UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

SCHEDULE 14A INFORMATION

Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

(Amendment No.     )

Filed by the Registrant  ☒                            

Filed by a party other than the Registrant  ☐

Check the appropriate box:

DAVE & BUSTER’S ENTERTAINMENT, INC.

(Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)

(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if other than the Registrant)

Payment of Filing Fee (Check the appropriate box):

EAT DRINK PLAY WATCH^®

2022

NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING

AND PROXY STATEMENT

Thursday, June 16, 2022, 8:30 a.m., Central Daylight Time

Virtual Meeting, for details visit www.meetnow.global/MMVDA2Y

May 4, 2022

To Our Shareholders:

On behalf of the Board of Directors, it is our pleasure to cordially invite you to participate in the 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, Inc. (the “Annual Meeting”) on June 16, 2022, at 8:30 a.m. Central Daylight Time. The Annual Meeting will be conducted solely online via live webcast. You will be able to listen to the Annual Meeting online, vote your shares electronically and submit your questions prior to and during the Annual Meeting. You may access the Annual Meeting by visiting www.meetnow.global/MMVDA2Y on the meeting date at the time described in the accompanying Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders and Proxy Statement. Please check in early to ensure that you can access the Annual Meeting on your computer or other electronic device. You will find information regarding the matters expected to be addressed at the Annual Meeting described in detail in the accompanying Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders and Proxy Statement. There is no physical location for the Annual Meeting.

Your vote is important to us. While we invite you to listen online to the meeting and exercise your right to vote your shares online during the meeting, we recognize that many of you may not be able to listen or may choose not to do so. Whether or not you plan to listen, we respectfully request you vote as soon as possible over the internet, by telephone, or, upon your request, after receipt of paper copies of the proxy materials. We encourage you to vote by internet. Your vote will mean that you are represented at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders regardless of whether you participate online during the meeting. You may also request a paper copy of the proxy card to submit your vote if you prefer. If you have voted by internet, by mail or by telephone and later decide to attend the Annual Meeting virtually, you may do so and vote during the Annual Meeting.

Thank you for being a shareholder and we look forward to seeing you at the meeting.

Sincerely,

Kevin M. Sheehan

Chair of the Board and Interim CEO

NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING

OF SHAREHOLDERS

To Our Shareholders:

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, Inc. (the “Annual Meeting”) will be held virtually at the noted time and at the webpage noted below for the following purposes:

The foregoing items of business are more fully described in the Proxy Statement accompanying this Notice.

Beginning on May 4, 2022, we sent a Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials to all shareholders entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting, together with instructions on how to access our proxy materials over the Internet and how to vote.

By Order of the Board of Directors

Robert W. Edmund

General Counsel, Secretary

and SVP of Human Resources

Coppell, Texas

May 4, 2022

IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING THE AVAILABILITY OF PROXY MATERIALS FOR THE SHAREHOLDER MEETING TO BE HELD ON JUNE 16, 2022.

DAVE & BUSTER’S ENTERTAINMENT, INC.

Proxy Statement

For the Annual Meeting of Shareholders

To Be Held on June 16, 2022

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PROPOSAL NO. 1

ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

Your proxy will be used to vote FOR the election of all of the nominees named below unless you abstain from or vote against the nominees when you send in your proxy. Following the election of directors, the Company’s Board of Directors will be comprised of seven (7) members. Each of the nominees for election to the Board of Directors is currently a director of the Company. If elected at the Annual Meeting, each of the nominees will serve for one year or until his or her successor is duly elected and qualified, or until such director’s earlier death, resignation or removal. If any of the nominees is unable or unwilling to be a candidate for election by the time of the Annual Meeting (a contingency which the Board does not expect to occur), the shareholders may vote for a substitute nominee chosen by the present Board to fill a vacancy. In the alternative, the shareholders may vote for just the remaining nominees leaving a vacancy that may be filled later by the Board. Alternatively, the Board may reduce its size.

We are furnishing below certain biographical information about each of the seven (7) nominees for director. Also included is a description of the experience, qualifications, attributes and skills of each nominee.

