Chuck E. Cheese’s

I went here for a friend’s kid’s party on a Sunday afternoon. Never again. A bunch of the patrons in here are super sketchy. We made sure not to leave our belongings unattended so to be sure sure they would not «disappear» when no one was around.
The place is also packed. One lady yelled at me with the attitude finger /​head wag for apparently walking too close to her kid. Sorry lady, you and your friend’s excessive girth was blocking the whole aisle.
On the plus side, the pizza is actually a little better than it used to be (although still not great by any means) and it was pretty clean in there given the crowds. The hostesses were nice and trying to do their best under the conditions, but it was hard to hear them above all the crowds.
I don’t expect much as far as prizes in any arcade, but the prizes here are really small for the tickets required and basically total junk.
Thankfully my friend says he won’t be having any more parties here. I wouldn’t leave the place a bad rating, because the establishment itself is not terrible (probably 3 stars), but the clientele and crowds just ruin it.

Had my daughter’s birthday party here last weekend. I choose an 11am, Sunday morning party time in hopes of the place being less crowded — — - hah!
The place is crowded. Crowded. The manager mentioned that there were 7 total parties booked to start at 11 that morning. Yikes. That being said, the party host was fabulous, the manager checked in on me, and the kids had a ton of fun. I basically sat there and babysat the party table while the kids ran around and spent their tokens.
The only complaint really how crowded it is — the parties are 2 hours long, with a very short ‘flip’ time in between bookings. Our party ended at 1pm, and ooooohhh boy. As the first 7 parties were all ended at the same time, and the next go-​round of parties starting to fill in and set up camp — it’s MORE than a madhouse.
I guess I’ll mention the pizza. It’s horrid. It’s like eating a salt block. But hey, it’s a chuck e cheese. You’re not going there for fine dining. The kids ate it just fine.

This place is awesome! I had my daughter’s birthday party here and they were so good to us. The establishment is clean the food is good a pretty nice place for your family with kids. We are frequently there and I have yet to make a complaint. Keep up the good work there staff!

I went there for a birthday party and found it to be clean and the kids had a great time. Pizza was good.

Good Evening All,
My family and I frequent this Chuck E Cheese location often. Over the last three years, I have spent over a thousand dollars on birthdays parties for my two of my children and just going on any given weekend or weekday, but we have not been there in about two or so months. Tonight, 2/​14, I had a terrible experience. They have security guards in the establishment now, which is fine, but they have guards in there walking around with guns, visible on their hips and brandishing this to everyone who has eyes. Once I saw this, I was terrified! There are kids running around everywhere in Chuck E Cheese. What if one of those kids run and bumps into the gun and the gun goes off and someone’s child is severely injured?! My son almost bumped into the guard that had the gun! If my son was shot, nothing could be done or said to take away his pain or nothing could be done or said to bring him back to life.
Yes security is needed everywhere, but there is a way to do everything. If armed guards are needed, there could be armed guards outside and one in an inside office monitoring cameras. The guards floating around should not be carrying loaded weapons AROUND SMALL CHILDREN PLAYING IN CHUCK E CHEESE! Safety or no safety on the weapon, that is too close and this is a tragedy waiting to happen. I even approached the manager, I did not get her name, but she is a middle aged caucasian woman, with a dental hygiene problem and a bad attitude. She exclaims, «This is our security and they have guns.» I immediately grabbed my family and left. That location will never receive my patronage, ever again.
With these gun carrying people walking around this Chuck E Cheese, It is not safe for any family that enters. If this is the new policy with all Chuck E Cheese establishments; I will take my family and my money to other family fun locations.

I have been to many and I mean MANY of these places and they are all about the same: DIRTY, CROWDED, RUDE, BAD FOOD AND IN SOME OF THEM KIDS GO FROM TABLE TO TABLE JUST ASKING FOR MONEY! You’d think I learned not to go back unfortunately there is always people that make their children birthday parties at these places and you have to go «if you really care» otherwise I would not be caught death inside a chuck e cheeses.

The pizza really sucks here! I know it’s about the kids and my 3 year-​old loved it here, but they could try a little harder to make the pizza taste better than a frozen pizza at the grocery store!

