Dave and Buster’s

Dave & Buster’s recently debuted its new summer menu and new games.

I have to confess, I didn’t even know Dave and Buster’s offered a full dining menu. I’ve been there multiple times in the past, but always for games and drinks. But when they contacted me and showed me the new summer menu items, I was definitely intrigued.

Low and behold, they do have a full restaurant inside. They also have several private party areas perfect for birthday parties, rehearsal dinners (wedding planning was still on my mind when visiting), etc.

When we arrived we were greeted by Assistant General Manager Randall White, who took great care of us. We decided to start out with the food.

Snow Cone and TNTea
I’d never had a snow cone drink and loved how it looked. It was super sweet too. It didn’t taste very alcoholic but for those who like really sweet drinks, this is probably a good one for you. TNTea is one of D&B’s signature drinks and you get to keep the souvenir cup.

Pretzel dogs

One of the new offerings on the appetizer menu are pretzel dogs. I am a sucker for anything soft pretzel so I was really looking forward to sampling these. The pretzel buns were very soft and fluffy and lightly seasoned. My favorite thing about this plate though was the dipping sauce. The slightly spicy habanero sauce was a perfect dipping sauce for many items.

5:15

Another new menu item. This platter was huge and features a sampler of several appetizers: 5 Buffalo Wings with your choice of Ranch or Bleu Cheese dressing; 5 Chicken Quesadilla Wedges with salsa; 5 Pretzel Dogs; and 5 Crispy Fried Shrimp with spicy habanero sauce; and a stack of fresh BBQ potato chips. I was especially impressed with the warm homemade bbq potato chips which tasted really good with the habanero dipping sauce.

We spent a lot of time trying to figure out where this plate got its name. My brother guessed it was the number of combinations possible. But alas the actually explanation was much simpler. Apparently when they first opened the restaurant, the first customer to arrive for happy hour was at 5:15.

The Lawnmower

I don’t know if the picture can properly capture the size of this salad, but it was enormous and the biggest salad I’ve ever been served. We had four people and it seemed like we barely made a dent. It was layered using romaine and green leaf lettuces, grilled chicken, diced garden vegetables, boiled eggs, bacon bits and bleu cheese crumbles. I loved the way it was presented, with all the ingredients evenly laid out on top and lying on a bed of lettuce. It was easy to scoop a little of everything and control the ingredients landing into your personal portion.

South Philly burger

I loved that the burgers came out in skillets. D&B debuted two new burgers, one of them being this philly one, a half-pound burger topped with thin-sliced steak imported directly from South Philly. I thought the burger patty suffered a little in flavor. I really enjoyed the fries, which were very crisp but still with a nice potato flavor.

Black and Bleu burger

A half-pound of Angus beef seared with Cajun seasoning, topped with melted bleu cheese, and crispy caramelized onions. I could definitely taste the difference between this patty and the meat used to make the other burger and enjoyed the flavor of the Angus patty much better and preferred this burger.

Not only did they have us try all the new menu items, but we also got to sample of their other popular items. (There were a lot of leftovers from all this food.)

Build Your Own Soft Tacos

Choice of Marinated New York steak, chicken breast or shrimp served with lettuce, pico de gallo, sour cream, cheddar cheese, fresh-made guacamole and warm soft tortillas. Served with a side of spicy rice and black beans.

Island Grilled Trifecta

Skewers of honey-teriyaki-glazed sirloin steak, seasoned chicken breast and shrimp, grilled and served on a bed of spicy rice medley. Served with pineapple pico de gallo, teriyaki BBQ sauce, and mango citrus sauce for dipping.

Belgian Chocolate Fondue

We ended with this chocolate fondue dessert. I was impressed that just a simple tea candle was able to keep the chocolate fondue warm. I’ll have to try this at home.

After being completely stuffed to the max, we played some games to work off the food.

We were provided with some playing cards already preloaded with credit. Here are some of the highlights:

QuadAir

You don’t win tickets for this one but it was super fun. Basically air hockey for four people at once. It’s the first time I’ve ever experienced multiplayer air hockey and I really enjoyed playing it.

Connect 4

A larger than life version of my childhood travel game. There’s a time limit for each move which makes it more interesting. While not the most exciting game, the winner and loser both get a lot of tickets, so we actually ended up playing this one quite a few times trying to win as many tickets as possible.

Speed of Light

Space Balls

Skee Ball

I can never resist playing this one though it doesn’t produce many tickets either.

We had a great afternoon and collected enough tickets to get a few prizes. It was the first visit for one of the people in my group and she really liked it.  We also enjoyed the food and would eat there again next time we visit for games.

Dave and Buster’s
2931 Camino del Rio North
San Diego , CA 92108
https://www.daveandbusters.com