PROPOSAL NO. 2

RATIFICATION OF APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT

REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

The Audit Committee of the Board of Directors has selected KPMG LLP (“KPMG”) to be the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending January 29, 2023 and recommends that the shareholders vote for ratification for this appointment. KPMG has been engaged as our independent registered public accounting firm since 2010. As a matter of good corporate governance, the Audit Committee has requested the Board of Directors to submit the selection of KPMG as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for fiscal 2022 to shareholders for ratification. In the event of a negative vote on such ratification, the Audit Committee will reconsider its selection. We expect representatives of KPMG to be present at the Annual Meeting. They will have the opportunity to make a statement at the Annual Meeting if they desire to do so and will be available to respond to appropriate questions.

Audit and Related Fees

The following table sets forth the fees (dollars shown are in thousands) for professional audit services and fees for other services provided to the Company by KPMG, for fiscal 2021 which ended on January 30, 2022 and fiscal 2020 which ended on January 31, 2021:

The Audit Committee has established a policy whereby the outside auditors are required to annually provide service- specific fee estimates and seek pre-approval of all audit, audit-related, tax and other services prior to the performance of any such services. Individual engagements anticipated to exceed the pre-approved thresholds must be separately approved by the Audit Committee. For both fiscal 2021 and 2020, the Audit Committee pre-approved 100% of all services provided by KPMG and concluded that the provision of such services by KPMG was compatible with such firm’s independence.

PROPOSAL NO. 3

ADVISORY VOTE ON EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

As required by Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) rules, we are asking you to provide an advisory, non- binding vote to approve the compensation awarded to our named executive officers, as we have described in the Executive Compensation section of this Proxy Statement.

As described in detail in the Compensation Discussion and Analysis section, the Compensation Committee oversees the compensation program and compensation awarded, adopting changes to the program and awarding compensation as appropriate to reflect the Company’s circumstances and to promote the main objectives of the program. These objectives include: to align pay to performance; to provide market-competitive pay; and to create sustained shareholder value.

We are asking you to indicate your support for our named executive officer compensation. We believe that the information we have provided in this Proxy Statement demonstrates that our compensation program is designed appropriately and works to ensure that the interests of our executive officers, including our named executive officers, are aligned with your interest in long-term value creation.

Accordingly, we ask you to approve the following resolution at the Annual Meeting:

RESOLVED, that the shareholders of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, Inc. approve the compensation awarded to the Company’s named executive officers, as disclosed in this Proxy Statement pursuant to SEC rules, including the Compensation Discussion and Analysis, compensation tables and narrative discussion.

This resolution is non-binding on the Board of Directors. Although non-binding, the Board of Directors and Compensation Committee will review the voting results and consider your concerns in their continued evaluation of the Company’s compensation program. Because this vote is advisory in nature, it will not affect any compensation already paid or awarded to any named executive officer, it will not be binding or overrule any decision by the Board of Directors, and it will not restrict or limit the ability of the shareholders to make proposals for inclusion in proxy materials related to executive compensation.

PROPOSAL NO. 4

ADVISORY VOTE ON FREQUENCY OF FUTURE ADVISORY VOTES ON EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

As required by SEC rules, we are asking you to vote, on an advisory, non-binding basis, on how frequently we should present to you the advisory vote on executive compensation. SEC rules require the Company to submit to a shareholder vote at least once every six years whether advisory votes on executive compensation should be presented every one, two or three years.

After careful consideration of the frequency alternatives, the Board believes that continuing with the one-year frequency for conducting an advisory vote on executive compensation is appropriate for the Company and its shareholders at this time. Notwithstanding the outcome of this vote, as discussed in the FAQs About the Meeting and Voting section of this Proxy Statement, shareholders, at their discretion at any time, may communicate directly with the Board of Directors on various issues, including executive compensation.

Shareholders will specify one of four choices for this proposal on the proxy card: one year, two years, three years or abstain.

We are asking you to indicate your support for one-year frequency of advisory votes on our executive compensation. We believe that the information we have provided in this Proxy Statement demonstrates that our compensation program is designed appropriately and works to ensure that the interests of our executive officers, including our named executive officers, are aligned with your interest in long-term value creation and that we should continue to have you vote on an advisory, non-binding basis, on a one-year frequency.

Accordingly, we ask you to approve the following resolution at the Annual Meeting:

RESOLVED, that the shareholders of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, Inc. approve the frequency of future advisory votes on executive compensation be on a one-year basis.

