What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/1197021
january 5-11, 2020 What's up! 43 Questions about this or other dining features? Contact Karen Rice at 479-571-6474 or krice@NWADG.com And speaking of video games, when it come to their envious selection, Dave & Buster's owns their role of being a leader in the entertainment industry offering a selection of retro games as well as the most current games in the business. "We are on the cutting edge of gaming," Melcher explained. "Our director of gaming was on the original Xbox creative team. He runs the gaming operation for the whole company. He has some ins with the industry so we always get the newest games, sometimes before any body else does. We got the Halo game before anybody else did, for example." Dave & Buster's also have games unique to them. Their cutting edge virtual reality experience was built in-house for Dave & Buster's exclusive use. It features proprietary software programs like the Star Trek, Jurassic Park, Men in Black and Terminator that offer a completely immersive virtual reality experience with new software programs being added every year. Retro games are also part of the Dave & Buster's experience. "Retro has become really popular," Melcher said. "So we have Space Invaders and Pac Man. We even have a new one coming that we are really excited about and that's a 4-player Pong game. You have four seats around a table and you are all playing the original Pong game." It's easy to get caught up talking about the groundbreaking entertainment experiences offered through Dave & Buster's assortment of games, but their menu is pretty interesting and tasty, too. It's what Melcher likes to call upscale bar food. "We have the basic bar food with wings and burgers and fries," Melcher said. "But we also have steaks and salmon, vegetarian burgers and pasta. Again, our menu like everything else makes an appeal to everybody. Whatever you are looking to eat we probably will have it." Special packages are also available for office parties and family get-togethers. You can reserve for a birthday party of 10 people or even rent out the entire building. And Dave & Buster's goes the extra mile to offer something most similar businesses don't. "We do team builder events for corporations," Melcher said. "We design them around what the client wants. Sometimes we have a scavenger hunt, brainteaser questions and competitions in the arcade area with an award ceremony. The participants really get into it; they come up with team chants and have their own headbands and bandanas. We try to make it fun and more than just provides food and access to the games." Melcher feels fortunate to have hooked up with Dave & Buster's in Northwest Arkansas. "I had been working in the restaurant business when I got word through networking that Dave & Buster's was coming to the area," Melcher said. "They wanted to pilot a new concept for the brand as I explained before, so they were not looking inside the company. They wanted people like me in foodservice but not already part of Dave & Buster's who would bring fresh ideas to the table. I was offered the position of General Manager and I've been having a great time." The response from the locals in Northwest Arkansas has been tremendous, the consensus being that the area has needed a place like Dave & Buster's for a long time; especially for families in the winter months when it gets cold. And then there was the convenient fact that the Promenade has a big unused space looking for someone to make it home. "The Promenade in Rogers is a great location," Melcher said. "And this huge structure was just sitting here. It was formerly the food court and too big for most operations. But for Dave & Buster's, it was perfect." Dave & Buster's LOCATION: 2203 S. Promenade Boulevard Rogers. PhONe: (479) 877-7600 hOURS: Sun – Thur: 11 a.m. to midnight, Fri – Sat: 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. ONLINe: daveandbusters.com