Dave & Buster's Lombard — Restaurant in Lombard

Terrible Experience – Avoid This Place!

I had the misfortune of celebrating a birthday at this restaurant, and it was, without a doubt, one of the worst dining experiences I've ever had.

We were a large group, so we were prepared for some waiting, but from the moment we arrived, things quickly went downhill. We were told it would be a wait for a table, which we understood. However, the issues started when we requested a specific server, and that request was denied without any clear explanation. Fine, no problem—we were seated at 8:15 PM.

We ordered drinks right away, and those that came from the bar arrived fairly quickly. However, after 20 minutes, we still hadn’t received any water or soft drinks, and our server had not returned to check in. We flagged down someone else, who promised to look into it, but the waiting continued. Finally, four out of fifteen drinks arrived. It took quite a while for the rest to trickle in, and by the time we had all our drinks, the appetizers arrived.

But that’s when the real problems began. Some meals were wrong, including a bacon burger that was mistakenly delivered instead of the American burger that had been ordered. And to make matters worse, the birthday girl had ordered the American burger. When we mentioned the mistake to the food runner, they seemed confused but acknowledged it. The server eventually checked in, and we mentioned that several people still hadn’t received their food. More waiting. By this time, food on the table was getting cold.

Eventually, more food arrived, but the wrong burger still hadn’t been corrected. We asked again, and after more time passed, they brought out the correct burger—but by then, the new tray included a mix of items that weren’t even ours. We asked to speak to the manager, hoping for some accountability, but the manager’s response was dismissive and condescending. The only explanation they offered was that "people called in that day"—as if that somehow explained the chaos. We understand that things go wrong, but how management handles a situation like this can make or break the experience. In this case, they absolutely dropped the ball.

At this point, it was almost 10 PM—nearly two hours after we were seated—and we were ready to pay. But of course, the system went down, and our server disappeared again. After several more minutes, the manager returned to let us know they’d have to print paper checks. Eventually, the server came back to confirm who ordered what, disappeared again, and 30 minutes later, we were handed our paper checks. It was nothing short of a mess.

But that’s not even the worst part. After finally leaving the dining area to play some games, security approached a member of our group and told him he would have to leave because another guest had complained that he was “staring” at them. This individual in our group is blind. Yes, you read that right—blind. When we pointed this out to security, their response was, "Well, how is he getting around here then?" We explained that he does have a small amount of vision and showed them his cane. The response was dismissive. It was deeply upsetting and discriminatory. This was a clear case of misunderstanding and prejudice, and it was handled terribly by staff. A blind person should never be made to feel like they’re a threat simply because others are uncomfortable. This establishment is on track for an ADA lawsuit, and frankly, they should be.

To top it all off, the food was mediocre at best and overpriced for the quality. I would strongly advise spending your money elsewhere. There are plenty of other places that will offer much better service, respect, and food quality.

Avoid this place at all costs. I really wish I didn't have to give it one star to complete the review. Edit- I completed the contact form and I am waiting for a response...

First I would like to say, my family and I love Dave & Busters. We live in Illinois and we’ve been to numerous locations (Vernon Hills, Schaumburg, Addison, Downtown Chicago, Orland Park, and even in other states). My Fiancé’s birthday was Friday the 25th and we usually doing things the whole weekend to celebrate.

To conclude her birthday on Sunday, we decided to finish off with food and games at D&B. Instead of going to her favorite location in (Vernon Hills), we decided to try the new Lombard location. This was the worst experience we’ve ever had!!

Instead of starting with games we decided to get a table and eat first. My oldest two kids ordered the eat and play pack of boneless wings, I had the bone in, my two year old had pizza, and my fiancé gets her traditional shrimp pasta. We don’t eat Pork, so she tells the waitress to substitute the sausage for chicken (as she normally does) and the waitress okay’s the alteration. As all the food is brought to the table, before we could pray over the meal we noticed it was sausage in my fiancé pasta. We notified the waitress and she proceeds to take the pasta back to get remade (honest mistake). I shared my wings and fries with my fiancé until her pasta came out. The waitress then brings out the remake and apologizes for the cooks mistake. As my fiancé is about to eat the remake she notices something very weird. There is no shrimp in her shrimp pasta 🤦🏾‍♂️!! At this point I’m irritated, so I call over the greeter and ask if she is the manager and she states she’s one of them. I proceed to tell her the issue and them messing up the dish for a second time. She then proceeds to the kitchen to get her a whole new pasta made. By then our kids are finished eating and our two year old is getting impatient to play games. So as we wait another 10-15 mins we just went ahead and let our 16 and 12 year old take her to games. So finally her pasta arrives and she eats and sit with her. Once we finished the waitress brings the check and apologizes again, although I’m irritated and felt the waitress should have made sure the second pasta dish was make correctly after the first mishap, I still said to myself, I’m going to tip this young lady just not as much as I was.

This is what pissed me off. After being told the meal was removed. I see the pasta on the check twice! One removed and the other still there. So now I get up and go searching for the ACTUAL manager. After finding him and explaining the situation he explains he was not made aware of this at all and he will be removing the the dish completely. This whole matter waisted so much of our time we didn’t get to play games with our kids. It was a school night so we didn’t want to keep them out late and I was very irritated by the whole chaos!!

I have never left a restaurant without leaving a tip but this was the worst service we’ve ever had. To add, the pasta was Disgusting!! I would not suggest ever visiting this location!! We waisted a lot of time for bad service...

Dear Dave & Buster’s Management,

I am writing to share a deeply upsetting experience my 9-year-old son and I had today at your Yorktown Mall location. We arrived around 3:15 PM to spend some quality time together after a long week, but instead of enjoying ourselves, we were made to feel unwelcome and targeted.

Upon entering the facility, we were immediately stared down and watched closely by one of your security officers. The behavior made us uncomfortable, but I tried to brush it off and focus on spending time with my son. However, when we were leaving about an hour later, a different security officer did the exact same thing — staring us down in a way that was clearly not casual or professional.

A woman behind me, who witnessed the incident, even approached me and apologized, saying, “I’m sorry — I saw that. It’s disgusting.” That confirmed to me that what we experienced was not imagined — it was racial profiling.

What hurt most was that my son noticed it too. He asked me both times, “Mom, why are they staring at us?” No parent should have to explain something like that to their child, especially in a place meant for fun and family time.

I should be able to visit any establishment without being profiled, judged, or made to feel different because of my race. This experience was humiliating and disappointing, and I am asking that you take this matter seriously — to review the behavior of your security team and ensure that no other family has to experience this type of discrimination.

Thank you for your time and attention. I hope to receive a response regarding the actions being taken to...