Looking for Dave and Buster’s vegetarian options? You can eat a full meal here without meat, but the menu doesn’t make it easy. The kitchen leans on burgers, wings, ribs and steak. The meatless wins sit in the shareables, the flatbread, the sides and one black bean burger. We run a whole site about what about the vegetarians, and this is the order-by-order guide for your next game night.
A Quick Look at Dave and Buster’s
Dave Corriveau and James “Buster” Corley opened the first Dave and Buster’s in Dallas on August 31, 1982. Corley had run a bar called Buster’s in Little Rock, Arkansas, right next door to a game parlor called Slick Willy’s World of Entertainment. The pair put food and games under one roof.
The company went public in October 2014 and trades on Nasdaq as PLAY. It bought Main Event Entertainment in June 2022 for $835 million. Headquarters stay in Dallas. As of May 2026 it runs 160 U.S. locations, and fiscal 2025 revenue was $2.10 billion.
Dave and Buster’s Vegetarian Options: What to Order
The short answer on Dave and Buster’s vegetarian options: order the 5-Cheese Flatbread, the Cheese Stick Stack, the Cheesy Spinach Dip, Chips and Guac, and the Black Bean Burger. The table below sorts each pick into vegetarian and vegan. The chain updated its menu in November 2025 with more than 100 new and returning items, so some older favorites, like the Margherita Flatbread and the Elotes Cauliflower, no longer show on the Spring 2026 allergen chart.
This is an eat-and-play spot, so the food is built to share between arcade rounds. That helps you. The shareables carry most of the meatless picks, so a group can graze without anyone hunting for a single veggie entree. Order two or three meatless plates for the table and you’ll do better than chasing one big dish.
| Menu Item | Vegetarian | Vegan |
|---|---|---|
| 5-Cheese Flatbread | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (dairy) |
| Cheese Stick Stack (crispy cheese sticks, marinara) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (dairy) |
| Cheesy Spinach Dip | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (dairy) |
| Soft Pretzel Sticks | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (garlic butter, queso) |
| Chips & Guac | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes* |
| Mountain O’ Nachos (skip the add-on ground beef) | ⚠️ Check (confirm toppings) | ⚠️ Check |
| Fries GPT (garlic, Parmesan, truffle) | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (dairy) |
| Black Bean Burger | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (cheese, bun) |
| Side Garden Salad | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (dressing, cheese) |
| Crisp Apple Pecan Salad (no chicken) | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (cheese, dressing) |
| Caesar Salad | ❌ No (anchovies) | ❌ No |
| Seasoned French Fries / Sweet Potato Fries | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Check (shared kitchen) |
| Sautéed Green Beans | ⚠️ Check (ask about prep) | ⚠️ Check |
| Mac & Cheese / Ultimate Mac & Cheese | ⚠️ Check (cheese rennet) | ❌ No (dairy) |
| Kid’s Cheese Pizza / Cheese Quesadilla | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (dairy) |
Shareables and Appetizers
Most of the meatless food hides here. The Cheese Stick Stack, extra-large crispy cheese sticks with marinara, is the easy crowd order. The Cheesy Spinach Dip, a returning favorite, is spinach, artichoke and melted cheeses under baked Parmesan, with tortilla chips and salsa. Chips and Guac is the closest thing to a safe vegan starter. Soft Pretzel Sticks work too. They’re basted in garlic butter and come with queso blanco and honey mustard, so they’re vegetarian but not vegan.
Mountain O’ Nachos lists ground beef as an add-on, so the base build doesn’t need meat. Ask your server to confirm the toppings. Skip the Pretzel Dogs, the Philly Cheesesteak Egg Rolls and anything with wings.
Flatbreads and Burgers
The 5-Cheese Flatbread is the one meatless entree-sized pick. It eats like a personal pizza. The BBQ Chicken and Double Pepperoni flatbreads carry meat. For kids, the cheese pizza is a reliable fallback.
Nearly every burger is beef or chicken. The exception is the Black Bean Burger, a plant-based patty topped with cheese, lettuce, pickles, tomato and onions, served with sweet potato fries. Order it without cheese if you want to move toward vegan, and ask about the bun.
Salads and Sides
Order a salad without the protein and you’ve got a quick vegetarian plate. The Side Garden Salad and the Crisp Apple Pecan Salad both work once you drop the chicken. The Caesar is the trap. The allergen chart lists anchovies in it, so it isn’t vegetarian. For sides, Seasoned French Fries, Sweet Potato Fries and Fries GPT (garlic butter, Parmesan and truffle dust) are all on the chart. The Mac and Cheese and the Grape Tomato Salad round out the list.
Desserts
The current dessert list is the Brookie Sundae Tower, Bananas Foster Pie, Triple Layer Chocolate Cake and Funnel Cake Fries. None of them name meat. All are dairy-based, so none are vegan. The chart doesn’t list ingredients such as gelatin, so ask if that matters to you.
What’s Vegan at Dave and Buster’s?
Vegan options are thin. Chips and Guac is your cleanest start. A garden salad with no cheese and an oil-based dressing can work, and so can plain Seasoned French Fries or Sweet Potato Fries. The Black Bean Burger might work with no cheese, but the menu doesn’t label vegan dishes, so confirm the patty and bun with your server.
Special Dietary Requirements and Allergies
The allergen chart lists anchovies in the Caesar Salad, so it isn’t vegetarian. It also lists fish in a few chicken dishes. Dave and Buster’s says shared cooking equipment, which may or may not include common fryer oil, can cause cross-contact. It recommends that people with allergies avoid all fried foods, grilled foods and garnishes. The chart tracks nine allergens: egg, fish, milk, peanut, shellfish, soy, tree nut, wheat or gluten, and sesame. It can’t promise any item is allergen-free.
Cheese can use animal rennet, and the menu doesn’t say. Recipes also vary by location. For the full chart, see the Spring 2026 allergen menu.
Tips for Vegetarians at Dave and Buster’s
- Treat the shareables as your main course. A flatbread, a cheese stack and a spinach dip feed a table better than one entree.
- Say “no chicken” on salads up front.
- Skip the Caesar. The chart lists anchovies.
- Ask about the Black Bean Burger bun and cheese before you order.
- Ask how your location cooks the green beans.
- Ask whether your location uses a shared fryer if cross-contact matters.
- Call your local Dave and Buster’s first, because the menu isn’t identical everywhere.
Conclusion
Dave and Buster’s won’t win awards for its vegetarian range, but you can eat here without ordering meat. Build your meal from the 5-Cheese Flatbread, the shareables, chips and guacamole, and the Black Bean Burger. For the bigger picture, see our guide to eating vegetarian and vegan at restaurants, browse more restaurant guides, or check similar spots like Buffalo Wild Wings, TGI Fridays and Applebee’s.
