The bar and restaurant industry is going through one of its most significant shifts in decades. The formula that worked for generations — great food, good drinks, attentive service — is no longer enough on its own. Today’s guests want more than a meal. They want an experience worth talking about, sharing, and coming back for.
This shift has a name: eatertainment. And it is quietly rewriting the economics of food and beverage businesses across the country.
Why the Experience Gap Is Growing
Consumer behavior changed fundamentally coming out of the pandemic. According to research from Deloitte, 76% of millennials would rather spend money on experiences than material goods. That preference has real consequences for every bar and restaurant competing for the same weekend budget.
At the same time, costs are rising and traffic is uneven. The National Restaurant Association projects the industry will reach $1.55 trillion in sales in 2026, but operators are navigating persistent cost pressures and tightening household budgets that are making guests more selective about where they go. In that environment, a business that gives guests a compelling reason to stay longer and come back more often has a structural advantage over one that does not.
The data backs this up. Restaurants offering interactive or unique experiences saw a 22% revenue increase compared to traditional counterparts in 2024. And a study from Spark Cooperative found that when a customer’s dwell time increases by just 1%, their spending increases by 1.3%, meaning every additional minute a guest stays in your venue adds money to your bottom line.
The Dwell Time Equation
Dwell time is the single most powerful lever in the eatertainment business model. It measures how long a guest stays, and it is directly correlated to how much they spend.
The math plays out clearly in venue comparisons. A standalone driving range with no added entertainment might hold a guest for 45 minutes and earn $25 from them. A multi-experience venue with simulators, food, and drinks holds that same guest for three hours and earns $85. Same market. Same Saturday. The difference is dwell time.
Multi-attraction venues generate two to three times more revenue per visit than single-activity competitors by extending dwell time and layering spend opportunities across that longer visit. When VR attractions were added to family entertainment centers that previously lacked them, dwell time increased by 25%, often turning a 90-minute visit into one that extended through a meal.
This is the core logic behind every successful eatertainment concept: give guests something to do, and they will stay longer, order more, and return again.
What the Category Looks Like Today
Eatertainment is not one format. It is a spectrum of concepts that combine hospitality with activity, from trivia nights at a neighborhood bar to sprawling multi-level entertainment venues with full restaurant menus.
At the larger end, Puttshack has built a business with average unit volumes of approximately $12 million by pairing high-tech mini-golf with elevated food and beverage offerings. Over half of Puttshack’s revenue comes from food and drinks, not golf. Pinstripes, which combines a bistro-style menu with bowling and bocce ball, reports average unit volumes of $8.6 million.
Punch Bowl Social saw a 17% revenue bump in 2024 by anchoring its experience around birthday parties, date nights, and celebrations that convert first-time visitors into repeat guests. Concepts like these demonstrate that interactive entertainment is not a niche. It is a replicable revenue model with proven results at scale.
The immersive dining market as a whole is projected to reach $25 to $28 billion by 2033, expanding at a CAGR of 14.8% from 2025 forward.
Where Indoor Golf Fits In
Indoor golf simulators represent one of the strongest expressions of the eatertainment model available to independent operators and franchise partners today.
The format checks every box that makes eatertainment work. It is time-based, meaning guests book by the hour and cannot rush the experience. It is social, making it a natural fit for group outings, corporate events, date nights, and celebrations. It appeals to a wide range of skill levels, from serious golfers focused on swing data to casual players who have never touched a club. And critically, it pairs exceptionally well with food and beverage.
A single commercial simulator running five hours per day on 300 days per year at $50 per hour generates approximately $75,000 in annual revenue from bay rentals alone. Add food and beverage and that figure increases by roughly $22,500 per simulator. Scale to four, five, or six bays with a full-service bar and the economics become significantly more compelling.
Topgolf demonstrated the model at scale. What started as a technology-enhanced driving range evolved into one of the most profitable entertainment-hospitality hybrids ever built, with beverage receipts continuing to grow at one flagship Dallas location 17 years after opening. The lesson for independent operators and franchise partners is that golf-plus-F&B is not an untested concept. It is a proven formula now accessible at a fraction of Topgolf’s entry cost through commercial simulator technology.
That accessibility is exactly the gap that Golf VX was designed to fill. The platform is built around proprietary hardware that includes a dynamic swing plate replicating real-course terrain, a 3,800-frames-per-second sensor for shot accuracy, and an auto-tee system that keeps play moving without interruption. That technology base gives Golf VX the credibility of a high-end performance venue while its franchise model is purpose-built for bar and restaurant operators looking to enter the category. Their flagship Arlington Heights location, which opened in early 2025, puts the concept into practice with 12 simulator bays, a full food and drink menu, and a Makr Shakr robotic bartender — a working proof that the golf-plus-hospitality model can be packaged into a replicable business format.
The Revenue Layer Advantage
What separates indoor golf from many other eatertainment formats is the diversity of revenue streams available under one roof. A well-run indoor golf venue does not rely on any single income source.
Bay rentals provide the foundation: time-blocked, bookable, and scalable as bays are added. Memberships convert casual visitors into recurring revenue with predictable monthly income. Leagues and tournaments create community, increase utilization during off-peak hours, and build loyalty that is difficult to replicate through marketing alone. Private events including corporate outings, bachelor parties, birthday events, and company team-building days command premium pricing and generate some of the highest revenue-per-hour figures of any booking type. And food and beverage, when executed well, typically contributes 20 to 30% of total revenue at established indoor golf venues.
This layered model gives indoor golf operators resilience that single-format concepts lack. A slow week for walk-in bay rentals can be offset by a strong corporate event schedule. A quiet Tuesday night becomes an opportunity for a league or clinic.
The Social Media Effect
One factor driving eatertainment’s growth that does not show up in revenue tables is social media. Nearly 60% of consumers seek out premium or unique dining and entertainment experiences at least once a year, and 50% learn about new venues on social media before visiting. The implication for venue operators is significant: an experience worth photographing and sharing is also an experience worth paying for.
Indoor golf simulators are inherently shareable. A leaderboard showing your best shot at Pebble Beach, a photo of a backswing captured by the simulator’s high-speed camera, a group celebrating a tournament win over drinks. These moments generate organic content that traditional bar and restaurant formats simply cannot replicate.
Gen Z and millennials are especially drawn to experiences that are simultaneously fun and shareable, and research confirms they are willing to pay a premium for them. A venue that delivers on both counts is not competing on price. It is competing on memory.
What This Means for Bar and Restaurant Operators
The trajectory of the industry is clear. Operators who invest in technology, experience, and community are outperforming those who compete on food and price alone. The 22% revenue advantage that experiential venues hold over traditional concepts is not a temporary post-pandemic bump. It reflects a permanent shift in what consumers want from an evening out.
For bar and restaurant operators considering how to evolve their concept, indoor golf simulators offer a path that fits the eatertainment model without requiring a ground-up rebuild. Simulators can be integrated into existing spaces with the right square footage. They bring a new audience, extend dwell time, support premium pricing, and generate a recurring revenue base through memberships and leagues that most bar models cannot achieve.
The broader eatertainment wave is not slowing down. Venues that give guests a reason to stay, play, and come back are winning. Indoor golf is one of the clearest examples of that formula working exactly as designed.
