A Second Look at Dave and Buster’s Cuisine

What Tom’s Foodie Blog is reviewing a chain restaurant? Yes I am, especially since Dave and Buster’s revamped their menu and kitchen operations, they deserve a second look.  I have been visiting Dave and Busters for several years now just to play games. Aside from a  a shifty experience with over-cooked chicken, hot wings and tequila in my early 20’s, I never imagined eating at Dave and Busters. I was recently invited to the Dave and Busters in Orange to sample their dishes with Daniele from www.Danidecadentdeals.com and Suki from www.eatsukieat.com.  After trying 11 of their dishes, I found a couple of them to be chain style, although the majority were actually very good and suitable for a higher-end restaurant. Dave and Busters is a commercial chain restaurant (words that are uncool in the foodie circuit), but I found myself actually really enjoying many of the dishes. I know that folks out there are already snubbing their nose at me for this claim, but I was impressed.  Is Dave and Busters worth a second look for the foodie crowd? Lets take a peek at what we ate and I will let you decide. Below are pictures and descriptions of my favorite items:

Snow Cone Cocktails

Watermelon and Original Snow Cone Cocktail

Popin’ Potatoes

Poppin Potatoes – Cheesy Mashed Potatoes rolled in breading and deep fried fluffy. Served in a mini deep fry basket, just like the Vegas Buffets.

The Lawnmower Salad

A nice take on a Cob salad with Tomato, peppers, avocado, bacon, onion, chicken, blue cheese

Chicken and Shrimp Rockefeller

Chicken and Shrimp Rockefeller – This dish has a deeply flawed presentation, but the flavor was amazing!

Blackened Chicken Pasta

Blackened Chicken Pasta – Nicely Done Flavors, although the pasta was a tad too overcooked for my preference. Too each their own

Char-grilled New York Strip

The New York Strip Steak was actually pretty impressive. It appeared to have been aged and was actually juicy, flavorful and cooked a perfect medium rare

Blackjack Chicken and Ribs

Blackjack Chicken and Ribs – Although this isn’t a traditional smokehouse, Dave and Busters did a nice job with these fall off the bone ribs

The South Philly Burger

The South Philly Burger – Angus Burger with Philly Cheese Steak Meat and Cheese. I really liked the quality of the burger itself, it was obvious that they were using higher quality meat cuts into 

The Black & Bleu Burger

The Black and Bleu Burger

Hot Sugared Doughnut Holes

Hot Sugared Doughnuts

Banana Foster Pie

Bananas Foster Pie – Almost a bread pudding made with banana pudding and pound cake.

My Final Thoughts

After experiencing their menu, I discovered that Dave and Busters is more than an entertainment destination; they actually feature feature quality food made from quality ingredients. Since my initial experience with Dave and Buster’s hot wings and tequila, my taste buds have evolved. I have grown much more picky (snobby) about my food, so I was surprised that I really enjoyed many of the dishes.  Although Dave and Buster’s menu will not feature featuring sous-vide octopus anytime soon, you will find very nicely prepared salads, chicken, burgers and steaks.  I visited Dave and Busters in Orange one additional time to verify my experience, to my pleasure they nailed it the second time around as well. It appears that Dave and Buster’s recognized that their menu needed an overhaul and took the task seriously. If you are still in the mood for tequila and chicken wings, you can still get that as well. I won’t judge. 

Check out Dani’s Decadent Deals Review of the New Dave and Buster’s:

http://danisdecadentdeals.com/2012/12/31/dave-busters-fun-at-the-outlets-in-orange/