A 'quiet' dinner?

[PepperElf]

or get to an income level where they can go someplace for dinner where kids really are NOT welcome.

Well to be honest I don't consider CEC to be very cheap either but... we did have a steak house here that barred children under the age of 12. The owner wanted a place where adults could be adults. Unfortunately it didn't do so well (they weren't cheap) and it's currently up for lease.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

When I was a kid, there was a Showbiz in the area I lived. I remember the animatronic characters.

THE ROCK-A-FIRE EXPLOSION!!

[Cookie]

:sniff: :wipes tear: You guys are the only people I know of that still remember Showbiz Pizza. I went back once as a kid after it converted to Chuck E Cheese. Wasn't the same.

[Pagan]

Even if this was a more traditional restaurant, what brain-damaged moron could seriously have an issue with some people singing Happy Birthday to a 7-year-old girl?

At least one, it appears....

[drunkenwildmage]

There is a reason why they serve beer at Chuck E Cheese.

[IT Grunt]

:sniff: :wipes tear: You guys are the only people I know of that still remember Showbiz Pizza. I went back once as a kid after it converted to Chuck E Cheese. Wasn't the same.

Sadly once ours closed down, nothing similar replaced it. I always enjoyed it, compared to some of the local arcades they had all the cool games. These days the nearest Chuck E Cheese is over 2 hours away.

[MadMike]

There is a reason why they serve beer at Chuck E Cheese.

They don't at any of the ones I've been to in PA. Our liquor laws are among the most strict, so a lot of restaurant chains in my area don't carry beer, but may do so in other states. I didn't even know any CEC served beer, until I started coming to this site.

And yes, anyone who goes in expecting a quiet dinner is an idiot. My son used to have his birthday parties there, and after awhile I almost wouldn't notice the noise anymore. Then I'd step outside to leave, and couldn't believe how quiet it was all of a sudden.

[raudf]

I think the Chuck E's we took my son to for his 8th birthday had the same animatronics from when it was Show Time Pizza. Chuck E looked like.. well, death warmed over. He had blood shot eyes, matted "fur" that hung loose in all the wrong places. One eye never fully opened or closed, and he couldn't turn his head fully. He must been doing some pretty hard stuff in the way of drugs to get that kind of awful.

Helen Henny was tarted up in 80's style and boy, she looked like her night job was working the corner in the red light district. Apparently she must have caught an STD from it, because she'd been losing feathers even as she clacked her beak through many of the famous hits of the 80's.

Pasqually must have been suffering from withdrawals, because his left hand never stopped twitching, which caused a faint, but odd "thump, psssss" sound as the drumstick tapped the drum. And when he didn't miss his cues completely, it was like watching a poorly dubbed spaghetti-samurai movie.

Jasper... that poor ol' hound. He should have been taken out back and shot looonnngg before they shot Ol' Yeller. His jowls hung far lower than his ears and both looked pretty worn out. His eyes looked like those of a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car... and he barely bothered to play his guitar. Death would have been a kindness, but no one seemed to feel any for this poor old boy.

Munch. He was the only one that didn't look like death warmed over or a drug addict looking for the next high. That, however, was only due to the fact that he looked like something out of an LSD trip all by himself. Personally, I like to think that he is a shag rug that decided it wanted a body, any body and took over a robot. Unfortunately, shag carpeting is only marginally brighter than most SCs, so it got trapped into playing and singing on a stage, while being pimped out by Chuck like the rest of 'em.

So yeah.. I would not equate "quiet" with Chuck E's. Well, unless your idea of "quiet" is a shouting match on the Jerry Springer Show.

(Sorry for the graphic imagery, but dang those 'bots gave me nightmares. Not my son. ME. Usually, I don't mind animatronics, but... *shudder*)

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

You're the birthday, you're the birthday, you're the birthday boy or girl....

[PepperElf]

(Sorry for the graphic imagery, but dang those 'bots gave me nightmares. Not my son. ME. Usually, I don't mind animatronics, but... *shudder*)

Are you kidding? That was an AWESOME description!

[bunnyboy]

I think the Chuck E's we took my son to for his 8th birthday had the same animatronics from when it was Show Time Pizza. Chuck E looked like.. well, death warmed over.

Sounds like some kind of dark reimagining of the showbiz/cec characters ala Breakfast of the Gods.

[wolfie]

Just curious about Chuck's middle name - was it in honour of his Dutch uncle Edam, or his Swiss uncle Emmenthal? All I've seen was the initial, never the full name.

[MadMike]

You're the birthday, you're the birthday, you're the birthday boy or girl....

That's Wall E. Weasel!

[PatchO'Black]

I remember having a Bullwinkle's in the general area (not what I would call close to where I live, but somewhere that I would be in the area of sometimes). It was similar to Chuck E. Cheese, but with the famous Jay Ward characters. As I recall, they had a "grown-ups room", where adults without children could go to eat. Quite a nice idea, if you ask me.

[eltf177]

That's Wall E. Weasel!

"Wally, hey Wally"

"Hey, why don't you go bug your parents!"