bring Back Some of the Old Games in More Modern Ways

They used to have some very popular games back in the day. One game I think they should bring back is D&B Downs, the carnival-style game where you roll a ball into holes and race against other people. This game could be very successful if it were done correctly and would make D&B feel much more special again.

I would also bring back the old NASCAR game and make it more modern and interactive since that game was also really fun.

Both of those are experiences you can't really have at home, and I think they should continue focusing on games that people can't easily play at home, which is what they've been doing lately.

How to Improve New Stores

New stores are currently somewhat small. The restaurant area is much smaller compared to the older stores, and it doesn't feel like a real restaurant. The newer stores feel like an arcade with a small food area, while the older stores feel like a proper restaurant with an arcade.

They need to make the new stores more unique and make them feel like more than just an arcade with a little food area. They should feel like a destination and create a memorable experience.

I also think these newer stores aren't creating as many long-term customers as the older, larger stores did because they don't feel as special or unique anymore.

Do you agree with my ideas of how to improve this company?

New employee here and I was wondering if we get any discounts like half off food? My family goes to dave and busters often and wonder if we can get half off food

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Guardians of the Galaxy changed within the last week. It used to be a jackpot was 500, and increased by 2 tickets per swipe. Now it starts at 200 and increases by 10. Overall, it’s basically half the payout as before.

Anyone know if this is universal and/or permanent?

Does the background check for recent convictions and is there a hard offense that disqualifies . I had both round of interviews the same day managers loved me it seems but I have to submit to a background check and my wrap sheet is longer than a roll of bounty but no weird charges no theft or murder.

Oh and I got face tattoos and I’m heavily tattooed

This isn't a complaint, just an observation. I contacted guest services for missing bonus chips. They assisted and added my bonus chips, and I'm grateful.

The agent sent me a screen shot to show the added bonus chips. How old is this system? It looks like something from the late 90's.

https://preview.redd.it/9lq60nqoox9h1.jpg?width=1225&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eb3bda18b36e221e1d15689b3307c708cb21981c