Don't Come Here Without Bringing your Money Tree
Written: Jun 14 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Nice billiard facilities
Cons: Overpriced games, overpriced food, and mediocrity abound
The Bottom Line: Unless money grows on your trees, I'd suggest finding another venue that doesn't dollar you to death like this one.
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| AshleyA's Full Review: Dave & Buster's |
During the great Texas drought of the year 2000, Dave and Buster's opened another one of their high falootin' family/adult restarcades here. This time conveniently coincided with the period during which my beloved money tree succumbed to the horrid conditions despite a still thriving economy. I can still hear the violins playing, but one must move on.
Being that Austin seems terribly lacking in "casually elegant style and warm, historic ambience"* combined with "outrageous fun and games for big people"* (and I thought that Sixth Street provided all that and a feminine thong-wearing man named Leslie who rides a bike), the opening of D&B was hugely anticipated with a line of people ribboning around the front of the strip shopping center that it occupies. Still lamenting the loss of my money tree, my husband, his avid gaming friends and I went to see what all the hubbub was about. Would it live up to my memories I had as a teenager when Dave & Buster's was an overwhelmingly loud and flashy arcade surrounding a dining room?
Greeted with men in suits wearing super secret service-type earpieces to invoke intimidation to the masses, we were carded after waiting in line for quite sometime. What? What's that you say? It's after 10:00 on a weeknight, and we have to pay a cover charge. I was beginning to think that hanging out with the animated sidewalk musicians and salesmen downtown would be more "outrageous" and possibly "fun" than paying a cover charge to survey the establishment for ourselves. And alas! *Poof* went most of the remains of my money tree's fruit into the hands of the greeter at the door. The employees seem to work magic with making money disappear before your very eyes there.
Moseying around Dave & Buster's I found the atmosphere outside of the gameroom to be rather relaxed given the throngs of people at the door. The waxed wooden floors, the inverted ceiling fans, and the large, bar-like information desk gave a feeling of coziness. Leaded glass and dark wood surrounded the bar and decorated parts of the restaurant, which was tiled throughout.
For patrons who would like to get a table during a weekend night - fuhgeddaboutit! The waits are insanely long for food that isn't very impressive. The dining room in Austin isn't capable of holding very many people contributing to the lengthy waits. The menu is filled with standard TGI Friday's or Ruby Tuesday type fare with a slightly gourmet-ish flare and features appetizers, non-traditional pizzas, soups and salads, pasta, chicken, steaks and ribs, burgers and sandwiches and desserts. They also feature lunch specials and a small kids' menu.
My money tree wouldn't have cringed too terribly at the sight of the prices, but they're not altogether reasonable either. The pasta dishes that I have had there before are tasty but mediocre, and the service is amicable. I do like their waffle fries, but I would much rather rush through the Chik Fil-A drive thru to get some because they would have arrived far more quickly and just as piping hot. A meal for two adults without desserts would run about $30 including non-alcoholic drinks.
But D&B is not all about the games. It's about making my money tree want to curl up and die. Full of flashy lights, boomingly loud games, and colorful decor, it's enough to give anyone an instant migraine. Before you play a game, you must get a Power Card. Lines for these can be long, as well, and if you have an existing power card, it's probably easiest to go to a computerized station that will allow you to refresh it. All it takes is some plastic or dollar bills, and you're good to go. Some customers may get lucky and win bonus tokens. In the grand scheme of things, tokens don't count. The tickets do. And who cares how much the games cost as long as you have a plastic Power Card? You can swipe it and double swipe it since most machines tell you that they couldn't read it the first time, and spend yourself into a huge frenzy for a bunch of yellow tickets.
As far as the games go, I personally am not a big fan of any of them, really. Multiplayer racing games, motorcycle games, House of the Dead shooter games, water-rafting games, "Star Wars Episode I" games, 911 squat and shoot games, and a few other games that require players to sit or mount themselves onto some funky type of sporting apparatus line the walls and aisles. Like most arcades, the fun is short-lived, and it costs about $.75 a swipe for most of them. Heaven forbid you play these if you want to win the big styrofoam bean-stuffed Tweety Bird on the wall. Those don't pay any tickets. Instead, Skee Ball, the shooting gallery, horse racing, token ferris wheels and other token-driven games are the ones that pay out if the score is right. Once you have enough tickets for the Tweety Bird, you've probably spent about $35 for him. Somehow, I can't quite justify that, but to each his own.
What I do like about D&B is their very clean billiards area that also offers shuffleboard. The drinks service there is responsive, and the area is generally smoke-free and quiet. The tables are well-maintained as is the equipment.
D&B caters to big groups and has a huge meeting room for corporate events. They also kick out all children under the age of 21 at 10:00 p.m. to let the adults have their fun. Once in a while, they'll run Midnight Madness promotions where all games are free for 12 minutes at midnight. Fans of murder mysteries can participate on the ones that they offer every once in a while.
All in all, I am not overly impressed with D&B. With the absence of my money tree and no signs in my future of a sugardaddy (not that I want one), I would rather spend my money elsewhere and leave the migraine for someone else to deal with.
*The passages marked with asterisks were taken directly from Dave and Busters' Web site at www.daveandbusters.com.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
AshleyA
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Member: Ashley
Location: Austin, Texas
Reviews written: 59
Trusted by: 49 members
About Me:
Livin' the good life in Texas.
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