We celebrated my daughter’s 4^th birthday here. We scheduled it early @ 11am so it wasn’t too busy & the rides were clean. I thought all the kids had a great time. I know my daughter & myself did. Staff was very helpful & pizza was decent. Staff was understanding w/​last minute food orders & guests attending. My advice is you’re going to have a party, schedule it early to avoid the crowd. As we were leaving around 2 /​230, there were people everywhere. 1 thing that I didn’t like were some guys walking in reeked of weed. Do you really need to come to Chuck E Cheese high? SMH.

No one should ever complain about parking, or waiting in line. Complainants expressing such trivial and immaterial views represent a deep-​seated sense of entitlement and self-​centered exceptionalism. There are fire codes, staffing — and plainly, spacial restraints to be reckoned with that cannot simply accommodate every single parent’s socially constructed «need» for VIP service. No one should be allowing their children to eat that garbage anyway… that’s not even good parenting. What are you trying to do, prep them to win a contest for early onset hypertension? Why are you complaining about having to park in an adjacent lot and wait in line when the winter temperature poses serious health risks to your children? That was a decision YOU made, and your decision alone. Don’t get it twisted, lady. To be honest with you, sifting through your laundry list of complaints, somewhere in your narrative I lost track of who the babies are. Are you one of them? If someone were ever to play a role in a slasher movie based on you, your character would be the one specifically written into the script by the studio to get offed for the sole purpose of comic relief. And if you want to so cavalierly compare your apparently heartbreaking and horrific experience at Chuck E. Cheese to that which was endured by the tortured souls of 20 million Jews who were executed, burned alive, and starved to death, then I think you would do very well to re-​evaluate your entire life, because, well… I’m pretty certain they’d GLADLY wait outside for 15 minutes to be welcomed by a cheese pizza, an opportunity to play Bozo buckets, and take fun pictures dancing with friendly animals. Your entire review seems to be predicated on nothing more than some kind of sick, twisted deluge, espoused by wildly unrealistic expectations borne of your own imagination. WOW, it’s CHUCK E. CHEESE, you moron. I’m surprised you didn’t complain that concierge, valet, and bottle services weren’t offered. Tinley Park and the surrounding suburbs serve as a hub for endless venues whereby your child’s needs, or in this case, «wants,» can be readily fulfilled. This is more of a referendum on you than anyone else. Get a grip.

Better than 95^th Pulaski.

I remember when CC’s had the best pizza, or maybe I was a kid and really didnt have any expectations other then playing. The pizza is horrible, but what I once didn’t appreciate or like was the salad bar, but now that I’m a parent, I JUST L-​O-​V-​E their salad bar!

This is the email I sent to the corporate offices of Chuck E. Cheese. I think it is a fitting review.
My cousin held her daughter’s 7^th birthday yesterday afternoon at the Tinley Park location. My 3 children, husband and myself all attended. Let me walk you through our experience.
The parking lot had no available parking, not one space. We had to park in a parking lot for an adjacent business and walk to your establishment. We then had to STAND OUTSIDE just to get to the doors as there was a line of nearly 50 people waiting to get in. Stand outside with our 2 year old son, 4 year old daughter, and 10 year old daughter. During our wait outside just to get to the doors, I played a counting game. The magic number was 4. 4 was the number of infants in baby carriers or a parents’ arms, standing outside, in the January weather.
Once we were lucky enough to enter the establishment your «greeters» did little more than scream at the people standing in line. We waited nearly 15 minutes just to get to the greeter, who was incredibly inept and rude. The hand stamping boy grabbed my 4 year old daughter’s arm and snatched her toward him. She said «ow that hurt» to which he said … absolutely nothing.
Breaking away from the Gestapo-​like greeters we were directed to the party area which consisted of 6 or 7 rows of long tables crammed in an area which was much better suited for no more than 4 tables. In the 2:30 to 4:30 time slot this location had 10 birthday parties running consecutively. There was barely room to breathe, or move, let alone enjoy yourself.
I won’t touch on the food as, let’s face it, it’s Chuck E. Cheese every human on the planet who is unfortunate enough to dine there knows the sordid quality of your food. I will say that your business resembles that of the infamous Union Stockyards in Chicago, and on an extreme level, the human herding and industrialization you have created could be compared to a Nazi concentration camp with an engorged stuffed rat running the show.
I ask you not to respond with a coupon for your tokens, your tickets, or any of your fare. I want nothing from you. I simply want to reassure that I am an extraordinarily talented free-​lance writer and you are not the only people who will receive this message. I highly recommend you alter your business practices, or perhaps exterminate them altogether. You are an example of capitalism at its very worst and I think a fitting idea would be for you to attend a Saturday afternoon at any of your locations. Or are you smart enough to know to go elsewhere? Good day.

