Main Event Reimagines Food and Beverage Program

The eatertainment brand launched a new in-house restaurant with 50 new menu items, including big shareables directed at family/group occasions.

November 1, 2022 Ben Coley

Main Event announced Tuesday that it's opening a new in-house restaurant, the social entertainment concept's first major move since its $835 million transition to Dave & Buster's.

Called Family Kitchen, the restaurant features nearly 50 new menu items. One example is the Triple Lava Burger, comprising three hand-smashed patties topped with American cheese, cheese sauce, and caramelized onions. There's also a PBB&J Burger with peanut butter, blueberry jam, and bacon, the Crispy Chicken Sandwich, the MEga Pan Pepperoni Pizza, and Mini Mason Jar Cheesecakes coming in Oreo, Caramel Apple, and Chocolate Hazelnut. To remove the veto vote, Family Kitchen has plant-based patties and a No-Bun Burger Bowl.

The restaurant also offers Family Feasts, which targets Main Event's core demographic. The shareable meals feed up to five people, including the Classic (large one-topping pizza, boneless wings, bread sticks, and a house salad), Nacho Dinner (tortilla chips, three-cheese queso, grilled chicken, pico de gallo, cheddar-jack cheese, avocado crema, guacamole, and salsa), and Crowd Pleaser (mix and match three entrees from the following list: Classic Double Cheeseburger, Crispy Chicken Sandwich, Hand-Breaded Chicken Strips, in addition to a basket of fries or tater tots, mac and cheese, and a side salad).

“Family Kitchen was developed with extra care, attention to detail and a focus on premium quality ingredients,” Chef Wiley Bates III, director of culinary innovation, said in a statement. “We’re excited for our guests to experience our new menu offerings, which have been seasoned with salt, pepper and love, and added playfulness that customers experience throughout the rest of the Main Event center.”

Main Event

Baked Cheese Breadsticks.

Main Event

Crispy Chicken Sandwich.

Main Event

MEga Pan Pepperoni Pizza.

Main Event

Mini Mason Jar Cheesecakes.

Main Event

Crowd Pleaser.

Main Event

Nacho Dinner.

Dave & Buster's finalized its purchase of Main Event in June, and things have gone quite well for both brands in the months since. In Q2, which ended July 31, Main Event's comps grew 29.7 percent against 2019, and walk-in sales lifted 34.9 percent compared to 2019. For Dave & Buster's, same-store sales rose 9.6 percent and walk-in sales increased 13 percent against pre-pandemic comparisons. The company earned a record $468.4 million in revenue, which was 35.9 percent better than three years ago. Adjusted EBITDA was a record, too, at $119.6 million, 39 percent better than 2019.

Dave & Buster's is familiar with menu upgrades, having gone through one recently itself. Last year, the chain rebranded its food and beverage program to "Inspired American Kitchen" and cut its choices by 33 percent. Some limited-time offers during the summer included a Spicy Taco Burger, Cinnamon Toast Crunch Fried Ice Cream, Spiked Black Cherry Limeade, and Blood Orange Paloma.

The biggest difference between the two is the customer base. Dave & Buster's primarily serves young adults, while Main Event is more focused on families, hence the name of its new restaurant.

“The Family Kitchen was largely inspired by Main Event’s brand promise to be a place for families to bond,” said Ashley Zickefoose, Chief Marketing Officer at Main Event. “From shareable favorites with our Family Feasts to offering something tasty and memorable for everyone in the family, our new restaurant further showcases that Main Event is not only the premiere place to have fun, but also a top-notch place to dine with families and friends.”