McKinney’s new Dave & Buster’s opens July 27 as North Texas’ largest

McKinney’s new Dave & Buster’s will open July 27 at 4064 W. University Drive, with a ribbon cutting set for that morning before doors open shortly after. At roughly 40,000 square feet, the venue will be the largest Dave & Buster’s in North Texas, placing one of the chain’s biggest local bets in the heart of north McKinney’s retail corridor.

The store is part of the second phase of Plaza at Fort Buckner, a mixed-use development by The Seitz Group that developer Eric Seitz has described as about 150,000 square feet of retail space built in two phases. The project already has names familiar to Collin County diners and shoppers, including Torchy’s Tacos, Frost Bank, Piada, Cava, Cold Stone Creamery, Dave’s Hot Chicken and Einstein Bros. Bagels.

Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation filings put the project’s estimated cost at $8,107,710. The same filing lists a start date of Sept. 16, 2024, and a completion date of July 20, 2026, which lands just a week before the scheduled opening. That timeline also shows how the project evolved: an earlier 2024 description called for a 30,000-square-foot venue and a May 2025 completion target.

Dave & Buster’s said in June 2026 that it planned to hire 150 employees for the McKinney location. The company says the store will feature a chef-crafted menu, innovative drinks and a sports bar with a large high-definition “WOW” wall, along with space for birthdays, corporate gatherings and other events. To mark the opening, the first 100 guests on July 27 will receive free all-day gameplay.

The site sits near the northwest corner of U.S. 380 and Hardin Boulevard, an area where McKinney has kept adding retail, restaurant and service uses as North Texas growth pushes farther north. With another large-format entertainment venue joining the mix, the opening gives families, teens and event planners one more high-profile option in a part of the city that is already competing hard for spending from across Collin County.