Well, I survived.
My baby (my oldest baby, actually) just celebrated his fifth birthday. Five! When asked what kind of party he desired, he responded with a resounding «Let’s go to Chuck E. Cheese!»
Now, listen. My kids are far from sheltered, but I try to avoid garbage-​y/​gimmick-​y food attractions, namely because I value my self-​preservation. But it’s not every day that my baby turns five, so my husband and I grimaced wildly (and repeatedly), and then sucked it up and booked the party.
Here are the positives:
[x] At my last Chuck E. Cheese adventure, I’m fairly certain it went by the name of Showbiz Pizza (anyone remember this? Did I just give away my age? ;) so it’s been a long ass time. That said, I was pleased to see that someone was at the door stamping and checking stamps (numbering system for child safety) accordingly – the whole time we were there.
[x] Our hostess (Taylor?) was amazing. Enthusiastic but not sickeningly so; completely helpful and not at all pushy. She ran the party without really running the whole thing over – just awesome.
[x] Apparently, they now have some sort of new pizza. It was surprisingly decent. I was expecting total garbage, and while I wouldn’t wake up craving it in the night, it was still better than I expected it to be.
[x] The manager came over to each party and introduced herself, checking to see how we were doing, if we needed anything, and if we were all having a great time. I think her name was Angie. And she was great, too.
[x] It was overall a LOT cleaner than I had anticipated. I can’t speak for the bathrooms since I didn’t experience them, but the restaurant was well lit, as clean as it probably could be (all things considered equal), and didn’t make me feel like peeling my own skin off.
[x] Every game is one token. The kids were all over this. And you get lots of extra tokens if you book online or at certain times, etc.
[x] We booked the party package of $ 17.99 per child and they spared no expense in making sure my son was one of Chuck E.‘s «guests of honor». He loved it. The other kids fared pretty well, too.
Here are the negatives:
[x] The party area is pretty close quarters which makes it A.) even more ridiculously loud and B.) hard to maneuver through the aisles to your table/​seat. We were seated right in front of the «performance piece» (read as: creepy motorized animals), but I could see how someone with a party at one of the back tables might be pissed. Make sure you reserve extra seats so you have a place to set your gifts. Rather have extra seating than not enough.
[x] As it turns out, my four year old daughter was terrified of the costumed Chuck E. making the rounds. If you have a kid who doesn’t jive with life size animal costumes, I’d exercise extreme caution during the birthday show.
[x] That brings me to the actual birthday show. It was cute, engaged the kids, celebrated birthdays, etc., but the motorized animals performed once during our two hour party package. I mean, I know I’m old school, but I remember those motorized Showbiz creepers taking, like, a ten minute «break» every hour. I think it would’ve been a bit more engaging had they turned on the motorized entertainment.
[x] This should probably go without saying but there are a lot of little kids at this place. If you’re not willing to dodge the errant two year old on the run or deal with the bossy seven year old who won’t take turns, chances are you’ll leave this place a little steamed.
[x] Per my husband (who was on «bathroom duty» at the party), the bathrooms were okay but could’ve stood a more regular once-​over.
[x] It is loud. Not like Ozzy Osbourne in concert loud, but loud enough. So while you don’t need earplugs, you should come armed with Excedrin.
[x] Cashing in the tickets is a lot easier with the automated machines, but since all games only cost one token, the «prizes» are total garbage. My kids wound up with a TON of tickets and it bought a load of crap. One small, temporary (i.e., last through one bath maybe) tattoo? 10 tickets. Lots of tickets, little prizes; hope they recycle those suckers.
All in all, it was a pretty decent experience. My now five year old loved it to bits and that’s what matters the most. On a rainy day, we’d probably return, but I don’t know if it would be, say, my restaurant of choice for my personal birthday celebration. But the sweet siren song of the motorized Rat? It will lure my kids in for many years to come, I think. :)