Dave & Buster's is putting a price tag on Halloween Saturday this year: $24.99 buys an adult seat at its Moonlight Mixer, $21 covers a family's Boo Bash. The holiday lands on a Saturday for the first time since 2020.

The chain began rolling out a limited-time Halloween menu across its U.S. stores this week, anchored in the $13.5 billion the National Retail Federation projects Americans will drop on the holiday. Roughly 74% of U.S. consumers plan to celebrate, per NRF — the kind of math that pushes operators to sharpen menu engineering.

Dave & Buster's is leaning on visual theatrics (vampire fangs, mad-scientist syringes, cauldrons, glowing ice) to lift check averages, with cocktails and desserts doing the heavier lifting.

"Halloween is one of the best reasons of the year for adults to dress up and get the whole crew together, and food and drinks are at the heart of the festivities," said Jeremy Tucker, chief marketing officer at Dave & Buster's. "We are not inventing a reason to go out. We are showing up for a night people already plan to celebrate."

What's on the limited-time menu?

The LTO runs the visual playbook hard. Love at First Bite — layered chocolate cake and peanut butter mousse built around Reese's Peanut Butter Cups — is engineered as a shareable centerpiece. The cocktail list reads like a costume party:

• Freak Show: Crown Royal, vanilla, citrus sour, Cabernet float, dried orange, vampire fangs
• Bad Medicine: Midori, pineapple passion fruit, cherry Jell-O syringe
• The Possession: Absolut Vodka, cherry, Sprite, luster dust, glowing ice cube, freeze-dried grape ice cream
• Cauldron Cream Soda: the alcohol-free mocktail, dirty-soda style with Fanta and vanilla

Food leans into group shareables. Summon the Fire Sauce brings buffalo spice and chili-lime heat for wings or cheesesticks. Funnel Cake Fries riffs on the chain staple with caramel drizzle, powdered sugar, sprinkles and dipping sauces.

What changes on the game floor?

Two moves. Escape Pod debuts as a five-minute zombie escape built for pairs — guests step inside and clock out before the zombies clock in. The Human Crane, the life-sized claw machine that turns the guest into the claw, gets restocked with Halloween prizes: inflatable potion bottles, skeletons, vampire fangs, black cats.

Both join a refreshed lineup that already includes John Wick: Continental Pursuit, ICEE Slush Rush and Perfect Pump.

What does this change for the category?

Halloween Saturday is a check-builder occasion for an operator that runs roughly equal parts food, beverage and gameplay revenue. The two ticketed parties — Moonlight Mixer (7–10 p.m., 18+) and Boo Bash (10 a.m.–1 p.m., families) — turn expected traffic into pre-sold inventory.

Moonlight Mixer's $24.99 ticket covers a Fright Bite Banquet, three hours of unlimited video game play, a Monster Mash playlist and a costume contest. Drink tickets run $11 each, up to two per guest. Boo Bash starts at $21 per person, or $25.99 with a Pancake Banquet, unlimited games and a $10 Power Card.

Both parties are on sale now at daveandbustershalloween.com. The menu runs nationwide through Oct. 31.

If Saturday traffic delivers, the chain's October same-store sales will be racing its own calendar advantage.