This resolution is non-binding on the Board of Directors. Although non-binding, the Board of Directors and Compensation Committee will review the voting results and consider your concerns in their continued evaluation of the Company’s compensation program. Because this vote is advisory in nature, it will not affect any compensation already paid or awarded to any named executive officer, it will not be binding or overrule any decision by the Board of Directors, and it will not restrict or limit the ability of the shareholders to make proposals for inclusion in proxy materials related to executive compensation.

DIRECTORS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Composition and Board Independence

Our Board of Directors currently consists of eight (8) members but will return to seven (7) members following the election of Board members at the Annual Meeting. Our Board of Directors has affirmatively determined that all of our directors standing for election other than our interim Chief Executive Officer are independent directors under our standards as well as the applicable rules of NASDAQ. In addition, our Board of Directors affirmatively determined that each member of the Audit Committee, Messrs. Dodds, Griffith, and Shah and Ms. Mandel, satisfies the independence requirements for members of an audit committee as set forth in Rule 10A-3(b)(1) of the Exchange Act, and that each member of the Compensation Committee, Mr. Chambers, Mr. Griffith, Ms. Mueller and Ms. Storms, satisfies the independence requirements for members of a compensation committee under the applicable rules of NASDAQ.

Corporate Governance

The Board of Directors met twelve times in fiscal 2021, including regular and special meetings. During this period, no individual director attended fewer than 75% of the aggregate of (1) the total number of meetings of the Board of Directors and (2) the total number of meetings held by all committees on which he or she served.

The Company invites members of the Board of Directors to attend its annual shareholder meeting and requires that they make every effort to attend the Annual Meeting absent an unavoidable and irreconcilable conflict. All directors attended the June 17, 2021 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.

The Board of Directors has an Audit Committee, a Compensation Committee, a Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and a Finance Committee. The charters for each of these committees are posted on our website at http://ir.daveandbusters.com/corporate-governance.

The Audit Committee, currently comprised of Messrs. Dodds, Griffith, Mandel and Shah, and chaired by Mr. Shah, recommends to the Board of Directors the appointment of the Company’s independent auditors, reviews and approves the scope of the annual audits of the Company’s financial statements, provides oversight of our internal control over financial reporting, reviews and approves any non-audit services performed by the independent auditors, reviews the findings and recommendations of the independent auditors and periodically reviews major accounting policies. The Audit Committee held eight meetings during fiscal 2021. The Board of Directors has determined that each of the members of the Audit Committee is qualified as a “financial expert” under the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the rules and regulations of the SEC.

The Compensation Committee comprised of Mr. Chambers, Mr. Griffith, Ms. Mueller and Ms. Storms, and chaired by Mr. Griffith, reviews the Company’s compensation philosophy and strategy, administers incentive compensation and stock option plans, reviews the Chief Executive Officer’s performance and compensation, reviews recommendations on compensation of other executive officers and board members, and reviews other special compensation matters, such as executive employment agreements. The Compensation Committee held seven meetings during fiscal 2021. The Compensation Committee has engaged FW Cook as its independent compensation consultant. Ms. Mueller will leave the Compensation Committee at the end of her current term.

The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, comprised of Mr. Griffith, Ms. Mandel, Ms. Mueller, Mr. Shah and Ms. Storms, and chaired by Ms. Mueller, identifies and recommends the individuals qualified to be nominated for election to the Board of Directors, recommends the member of the Board of Directors qualified to be nominated for election as its Chair, recommends the members and chair for each committee of the Board of Directors, reviews and recommends to the Board matters regarding CEO succession plans, provides oversight concerning the Company’s corporate responsibility and sustainability efforts, periodically reviews and assesses our Corporate Governance Guidelines and Principles and Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and oversees the annual self-evaluation of the performance of the Board of Directors. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee held five meetings during fiscal 2021. Ms. Mueller will leave the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee at the end of her current term.

The Finance Committee, comprised of Messrs. Chambers, Dodds, and Sheehan and Ms. Storms, and chaired by Mr. Dodds, assists the Board of Directors in fulfilling its financial management oversight responsibilities by assessing, overseeing and evaluating from time to time, policies and transactions affecting our financial objectives, reviewing our indebtedness, strategic planning, capital structure objectives, investment programs and policies, periodically auditing major capital expenditures, including real estate acquisitions and new store development, and working with our management and the Compensation Committee on annual operating goals. The Finance Committee met five times during fiscal 2021.

