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Dave & Buster's whirring to life

Chuck E. Cheese's for adults slated to open March 1

By Stefanie Scott

Feb. 17, 2010

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C.T. Kruger

Senior Manager Marcus Parent is in the process of hiring more than 200 employees for the Dave and Buster’s set to open March 1 on Mayfair Road.

C.T. Kruger

Senior Manager Marcus Parent is in the process of hiring more than 200 employees for the Dave and Buster’s set to open March 1 on Mayfair Road.

Arcade games are being tested, cooks and servers are studying menus and security personnel are preparing for crowds.

All the buildup is in anticipation of Wisconsin's first Dave & Buster's , a restaurant, bar and arcade that will open its doors on Mayfair Road in Wauwatosa on March 1.

Likened to a Chuck E. Cheese's for adults, Dave & Buster's offers its patrons the chance to play simulator and arcade games while imbibing alcoholic drinks and noshing.

"We like to keep it fresh but some games are classic, like Skee-Ball, and people just expect to see them," general manager Esther Gomez said.

Most patrons, especially if they are in college or have kids, will be familiar with Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero, video games for which home versions exist. But a NASCAR racing simulator and a role-playing game that asks players to act as racehorse breeders, jockeys and owners will provide new gaming experiences.

Gomez acknowledges that the glitz of the games tends to get most people's attention. However, the full-service bar and kitchen should not be overlooked, she said.

Compared with the pizza and pasta menu of its younger-crowd counterpart, Dave & Buster's has a vast and mature menu that features items including edamame and toasted ravioli appetizers, salads, steaks and seafood, and hot sugared doughnut holes and other desserts.

Dave & Buster's expects about 25 percent of its business to come from parties and special events. The restaurant will be able to air just about any athletic competition on its 24 flat-screen televisions because it will subscribe to all the sports channels, Gomez said.

Crowds to bring vitality

If management's projections are close, up to 900 people will patronize the restaurant on Friday and Saturday nights. That forecast caused some controversy when the company first pitched the idea of building in Wauwatosa in 2008.

Supporters said the business will bring visitors and their spending dollars to Wauwatosa. With Mayfair Mall only a block away, the location seems to work with the company's efforts to be an entertainment destination.

Alderman James Krol has visited some of the restaurant's locations in other states while on business trips.

"They are really well-maintained establishments," he said. "For local corporations, they can use it as an opportunity to entertain out-of-town employees or customers."

It also adds to the city's burgeoning reputation as a restaurant mecca, Krol said.

Gomez worked at Dave & Buster's locations in the Chicago area and found a large number of customers came from Wisconsin. Opening in Wauwatosa would serve the Milwaukee-area market, but patrons are expected to come from Madison, Green Bay and Kenosha as well.

In addition, the nearly 34,000-square-foot restaurant sits where Ewald car dealership once was. The new building helped clean up blight on one the city's most-traveled streets, Krol said.

Traffic, drinking a concern

Those who opposed the development worried about increased traffic on the already congested Mayfair Road, as well as potential underage drinking and other problems associated with intoxication.

Alderwoman Linda Nikcevich said she would have liked to see the restaurant locate farther north on Mayfair Road, where there are numerous vacancies, but she believes Dave & Buster's will be well-received in Wauwatosa.

The proposal came forward at a time when Chuck E. Cheese's restaurants were having problems with unruly patrons and the AMC Theater in Mayfair Mall, which had an arcade, was dealing with issues caused by teens and young adults loitering and fighting, she said.

Dave & Buster's requires that minors be accompanied by an adult who is at least 25 years old, and one 25-year-old can bring in no more than six minors.

Although people under 18 are permitted in Dave & Buster's, no one younger than 21 will be allowed to drink, Gomez said. Staff members have to undergo safe-serving training and will be required to ID patrons every time they order an alcoholic drink.

"We are very careful," she said. "We might card you four or five times in one night just to be sure."

Time will tell

Still, some city officials have said they want to see wristbands, hand stamps or some other type of marker that easily identifies a person as underage be required when patrons walk in the door.

Company management prefers to monitor customers' activities via numerous hidden cameras and a security force of off-duty police officers - none of which will come from the local department. The Wauwatosa Police Department will review the company's security procedures, if needed.

For Alderman Tim Hanson, who had voted against the development, the idea of needing professional law enforcement on site indicates management anticipates problems.

"I'm taking a wait-and-see attitude," he said. "I'm hoping I'm wrong and they have a successful business."

Public anticipation of a new business is often reflected by how many people want to work there. The Wauwatosa Dave & Buster's received more than 4,000 applications for 210 jobs, Gomez said.

"We are a new concept so that does bring attention when it comes to hiring, but the poor economy also likely has something to do with it," she said.