"Eatertainment" makes a comeback

• Investments are pouring in to chains that offer sports, arcade games and elevated menus — think Dave & Buster's and Chuck E. Cheese but with chef-driven cuisine, Instagram-worthy decor and modern pursuits.

Driving the news: New "social entertainment" venues are flourishing by offering hip leisure activities — such as darts, ping-pong and shuffleboard — in tech-infused settings that cater to our thirst to socialize even as the pandemic stretches on.

• The pickleball craze has spawned growing chains like Smash Park and Chicken N Pickle, where you can play in a league, book a party or just drop in for a game and a meal.
• Puttshack, a brand of "upscale" mini-golf-themed restaurants, opened its 7th location this week in Boston — on the heels of raising $150 million from BlackRock.
• Its founders are behind the eatertainment chains Topgolf (driving ranges), Flight Club (darts), AceBounce (ping-pong) and All Star Lanes (bowling).
• In Texas, a new baseball-themed venue, Home Run Dugout, offers augmented reality batting cages alongside tuna poke bowls.
• TOCA Social, where guests kick soccer balls and order from a "banging food and drinks menu" (heavy on the tacos), started in London and is coming to Dallas.
• A growing number of chains indulge our modern fondness for ax-throwing (not to mention artisanal flatbread).
• For example: Kick Axe Throwing — in Brooklyn, D.C. and Philly — welcomes those "ages 8 and up as long as they have the strength and coordination to effectively throw a hatchet."
• Even shuffleboard has gone hip, as evidenced by newcomers like Electric Shuffle, another London import now in Dallas and Austin.

Older, familiar names are also getting facelifts and a fresh jolt of popularity.

• Dave & Buster's — which was close to bankruptcy at the nadir of the pandemic — has turned into a stock market darling, and recently paid $835 million for food-and-games chain Main Event.
• Chuck E. Cheese is expanding internationally.

What's new: The latest crop of social entertainment venues feature higher-quality food (begone, frozen nuggets!), tech-heavy games that keep score for you, and a host of diversions beyond Skee-Ball.

• They're also designed to be eye-catching so guests will plaster their social media accounts with pictures.

Decisions, decisions: Don't care for pickleball? Smash Park, which opened its first location in 2018, also has trivia, bingo, cornhole, giant Jenga and Connect Four, bocce, foosball and arcade games — plus dozens of TVs.

• It also serves colorful and shareable cocktails in fishbowls ("Sociabowls") and fancy pub fare.
• "I don't know if new entertainment concepts can survive without a good, solid menu," Monty Lockyear, founder and CEO of Smash Park Entertainment Group, tells Axios. "Some of the legacy brands are seeing that, and they're elevating their menus — people expect that."

No cheating: Puttshack has patented a technology called Trackaball that keeps score — and knows if you pick up your ball and move it.

What they're saying: "People are looking for ways to connect with each other and looking for something a little more than the typical bar and restaurant," Susan Walmesley, Puttshack's chief marketing officer, tells Axios.

• "Because we're all carrying our phones around in our pockets, we're looking for something new and different to share."

Also trending: "Clubstaurants," which blend table service and a nightclub vibe — and haven't been a hot concept since 2016.

The bottom line: Expect to hear more about "eatertainment" as these chains expand nationally and add ever-weirder attractions — getting diners to linger and run up bigger food and bar bills.

Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to remove a reference to Cracker Barrel’s investment in Punch Bowl Social. That investment was canceled in 2020.