The Board’s Role in Risk Oversight

The entire Board of Directors is engaged in risk management oversight. At the present time, the Board of Directors has not established a separate committee to facilitate its risk oversight responsibilities. The Board of Directors will continue to monitor and assess whether such a committee would be appropriate. The Audit Committee assists the Board of Directors in its oversight of risk management and our process established to identify, measure, monitor, and manage risks, in particular, major financial risks. Company management annually updates the Audit Committee on enterprise risk matters. The Board of Directors receives regular reports from management, as well as from the Audit Committee, regarding relevant risks and the actions taken by management to adequately address those risks. The Audit Committee also has oversight of the Company’s information security matters and is provided regular comprehensive updates by Company management at least annually on the status of the Company’s information security status, including benchmarking to NIST Cybersecurity Framework standards and annual training of Company team members on cybersecurity awareness. During fiscal 2021, the Company did not report any security breaches.

Succession Planning

Our Corporate Governance Guidelines and Principles require the Board to plan for CEO succession and oversee management development. During fiscal 2021 the Board reviewed management development and succession readiness with respect to senior management positions with the Board Chair and Interim CEO, but in light of the recent transition of the CEO role, the formal assessments that typically accompany this process were deferred pending the naming of a permanent CEO. The Board also reviewed succession plans with respect to the CEO.

Board of Directors Leadership Structure

Our Board of Directors does not have a policy requiring the roles of the Chair of the Board and Chief Executive Officer to be filled by separate persons or a policy requiring the Chair of the Board to be a non-employee director. The Board believes that it is in the best interest of the Company and its shareholders for the Board to make a determination on whether to separate or combine the roles of Chair and CEO based upon the Company’s circumstances at any particular point in time, whether the Chair role shall be held by an independent director, and if not, supported by a Lead Independent Director. Mr. Sheehan currently serves as Chair of the Board and Interim CEO, and Mr. Griffith serves as Lead Independent Director.

The Board believes that, at this time, this leadership structure serves the ability of the Board of Directors to exercise its oversight role over management by having an independent director who is not an officer or member of management serve in the role of Lead Independent Director. This structure also allows Mr. Sheehan, as Interim CEO, to focus his time and energy on leading and managing the Company’s business and operations. The Board believes that the use of regular executive sessions of the independent directors, the Board’s strong committee system, and all directors being independent except for Mr. Sheehan allow it to maintain effective oversight of management.

Director Compensation

The Compensation Committee intends to set director compensation levels at or near the market median relative to directors at companies of comparable size, industry and scope of operations to ensure directors are competitively compensated for their time commitment and responsibilities. A market competitive compensation package is important because it enables us to attract and retain highly qualified directors who are critical to our long-term success.

The following table sets forth all compensation earned by our non-employee directors during fiscal 2021 for service on our Board of Directors:

Directors Outstanding Equity Awards at 2021 Fiscal Year End

In addition to reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with their Board service, our non-employee Board members receive an annual stipend, chair and committee member fees and equity grant for serving as members of our Board of Directors. The following table sets out the stipend, fees and equity grant for non-employee directors for fiscal 2022:

Fiscal 2022 Annual Director Compensation

All cash fees are paid in quarterly installments, and the equity grant is made in the first quarter of each year. The Compensation Committee reviews the compensation to non-employee directors on a biennial basis. Each of Messrs. Griffith and Sheehan participate in the Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, Inc. 2010 Management Incentive Plan (the “2010 Stock Incentive Plan”) and the Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, Inc. Amended and Restated 2014 Omnibus Incentive Plan (the “2014 Stock Incentive Plan”). Mr. Chambers, Mr. Dodds, Ms. Mandel, Ms. Mueller, Mr. Shah and Ms. Storms participate in the 2014 Stock Incentive Plan.

Director Stock Ownership Guidelines

The Company has a stock ownership requirement for non-employee directors to align the interests of its non- employee directors with the interests of the shareholders and to further promote the Company’s commitment to sound corporate governance. Under this requirement, a non-employee director must own shares of the Company’s

stock with a fair market value equal to five (5) times the director’s annual cash retainer. Each non-employee director has five (5) years from the date of initial appointment or election to the Board to meet this requirement. If at time of measurement, a director is not in compliance with this guideline, the director is prohibited from selling 50% of any new equity award issued to them (net of taxes) until such time as they come into compliance.

