Thinner crowds make D&B more enjoyable
The Night Stuff
By Derek Paiva
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| Bill Wright of Honolulu takes a stab at a virtual-boxing video game at Dave & Buster's. The cavernous funhouse offers a wide variety of games, food and drinks — plus the occasional live band.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser |
Well, OK, there was that $3 cover charge we had to pay to get in the place for the privilege of spending more cash than we anticipated on just ONE of D&B's monster video games. But really, that was our own fault for arriving after D&B's Friday/Saturday-only 10 p.m. charge went into effect, and because of our lackluster handling of plastic firearms.
When I last visited D&B two weeks after the monolithic shrine to semi-clean adult entertainment (booze, food, billiards, video games) opened last October, the last thing I wanted to do was return right away. There was nothing wrong with the place, mind you. Still brand new, D&B was simply way too packed with bodies for comfort.
Back then, not only could we not procure a seat in the large first-floor Grand Dining Room, but we barely got past the doors of the rooftop Sunset Bar and its sweeping views of General Growth Properties' lucrative and parking-challenged land holdings.
Where: Ward Entertainment Center, 1030 Auahi St., 589-221
What: Dave & Buster's
When: Open from 11 a.m. daily; closes Mondays-Thursdays at 1 a.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 2 a.m., Sundays at midnight
Cover: Free; $3 cover on Fridays and Saturdays after 10 p.m.
Under 21 OK?: Yes, with guardian age 25 or older (limit: 4 per guardian)
Age of crowd: 20s through 40s
The dress CODE: Casual; No tank tops for males
Attire we saw: For both sexes: casual (jeans and T-shirts) to fairly dressy (dress shirts and slacks on the guys; dresses on the women)
Our arrival/departure: 10:30 p.m./midnight on a Friday
What we drank: Big "B" martini; chocolate martini ($11.50 total)
How crowded was it?: 400 to 500
QUEUE?: No
Sample music: "Charlie's Angels 2000" (Apollo Four Forty), first-floor dining room/bar; "Rock Show" (blink-182), second-floor game midway; "Reggae Ambassador" (Thick Tubes), third-floor Sunset Bar live band
Dancing?: Perhaps; space for it at third-floor Sunset Bar is limited, but no one chose to chance it.
Interior in a nutshell: A Costco-size Fernandez Fun Factory with drinks, food and the occasional live band
You gotta see this: Anyone really secure enough to look kind of funny jabbing at oxygen while playing virtual boxing
TIP: If headed to the Sunset Bar from the second-floor game midway, skip the consistently packed pair of elevators and climb the stairs.
Overheard line of the night: "Just get me one Bud, babe. I gon' be here playing Deer Hunter." — A fortysomething wannabe Ted Nugent to his significant other before sitting down to slaughter a few virtual bucks on a "Deer Hunting U.S.A." game.
Simulator and skill games on D&B's second-floor Million Dollar Midway? After a couple of whiskey sours, waiting in line for a chance to swipe our loaded Power Cards on "Shaquille O'Neal MVP Cyclone" couldn't help but pale next to the lure of late-night dim sum at Panda Cuisine.
Thankfully, time and Honolulans' naturally fickle tendency to move on to the next big thing have thinned D&B's once teeming masses into something that, while still crowded, is a bit more easily navigable and tolerable.
We skipped ordering from D&B's huge menu of rib-sticking food and went straight for its equally sizable drink menu. Our two premium-pour martini selections were wonderfully strong and delicious, in particular, my Big "B" Martini (Bombay Sapphire gin, Belvedere vodka, deceptively tempered by a sweet splash of Chambord).
Skipping the thrill of a second order from our surly server (overall, D&B's staff was cheery, attentive and eager to help), we grabbed an elevator for the open-air Sunset Bar. There, strands of colored lights swung in the cool night breeze over a crowd of about 200 listening to the live island rhythms of Thick Tubes. Pool deck chairs and tables were spaced well for overall comfort and easy people movement. The trade-off was that both were in short supply in the extremely popular area.
We finished our evening blowing a half-hour and $25 on a tandem simulator game called "Time Crisis" in the now comfortably roomy, carnival-like Midway, happily murdering criminal-types with a couple of toy pistols while downing Cokes to piped-in punk pop. We even briefly discussed reloading our Power Card, before opting for green-tea ice cream at Bubbies instead.
My guess is we'll be back at D&B's this weekend before catching a movie at the next-door multiplex. After all, I'm not even halfway done kicking that (bleeping) "Time Crisis" game's sorry (bleep) just yet.
Got a night spot or regular club event you'd like us to check out? Reach Derek Paiva at 525-8005 or dpaiva@honoluluadvertiser.com.
