WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — The Dave & Buster’s arcade and sport bar that opened at Lehigh Valley Mall just over three years ago is scheduled to reveal a redesign on Friday, officials said.
In a release, the entertainment chain announced it will open its revamped doors on Jan. 12, featuring “groundbreaking, innovative new ways for crews to bond.”
For the grand reopening, the first 200 guests of the day — doors open at 11 a.m. — will get free games for a year.
From 6 to 9 p.m., the location will hold a celebration with music and prizes, with $5 drink specials running from 4 to 7 p.m.
The bar will offer up new chef-crafted menu full of shareable plates, a sleek new store design with a tech-forward design, and the Midway featuring more than 120 games, virtual reality experiences and opportunities to win prizes, the business said in a release.
“We’re thrilled for our neighbors to experience this incredible transformation for themselves.”Dave & Buster's General Manager Jeffrey Hartwyk
Additional innovation also is coming to other Dave & Buster’s across the country to connect with one another “for a next-level night out,” officials said.
“We can’t wait to reveal this Dave & Buster’s as an entertainment juggernaut to the rapidly growing community of Lehigh Valley,” location General Manager Jeffrey Hartwyk said.
“We’re thrilled for our neighbors to experience this incredible transformation for themselves. Join us for epic watch parties on our giant 40-foot WOW Wall, state-of-the-art activities with all-new Social Dart Bays & Social Shuffleboard Bays, and our delicious chef-crafted menu that will have you craving more.
"Guests are going to have to see it to truly understand how Dave & Buster’s Lehigh Valley is changing the eat, play and watch experience.”'
'Cutting edge of what people want'
One might wonder why Dave & Buster’s needs a revitalization.
Whitehall’s 30,000-square-foot facility drew plenty of attention from locals leading up to its opening in October 2020, with dozens of eager gamers trying to enter the location prior to its official launch.
“We want to be on the cutting edge of what people want when it comes to the segment of entertainment where people can both enjoy a good meal and sports viewership and video games and entertainment. So we're redoing the building to make it more appealing, more open and more warm for our guests to be engaged and come out and enjoy themselves.”Dave & Buster's Lehigh Valley Mall General Manager Jeffrey Hartwyk
“We want to be on the cutting edge of what people want when it comes to the segment of entertainment where people can both enjoy a good meal and sports viewership and video games and entertainment,” Hartwyk said.
“So we're redoing the building to make it more appealing, more open and more warm for our guests to be engaged and come out and enjoy themselves.”
New features at the location will include interactive social bays, featuring High Tech Dats Bays and Social Shuffleboard Bays, where two to six players can hold a private session.
But they aren’t the old-fashioned bar games. Rather, the bays have been reinvented with digital interactivity “for the coolest, most innovative, tech-savvy versions of darts and shuffleboard ever,” a release said.
Social bays 'going to be tremendous'
Hartwyk said he is particularly excited about those social bays.
"They are going to be tremendous,” he said. “Guests will be able to rent them out for two hours, play some darts or some shuffleboard.
"There's going to be a TV equipped in there so if they're Flyers fans or Lehigh Valley Phantoms fans or something like that, we can put the game on in there for them, and they can have kind of an exclusive experience, but still be part of the whole experience going on in the building."
Dave & Buster’s also has added more screens to ensure just about any game you want is on, including a 40-foot screen, in addition to more than 25 additional oversized HDTVs around the bar, and a VIP Watch Room with a “bottle service” vibe.
Founded in 1982 and headquartered in Coppell, Texas, Dave & Buster's Entertainment Inc. owns and operates 220 venues in North America.
The company has 162 Dave & Buster’s branded stores in 42 states, Puerto Rico and Canada.
Dave & Buster’s Lehigh Valley is open 11 a.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Fridays, and 10 a.m. through 1 a.m. Saturdays.