Mr. Sheehan, as Board Chair and Interim CEO, meets the guidelines for a director as well as the guidelines for an employee. The employee guidelines are detailed under Stock Ownership Guidelines elsewhere in the Executive Compensation section of this Proxy Statement.

Policy Regarding Shareholder Recommendations for Director Candidates

The Company identifies new director candidates through a variety of sources. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee will consider director candidates recommended by shareholders in the same manner it considers other candidates, as described below. Shareholders seeking to recommend candidates for consideration by the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee should submit a recommendation in writing describing the candidate’s qualifications and other relevant biographical information and provide confirmation of the candidate’s consent to serve as director. Please submit this information to the Corporate Secretary, Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, Inc., 1221 S. Belt Line Road, #500, Coppell, Texas 75019 or by email at corporatesecretary@daveandbusters.com.

Shareholders may also propose director nominees by adhering to the advance notice procedure described under Shareholder Proposals elsewhere in this Proxy Statement.

Director Qualifications

The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and the Board believe that candidates for director should have certain minimum qualifications, including, without limitation:

In the context of the Board’s existing composition, other requirements (such as prior CEO experience, restaurant, hospitality, gaming, sports-related marketing and branding, or retail industry experience, or relevant senior level experience in finance, accounting, sales and marketing, organizational development, information technology, or public relations) that are expected to contribute to the Board’s overall effectiveness and meet the needs of the Board and its committees may be considered. The Company values diversity and seeks to achieve diversity of occupational, demographic and personal backgrounds on the Board but has not adopted a specific policy regarding Board diversity. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee assesses the effectiveness of its diversity efforts in connection with its periodic evaluation of the Board’s composition.

Current Nominations

The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee conducted an evaluation and assessment of all of the current directors (other than Ms. Mueller who is not standing for re-election) for purposes of determining whether to recommend them for nomination for re-election to the Board of Directors. After reviewing the assessment results, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee recommended that Messrs. Chambers, Dodds, Griffith, Shah, and Sheehan and Mses. Mandel and Storms be nominated for election to the Board of Directors. The Board accepted

the recommendations and nominated such persons. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee did not receive any recommendations from shareholders proposing candidates for election to the Board at the Annual Meeting.

Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and Whistle Blower Policy

The Code of Business Conduct and Ethics applies to our directors, officers and other employees and is available on our website at http://ir.daveandbusters.com/corporate-governance. We intend to post any material amendments or waivers of our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics that apply to our executive officers on this website. In fiscal 2021, we did not post any material amendments to or waivers of the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics on our website. In addition, our Whistle Blower Policy is available on our website at http://ir.daveandbusters.com/corporate-governance.

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

During fiscal 2021, the members of our Compensation Committee were Mr. Chambers, Mr. Griffith, Mr. Hockin (until his resignation in September 2021), Ms. Mueller and Ms. Storms. None of our executive officers serve on the compensation committee or board of directors of any other company of which any of the members of our Compensation Committee or any of our directors is an executive officer.

Communications with the Board of Directors

If shareholders wish to communicate with the Board of Directors or with an individual director, they may direct such communications in care of the General Counsel, 1221 S. Belt Line Road, #500, Coppell, Texas 75019. The communication must be clearly addressed to the Board of Directors or to a specific director. The Board of Directors has instructed the General Counsel to review and forward any such correspondence to the appropriate person or persons for response.

SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT

The following table shows the ownership of our common stock by (a) all persons known by us to beneficially own more than 5% of our common stock, (b) each present director, (c) the named executive officers, and (d) all executive officers and directors as a group.

We have determined beneficial ownership in accordance with the rules of the SEC, and unless otherwise indicated below, to our knowledge, the persons and entities named in the table have sole voting and sole investment power with respect to all shares that they beneficially own, subject to community property laws where applicable.

We have based our calculation of the percentage of beneficial ownership on 48,656,085 shares of our common stock outstanding as of April 6, 2022, unless otherwise indicated in the footnotes below. We have deemed shares of our common stock subject to stock options that are currently exercisable or exercisable within 60 days of April 6, 2022 to be outstanding and to be beneficially owned by the person holding the stock option for the purpose of computing the percentage ownership of that person. Unless otherwise noted, the address of each beneficial owner is c/o Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, Inc., 1221 S. Belt Line Road, #500, Coppell, Texas 75019.

EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

We are furnishing below certain biographical information about our executive officers.

EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

This section describes our compensation program for our named executive officers (“NEOs”) for fiscal 2021. The discussion focuses on our compensation programs and compensation-related decisions for fiscal 2021 and addresses why we believe our compensation program supports our business strategy and operational plans. For fiscal 2021, our NEOs are:

Business, Strategy and Performance Highlights for Fiscal 2021

Please see the highlights for fiscal 2021 set forth on pages 4-5 of the Summary section of this Proxy Statement.

CEO and CFO Transition

Mr. Jenkins relinquished the role of CEO on September 30, 2021 and left the Company on November 30, 2021. Per the terms of his employment agreement, Mr. Jenkins received cash severance to which he was entitled for an involuntary termination without cause. Separately, he retained rights to some outstanding unvested equity compensation that he qualified for termination without cause and retirement treatment, due to his age and years of service, under the terms of those grants. Both cash severance and equity treatment are detailed below in Potential Payments Upon Termination or Change in Control. Mr. Bowman voluntarily resigned on December 8, 2021 and did not receive any cash severance. In addition, Mr. Bowman did not qualify for retirement treatment under any equity grant agreements; therefore, he forfeited all outstanding equity.

Compensation Philosophy and Overall Objectives of Executive Compensation Programs

Our executive compensation philosophy is based upon three core values: pay for performance, market-competitive pay and sustained shareholder value creation.

Pay for Performance—This ensures that we align the interests of senior executives with the interests of our shareholders. Compensation is tied directly to delivering both annual and long-term value creation to our shareholders. Annual incentives focus on efficient and productive operation of the business, while long-term incentives focus on value creation of the enterprise. In addition, we put greater emphasis on the longer-term aspects of the compensation package to help ensure that all actions of management contribute to multi-year value creation.

Market-Competitive Pay—In setting compensation for our executive officers, including our NEOs, the Compensation Committee uses competitive compensation data from an annual total compensation study of a selected peer group of other restaurant and entertainment companies of comparable size and business models as well as other relevant survey sources. These sources inform the Compensation Committee’s decisions about overall compensation opportunities and specific compensation elements. Additionally, the Compensation Committee uses multiple reference points when establishing targeted compensation levels. The Compensation Committee applies judgment and discretion in establishing targeted pay levels, considering not only competitive market data, but also factors such as company, business unit, and individual performance; scope of responsibility; critical needs and skill sets; experience; leadership potential; and succession planning. Consistent with our pay for performance core values, compensation above target levels is achieved through above-target performance against our annual and long-term incentive goals.

Sustained Shareholder Value Creation—All of our compensation plans are designed to increase the value we deliver to our shareholders through the selection of proper business performance metrics, the leverage built into the plans for performance achievement and the proper governance of the plans throughout the year by our Compensation Committee. We believe that profitable growth of our enterprise is primary while simultaneously reinforcing an ethical and performance-based culture. Our Compensation Committee approves all goals and awards in advance and monitors progress on their achievement throughout the year. In the long-term incentive plan (the “LTIP”) implemented pursuant to the 2014 Stock Incentive Plan, we use a series of vehicles to reinforce this commitment to sustained shareholder value creation.

Through this combination of vehicles and the design of our programs, we ensure that our expectation for continuous improvement, growth and profitability are achieved while effectively managing any undue risk elements.

Our compensation philosophy guides us in our annual review of compensation and the assessment of the right pay for performance relationship. It also ensures that when strong performance is achieved, that performance is appropriately rewarded. Our Compensation Committee annually reviews this philosophy and our compensation plans to ensure they are continuing to meet their stated goals and objectives. If they are not, changes will be made to reestablish the right alignment.

In sum, this philosophy is designed to ensure that shareholders see a return for their investment in our Company and that we are getting the right return on our leadership compensation investment.

