First Dave & Buster's in Coachella Valley will open a week earlier than planned
The Coachella Valley’s first Dave & Buster's, which will be at The River in Rancho Mirage, will open a week earlier than planned, the company announced Monday.
The mega-arcade will open its Rancho Mirage location on Monday, Sept. 18. Last month, it had announced a Sept. 25 opening.
Like other Dave & Buster's locations nationwide, the 22,000-square-foot space will feature a restaurant, bar and arcade. The new spot will offer more than 100 games, with classics such as Pop-a-Shot and billiards, as well as “Pac-Man Battle Royale Chompionship, Wicked Tuna, (and) life-size versions of Hungry Hungry Hippos and Minecraft Dungeons Arcade," a company official said.
The location’s restaurant and sports bar will have a 40-foot high-definition TV screen and bar food such as chicken strips, garlic parmesan truffle fries, Philly cheesesteaks and burgers.
Dave & Buster’s said it's still hiring for the location, and people can apply at daveandbusters.com/careers.
Looking back
The new Dave & Buster’s will occupy the space left vacant when Acqua California Bistro closed without explanation last summer. By October 2022, representatives for Dave & Buster’s were meeting with Rancho Mirage city staff and had submitted design plans for the new location, although the company declined to confirm plans at the location for months, even after The Desert Sun had reported on them.
Dave & Buster’s current nearest location is in the Ontario Mills shopping mall, more than 70 miles from The River at Rancho Mirage.
The entertainment venue offers new hope to Rancho Mirage’s mall, which has struggled to rekindle the success of its early days after its opening in 2001. The Great Recession delivered a gut blow to the property, and the loss of Borders books — a major anchor tenant — in 2011 left the mall struggling to attract and retain new customers.
It is currently home to about 20 businesses including The Cheesecake Factory, P.F. Chang’s, Yard House and a 15-screen Cinemark Century theater, which serves as the mall’s main anchor tenant.
Prior reporting by staff writer James B. Cutchin was used in this report.
Tom Coulter covers the cities of Palm Desert, La Quinta, Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells. Reach him at thomas.coulter@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Dave & Buster's to open The River in Rancho Mirage location
