Dave And Buster's Ready For Grand Opening In Manchester

MANCHESTER, NH — The long anticipated opening of the Dave and Buster’s at the Mall of New Hampshire is about to become a reality.

Dave and Buster’s is a unique combination of arcade, restaurant and bar which is designed to be a fun experience for everyone in the family. The Dave & Buster's is one of the new tenants in the mall that filled the space previously occupied by Sears. The entire space was gutted by construction crews and a new 32,000 square foot space was created for Dave & Buster's.

Jason Kien, the general manager of the location, said the space has the capacity to hold 1,768 but with the current restrictions due to the new coronavirus, it will operate at half the capacity.

The business held a "friends and family' event on Thursday which brought a large crowd of employees families, vendors, and friends. The restaurant is the first to open in New Hampshire and is the fifth location in New England.

Opening for one day allowed the restaurant to test new procedures which have been put in place to assure a safe and fun experience for all guests and employees.

The restaurant's grand opening will be at noon Monday and will be open seven days a week from noon to 10 p.m.

All people entering the business must wear a mask at all times, except while sitting at their assigned table. Dave and Buster’s has added a "QR Code" to all tables which allow people to pull up the Dave and Buster's app on their phones. From the app they can view the menu, and place orders. They can also order through the employees who have newly designed tablets which the chain is testing for the first time at this location.

The video game arcade is glowing with lights and activity when Patch toured during the friends and family day.

According to Kien, several steps are being taken to assure a safe environment in the game area. All games are continually cleaned and sanitized after each person leaves the game. Several games have been shut off so there is social distancing space between people playing the games. Certain games which require multiple players are limited in use, and can only be played by people from the same group.

Kien stressed the intent is to have a fun place to go with the family and feel they are in a safe environment. Prior to COVID-19 the company had a large amount of corporate functions, but that has become less popular at this time.

The company originally hired 208 people for the Manchester location in preparation for an opening in March. Since that time due to the significant changes forced on the restaurant industry the number of employees is now at 70 employees. Kien continues to look for additional employees who are high energy, and outgoing individuals.

Kien was previously the general manager in the Woburn, Massachusetts, location. He said a significant amount of people would travel from New Hampshire to their facility. The company believes the Manchester location will attract guests from a wide area outside of Manchester.

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©Jeffrey Hastings www.frameofmindphoto.com/news