In 2021, as noted above and in more detail below, the Company continued to face unique circumstances associated with the COVID-19 Pandemic (the “Pandemic”). The Committee worked to tailor its Short- and Long-Term Incentive Plans to the pace of the Company’s recovery. To that end, because of the volatility of business results associated with different COVID variant waves, the Committee divided the annual Short-Term Incentive Plan into two six-month plans, allowing it to set rigorous but achievable goals closely calibrated to the pace and trajectory of the Company’s recovery. The Committee approved a short-term incentive plan for 2022 returning to a full-year measurement period, with payouts determined based on performance against pre-determined objective, financial goals. For the Long-Term Incentive Plan, the Committee utilized a mix of time-based RSUs, MSUs tied to the performance of the Company’s stock price over the next three years, and PSUs tied to achievement of a specific sales and EBITDA recovery goal. The state of knowledge about the Pandemic and the impact of new variants at the time the Company established the Long-Term Incentive Plan made it difficult to set appropriately challenging but realistic three-year sales and EBITDA performance goals as the Committee has done in the past. In addition, the Committee believed it appropriate to focus the Company’s leadership team on achieving a full recovery as soon as possible. For these reasons, the performance period for the PSU component of the Long-Term Incentive Plan was set to one year rather than the typical three-year period the Company has previously used for this Plan component, although all PSU awards earned will still ratably vest over 3 years to incent retention of key leaders and long-term growth for shareholders. In the plan recently adopted for Fiscal 2022, now that the business has fully recovered, the Company returned to a three-year performance period for the PSU component of the Long-Term Incentive Plan, which makes up 50% of the long-term incentive plan.

Compensation Practices

The following list summarizes executive compensation practices that we have to drive performance as well as executive compensation practices that we avoid because we do not believe they serve the long-term interests of our shareholders.

Shareholder Say-on-Pay Vote for 2021 and Compensation Actions Taken

Our investors were supportive of these pay actions as evidenced by the overwhelming (97%) support of our Say-on-Pay vote. The positive result of this vote is one of the many factors our Compensation Committee considers in evaluating our executive compensation program.

Procedures for Determining Compensation

Our Compensation Committee has the overall responsibility for designing and evaluating the salaries, incentive plan compensation, policies and programs for our executive officers, including the NEOs. The Compensation Committee relies on input from an independent compensation consultant and the experience of members of the Compensation Committee to guide our compensation decisions, including compensation of our NEOs. In addition, the Compensation Committee relies on input from our Chief Executive Officer regarding an officer’s individual performance (other than himself) and an analysis of our corporate performance. By a delegation of authority from the Board of Directors, the Compensation Committee has final authority regarding the overall compensation structure for the executive officers, including the NEOs.

The compensation of our executive officers typically consists primarily of four major components:

Each of these components is discussed in detail in Elements of Compensation below.

When making compensation decisions, the Compensation Committee considers, among other things:

Annually, the Compensation Committee engages a compensation consulting firm to conduct a benchmarking study of executive compensation programs, provide analysis and advice regarding plan design for short- and long-term incentive plans, and provide analysis and advice concerning trends and regulatory developments in executive compensation. In fiscal 2021, the Company’s independent compensation consultants, FW Cook, evaluated our market competitiveness against (a) a custom peer group and (b) a robust industry-specific survey of restaurant and hospitality companies. The peer group against which we compared ourselves includes (i) casual dining restaurants that offer an “experience”; (ii) casual dining concepts with which we compete for leadership talent; (iii) companies that focus on entertainment, including casino & gaming companies; (iv) hotels, resorts & cruise lines; and (v) leisure facilities. At the time of comparison, all members in aggregate had a restaurant/entertainment mix similar to our income mix:

FW Cook had no other direct business relationship with the Company and received no payments from us other than the fees and expenses for services to the Compensation Committee.

Pay for Performance Alignment

Typically, we work to leverage our executive compensation structure to drive outstanding Company performance and provide appropriate rewards for sustained, strong individual performance. A significant portion of each executive officer’s pay is at-risk and awarded in the form of cash- and stock-based short- and long-term incentive grants. These incentive grants, which are discussed below, link each executive officer’s annual income to the achievement of short- and long- term financial and strategic goals. As such, executive officers, including the NEOs, face a risk of forfeiture or a reduced payout if the Company fails to meet its financial and strategic objectives. Under each incentive plan, target compensation is only earned if the designated financial and strategic objectives are met. Each incentive plan offers above-target payouts for outstanding performance; alternatively, no incentive may be earned if a threshold level of performance is not achieved. Further, the Compensation Committee aims to link any adjustments to an executive officer’s base salary to his or her individual performance.

