Dave & Buster’s Leans into Food, Loyalty, and New Games to Boost Traffic

During Dave & Buster’s Q4 earnings call, CEO Tarun Lal made it clear that the brand hasn’t wavered from its current turnaround journey.

Before Lal even joined nine months ago, the company had steered toward a “back to basics” strategy after it “moved away from many of the very clear and obvious elements that made it successful,” the chief executive told analysts.

“Marketing and promotions changed significantly. The F&B menu and offerings changed significantly. The commitment to annual games and entertainment investment changed significantly. The focus on operations excellence changed significantly and a commitment to refresh stores while maintaining the core ethos of what customers love about D&B changed significantly,” Lal said.

Same-store sales fell 3.3 percent in Q4, but would’ve dropped 1.5 percent excluding the impact of winter storms. In fiscal 2025, comps decreased 5 percent.

But the bigger story is that same-store sales have improved for six straight months. The chain ended February with roughly flat comps and began 2026 with rising revenue and adjusted EBITDA.

“We are now going back to basics piece by piece to restore those elements that made this brand and this company is successful and it’s working,” Lal said.

The revitalization process begins with a simplified marketing strategy that better communicates Dave and Buster’s offerings. The chain continues to use data to inform how to divvy up investments between TV and digital channels, ensuring it’s conveying the right message to the right customers. The goal in 2026 is to build more awareness and cultural relevance. One example was a Valentine’s Day promotion in which the brand gave away five diamond engagement rings using the Human Crane. The campaign resulted in over 6 billion impressions and “a tremendous amount of earned media value,” according to Lal.

Additionally, Dave & Buster’s is focusing more on its loyalty program to drive personalization, boost traffic, and build a special events business that can be converted into future walk-in visits. The end goal is to become a destination. On Super Bowl Sunday, typically a poor-performing day, the brand experienced productive sales thanks to a $24.99 deal featuring unlimited wings and games. Dave & Buster’s plans to roll out similar programming for the FIFA World Cup this summer.

Food and beverage is a priority as well. Dave & Buster’s is currently reversing a trend where guests came into locations to play games but didn’t order food after post-COVID menu changes. A pre-pandemic version launched in October, leading to meaningful dine-in traffic increases year-over-year in late 2025 and a roughly 7 percent rise in comparable food and beverage sales in Q4. Zooming out further, food and beverage same-store sales have been positive for the past six months through February.

Part of the strategy has been the renewed Eat & Play Combo. A double-digit percentage of guests have opted in to the deal, growing from 10 percent in Q1 2025 to 16 percent in Q4 2025.

Now, the percentage of customers who play games and eat food has increased roughly 7 percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter.

Dave & Buster’s also switched up its gaming philosophy after not introducing anything new over the past six years. This year, the brand will debut at least 10 new amusements, the most it’s done in a year since 2017.

The lineup includes culturally relevant titles like John Wick, Stranger Things, and Mandalorian and Grogu from Star Wars and the systemwide launch of the Human Crane. Plus, Dave & Buster’s hopes to secure more traffic with its 40-foot TV screens, especially with the aforementioned World Cup.

“The number of new games in our arcade or in general, the total number of games in the arcade or partnerships with relevant IPs, that’s been missing for a long time,” Lal said. “And consumers have told us that when we’ve spoken to them. And so as we’ve done our research and as we’ve heard from our customers and responded to what they have said, we actually feel extremely confident that our strategy of bringing new games and bringing not only new games, but different kind of games with immersive experiences with culturally relevant IPs will attract a lot more foot traffic.”

Dave & Buster’s will pair marketing, menu, and games with stronger operations. The chain is reinvesting its field teams with higher-quality training programs, a more collaborative culture, and improved service standards, like one-minute greet and four-minute drinks time. The labor model has also been revamped to optimize staffing and simplify operational processes.

It all starts at the top. Dave & Buster’s has launched GM incentives and implemented leadership development programs to stabilize retention and increase internal mobility.

Then there’s the remodel program. Lal said the brand has “found the right layout to increase traffic and overall productivity and generate highly attractive ROIs at a reasonable cost.” Dave & Buster’s recently opened three remodels and has another three under construction. It plans to open an additional four remodels within the next nine months. These units have proven to outperform non-remodeled stores by about 7 percent.

Amid this comeback framework, Dave & Buster’s hired a new senior employee completely dedicated to material cost-saving initiatives and boosting margins.

“Our financial foundation remains strong, supported by a business model that consistently generates high returns, healthy unit level performance, disciplined cost management and very straightforward potential to generate meaningful free cash flow,” said CFO Darin Harper. “Both leadership and the Board remain sharply focused on executing our priorities to drive same-store sales growth and generate significant free cash flow.”

Dave & Buster’s believes momentum will continue this year, including increases in same-store sales, revenue, and adjusted EBITDA and more than $100 million in free cash flow.

Overall, the company owns 179 Dave & Buster’s in 43 states and 64 Main Event units in 22 states.