Photo by Kamp Fender.
People gather in the sports bar at the new Dave & Buster’s at the Riverchase Galleria during a sneak peek event Nov. 14.
Alabama gained its first Dave & Buster’s sports bar, restaurant and arcade with an opening at the Riverchase Galleria on Nov. 19.
The Dallas-based chain converted more than 33,000 square feet of the Forever 21 store into a giant arcade with more than 175 games, a sports bar with 38 video screens and a sit-down dining area.
“We expect it to be a very, very good location,” said Fred Dumas, the general manager.
The arcade includes just about any video game out on the market now, Dumas said. There’s SpongeBob, Halo, The House of the Dead and a Jurassic World virtual reality game that gives players the illusion of riding through the jungle and fields with dinosaurs all around.
The arcade also includes Skee-Ball, four-player air hockey, basketball games, a giant standard Connect 4 game and a version of the Connect 4 game that uses basketballs instead of checkers, Dumas said.
Guests can buy 48 playing chips for $10, and the average game requires seven to eight chips, he said. But guests don’t have to keep up with actual chips because the “chips” are stored digitally on a “power card.” Guests decide how many chips they want to buy at a time and can buy more at in-store kiosks or with their phone using a mobile app. All games are half-price on Wednesdays, he said.
Photo by Kamp Fender.
The sneak peek event allowed family and friends of all ages a taste of the food and fun to be had at the new location, which was to officially open Nov. 19.
Some games will award tickets redeemable for prizes that include clothing, Xbox video game systems and iPads, Dumas said.
In the sports bar, three video screens use laser projection, and there are 35 more screens, the smallest of which is 55 inches, Dumas said.
The bar serves handcrafted cocktails, adult snow cones, glow kones with flashing ice cubes, eight draft beers and a selection of wine.
Dave & Buster’s food menu includes Caesar lettuce wraps, triple bacon burgers, Philly cheese steaks, hand-breaded chicken fingers, cheese-crusted beef and pork street tacos, avocado toast with Mexican street corn and a 100 percent plant-based Impossible Burger.
“Happy hours” are 3:45-7 p.m. Monday through Friday, with drinks as low as $2.50 and select appetizers for $5.
There are two function rooms available for rent for parties or corporate events. One seats about 30 people, and the other seats 70 to 90 people, Dumas said.
The Dave & Buster’s at the Galleria can seat about 345 people but, because most people are standing, can hold up to 1,576 people at a time, Dumas said. No one under the age of 18 can enter without an adult at least 21 years old, and only six underage people are allowed per adult, he said.
Photo by Kamp Fender.
Dressed as Batman, Jackson Nichols of Hoover plays MotoGP, a motorcycle racing game, at the Dave & Buster’s sneak peek event.
The facility opened with about 220 employees, about 50 percent of which are full-time, Dumas said. The jobs include hosts, servers, bartenders, cooks, dishwashers, maintenance workers, game technicians, front desk attendants and “captains” to check IDs.
Dumas has been with Dave & Buster’s for six years and most recently spent 14 months managing the location in Little Rock, Arkansas. He grew up in south Alabama and has family and friends in the Birmingham area and was eager to relocate here, he said.
This is the 120th Dave & Buster’s location to open and the first in Alabama, though another one is expected to open in the Huntsville area, possibly next year, he said. The company operates in 39 states, Ontario, Canada, and Puerto Rico.
Bluff Park resident Sam Swiney said he’s excited to see the chain come here.
“I think it is a big win for the Galleria and the city. If you are not competing for entertainment dollars as a city, then you are getting left behind,” Swiney said. “An entertainment venue like this will bring in tax revenue from residents from all over the metro area.”
The Dave & Buster’s will be open from 11 a.m. to midnight on Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. For more information, go to daveandbusters.com.