In evaluating whether the compensation programs appropriately link each executive officer’s compensation to Company performance, the Compensation Committee reviews and evaluates the achievements of the Company in the fiscal year. During fiscal 2021, the Company experienced declines in total revenues and comparable store sales from the surges caused by the multiple Coronavirus variants. In many locales, our stores were subject to restrictions on hours and operations, required to comply with mask and vaccine mandates and in a few instances were closed to additional periods. Key accomplishments are more specifically detailed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K. Our compensation programs were tailored to closely calibrate to the Company’s pace of recovery. Those changes are summarized in more detail in the next section.

Our fiscal 2021 compensation packages for our CEO and other NEOs were heavily weighted towards variable compensation. Long term incentives constituted the largest portion of the target direct compensation opportunity for our CEO. The graphs below show the target pay mix for our CEO and the average of the other NEOs based on annual

base salary, annual short-term incentives at target and the economic value (at the time of grant) of restricted stock units and performance-based restricted stock units granted during the year. The target pay mix applies to our former CEO and does not reflect our Interim CEO’s compensation.

Elements of Compensation

Base Salary

A portion of each executive officer’s total compensation is in the form of base salary. This is a fixed cash payment, expressed as an annualized salary. The salary component was designed to provide the executive officers with consistent income and to attract and retain talented and experienced executives capable of managing our operations and strategic growth. In alignment with our compensation philosophy, the Compensation Committee believes having base salary levels that position us appropriately relative to the market and reflect the performance and level of responsibility of each executive officer is key to providing a competitive total compensation package. Annually, the performance of each executive officer, including the NEOs, is reviewed by the Compensation Committee using information and evaluations provided by the Chief Executive Officer, taking into account our operating and financial results for the year, an assessment of the contribution of each executive officer to such results, the achievement of our strategic growth and any changes in the role and responsibility of an executive officer. In addition, the Compensation Committee considers the results of the benchmarking study and the market competitiveness of each NEO’s base salary (generally targeting the 50th percentile of the benchmark data) to determine appropriate merit- and market-based increases to each executive’s base salary. In fiscal 2021, some of the NEOs received merit-based increases to base salary as noted in the chart below.

Annual Incentive Awards

The Executive Incentive Plan created under the 2014 Stock Incentive Plan (the “Executive Incentive Plan”) is designed to recognize and reward our employees for contributing towards the achievement of our annual business plan. The Compensation Committee believes the Executive Incentive Plan provides a valuable short-term incentive program that delivers a cash bonus opportunity for key employees, including the NEOs, upon achievement of targeted operating results, as determined by the Compensation Committee and the Board of Directors. The Executive Incentive

Plan also supports our efforts to integrate our compensation philosophies with our annual business objectives and focus our executive officers on the fulfillment of those objectives.

In considering and approving the annual plan design, the Compensation Committee reviews target bonus percentages for each executive officer, including the NEOs, and considers the value of the incentive award relative to the individual’s total compensation package, the value of the incentive award and total compensation package relative to benchmark data, and the degree to which the individual can influence the Company’s achievement of its short-term financial and strategic objectives. The Compensation Committee also reviews annually the financial and strategic objectives that will comprise the components of the Executive Incentive Plan, the target for each component, and the payout percentages at threshold, target, and maximum performance for each component. The Compensation Committee relies on input from its compensation consultant, the results of benchmarking data, and analysis from our Chief Executive Officer to determine the appropriateness of the target bonus percentages for each executive officer (including the NEOs), the components of the Executive Incentive Plan, the targets for each component, and the payout percentages at each level of performance.

Under each executive officer’s employment agreement (including the NEOs, except Mr. Quartieri, who received a sign-on stock grant in lieu of participating in the FY 2021 short-term incentive plan but who will participate in the FY 2022 plan at a target equal to 80% of his base salary) and the Executive Incentive Plan, a target bonus opportunity is expressed as a percentage of annualized base salary as of the end of the performance period, prorated according to the percentage of the performance period the executive officer is employed by the Company. Target levels are established based upon a review of market practices and align to the Company’s compensation philosophy. Bonuses above or below the target level may be paid subject to a prescribed maximum or minimum. Bonus attainment is calculated separately for each component of the Executive Incentive Plan. Below a minimum threshold level of performance, no awards will be granted under the Executive Incentive Plan. The threshold, target, and maximum percentages for each of the NEOs in fiscal 2021 under the Executive Incentive Plan are outlined in the table below (based on participation for the full year plan).