Dave & Buster's San Diego — Restaurant in San Diego

Been here 4x recently.

Most recent we ordered the sliders, and for the price they were absolutely not worth $14. Maybe if they came with fries, but those are a $9 plate at best.

We got the Brussel sprouts, and they were very tasty and a much bigger portion than I expected. Well worth it at $8.

We also got the Crisps and Guac, there were 3 puffed wheat crisps, and about 1.5 cups of guacamole. We covered the crisps with a 1/2in of guac and still had a lot left over. Absolutely well worth the $6, I'm getting this again and put the guac on my burger and fries also!!

My son got boneless wings/fries and they server said the portion was 8 wings. It was 15, some small but a proper portion for the $18.

Overall it was a good meal, but the sliders fell short of their cost. Maybe if there were 4 and fries the price would have been proper.

The server took 6 to 10 minutes for everything. I asked for mustard and she was no where to be seen. The server we had last time stopped ro say Hi, I asked if she had mustard as I'm waiting to eat. She grabbed a bottle in 30 seconds. Our server showed up with honey mustard and no cholula (they don't have that). I held the mustard bottle up and said another server got this. Even to get a water refill, she was gone 6+ minutes. I should have just gone to the bar and gotten it faster.

It was not busy at all, early afternoon on a weekday. I'll definitely try to sit at a table with the previous server as she was right on everything we needed!!

We played games and had to search for staff 3x for broke machines.

The previous time, decent food, awesome server, and played games.

The time prior, we just stopped in for games, a few times had to search all over for an employer. Even at the prize shop there was no one inside or at the desk. Found a waitress that said she doesn't do that. Obviously, but where can I find someone that does run the machines. 🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️

The time prior to that we had a group of about 20 people, I asked if we could have a table in 1 hour for 20 people, I was told yes, stop by 5 minutes prior. I check in, they seat us. As we waited for the other families to get there I asked for waters. She said this table was reserved for a group in 30 minutes, so we couldn't be served there. I said I'm sure I'm in the group of 20 for that table. She said nope, another staff member came over and placed reserved signs in front of a few parents. Then said we had 10 minutes to move on.

I asked the gal that I talked to an hour prior and that seated us. She said the server has priority over her. I was like so you don't want to serve our group of 20.

So we left and found a place that took awesome care of all of us, and great food there. That became our new monthly restaurant from now on for our 20 or so people.

FYI at Chili's today my son get a 3 item platter, 2 sliders, 2 giant breaded cheese sticks, and these corn/sauce/chicken wedges things (delicious w/guac sauce) for $18...

If we eat at D&Bs it will not be with 2 of the...

Look I spend $100s of dollars a month here which I’m sure most do. But I’m here just about every two weeks, eating and gaming. Today I almost left a mid review because the waitress told me she couldn’t do something I knew she could because I’ve had it done multiple times but when I asked her to go verify she came back and said she could. Plus when it was time to pay she told me I have no D&B coupons but I know I do because it’s a week before my birthday and I just hit icon status which gives a free entree so she lied about that and stood over me waiting for me to pay my bill on the machine instead of leaving the machine like most do. I was ready to give a low rating also because I sat at the table in the bar area and previously a waiter told me that I had to give them a credit card even though I wasn’t drinking, but just for simply sitting upstairs but today I was not asked for a credit card at all and sat in the same area with my 9yo as I did last time…. The inconsistency and weird service made me start disliking D&B. But tonight, an irate lady came behind me while I was playing a game and told me there was a line (which was her and a friend) and asked if I could let her have a chance to play. I told her that I swiped my card to play 6 times before she had even got behind me and she had to wait. She started bothering me because she was impatient so I told her she must not understand English and ignored her and finished playing my games. Once I finished she told me I made her daughter cry and I told her she made her daughter cry for being ignorant which caused her to call me ghetto and so we argued then her male friend grabbed me. Now most people don’t know that I’m disabled so I definitely don’t feel the need to fight so I told him he should grab her and walked away because I was alone with a 9yo. No man to jump in. Then I went to tell security that someone definitely needed to talk to them because she should never pester someone about a game especially when I could have easily continued playing but I left when I finished out of courtesy and her guy should never put his hands on people he does not know. And D&B workers spoke with both of us and handled it well. I was not kicked out nor was she which could have ruined the kids night. Instead she stormed off and left because she was told anybody at the game can play as long as they want. It could have been ugly but the game floor staff definitely did good with not making it an ugly experience. I will be back...

Dave & Buster’s Family Visit – Mixed Experience

We visited Dave & Buster’s as a family of four (two adults and two kids) on a weekend afternoon. While the arcade ended up saving the trip, our overall experience was brought down significantly by a frustrating and disappointing dining experience.

Dining: A Major Letdown Right From the Start We started our visit by trying to get something to eat, but it was a struggle from the beginning. We waited over 15 minutes next to a booth full of dirty dishes, trying to get the staff’s attention so they could clean it. Despite clearly standing there and even calling out, the staff completely ignored us. When someone finally came, they removed the plates but didn’t wipe the table—we had to specifically ask for that too.

Service didn’t improve from there. We had to ask multiple times for water and never actually got any. Our waitress seemed uninterested and disengaged, only showing up when we flagged her down. I asked for a military discount, and she refused to apply it unless I handed over my military ID for her to show the manager. As per government policy, I cannot render my ID to civilian employees—only to military authority—but she didn’t seem to care or try to find another solution.

The food itself was seriously underwhelming. Most dishes came out lukewarm, tasted bland, and looked rushed. The kids’ meals were forgettable, and the beer I ordered tasted flat—like it had been sitting for a while before reaching the table. Even the cocktails were poorly mixed. Honestly, I would’ve had a better-tasting, hotter meal at McDonald’s or Jack in the Box—for a much lower price and less hassle.

Arcade: The Only Redeeming Part Thankfully, after the meal, we spent time in the arcade—and that part was a totally different experience. It was clean, fun, and had a wide variety of games for all ages. Everything worked well, and the kids had a blast. The arcade staff were far more attentive and helpful than anyone on the dining side. We ended up spending hours there and genuinely enjoyed it.

Final Thoughts The arcade made the trip worth it, but the restaurant was a mess—disorganized, poorly managed, and lacking in even the most basic customer service. We’ll come back for the games, no question. But next time, we’ll eat beforehand somewhere else—because even a fast food drive-thru would’ve been a major upgrade over what...