Dave & Buster’s unveiled a $3 million remodeling of its Jacksonville amusement arcade, sports bar and restaurant March 27, including new games, menu items and interior designs.
Additions to the establishment at 7025 Salisbury Road include:
• The Human Crane. Instead of using a joystick controlling a mechanical claw, players are strapped into a harness and lowered by Dave & Buster’s staff into a prize pool to snatch large inflatable pool toys.
• A 40-foot wall of more than 30 high-definition TVs dedicated to sports.
• UFC Challenge, NBA Hoops, Air Hockey and Tundra Toss video games through January 2027.
Other new games include Perfect Pump, in which players have to quickly fill an animated gas tank to the exact dollar amount as quickly as possible. The Icee Slush Rush is a similar game in that players try to dispense animated Icee drinks into cups as fast as possible. Both are prize games, dispensing tickets that can be exchanged for merchandise.
A decor update also was part of the renovation.
“What’s different now is a lighter and brighter, more modern look to Dave & Buster’s,” said General Manager James McMiller. “Before, it was dark wood, dark wood tables throughout the building. Now we’ve got all these color schemes going on.”
Customers began forming a line at the front door at 5:30 a.m. The first 125 received a card that allows for a year of free play. Jacksonville Jaguars and Jacksonville Icemen mascots greeted guests, as did Jaguars cheerleaders.
There is a new menu and list of craft cocktails. The private areas have been updated to better serve birthday parties and corporate events.
The Eat & Play Combo starts at $19.99, games are half-price on Wednesdays and happy hours are 4-7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 p.m.-close Sunday through Thursday.
Those wanting only food and beverages pay no admission. There is full table service.
Eckinger Construction Co. of Jacksonville performed the remodeling work, McMiller said. Dave & Buster’s stayed open throughout the renovations, which started in November.
The redesign is part of the Dave & Buster’s national plan to refurbish many of its older locations, McMiller said.
“They’re trying to refresh them, give them that new identity that the company has taken on,” he said.
The design makes the bells and chimes of a busy arcade inaudible to diners. There is a room for private events, and other parts of the restaurant can be partitioned for those events. McMiller said private events make up about 30% of the Jacksonville’s location business.
The first Dave & Buster’s opened in 1982 in Dallas. There are 179 corporately owned stores the United States, Australia, Canada, Dominican Republic, India, Mexico and the Philippines.