Chuck E. Cheese

Chuck E. Cheese
Trade name	CEC Entertainment
Formerly	Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre (1977–1985); ShowBiz Pizza (1987–1990); Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza (1987–1994); Chuck E. Cheese’s (1994–2019);
Company type	Private
Traded as	Nasdaq: CHKY (1981–1984); Nasdaq: SHBZ (January 1989–1998, subsidiary); NYSE: CEC (1998 – January 2014, subsidiary)
Industry	Pizzeria; Restaurant; Family entertainment center;
Founded	May 17, 1977San Jose, California, United States
Founder	Nolan Bushnell
Headquarters	Irving, Texas, United States
Number of locations	621
Area served	Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America
Key people	Gene Landrum (original president and COO); David McKillips (president and CEO);
Products	Pizza; Chicken wings; Cheesy bread
Brands	Pasqually's Pizza & Wings; Fun Spot Arcade;
Services	Arcade games; Birthday parties; Kiddie rides
Owner	Brock Hotel Corporation (1985-1988); Queso Holdings, Inc. (2014–2020); Monarch Alternative Capital (2020–Present)
Parent	Atari, Inc. (1977–1978); Pizza Time Theatre, Inc. (1978–1985); ShowBiz Pizza Time, Inc. (1985–1998); CEC Entertainment, Inc. (1998–2020); CEC Entertainment, LLC (2020–present);
Subsidiaries	Peter Piper Pizza
Website	chuckecheese.com

Chuck E. Cheese (formerly known as Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre, Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza, and simply Chuck E. Cheese's) is an American entertainment restaurant chain founded on May 17, 1977, by Atari, Inc.'s co-founder Nolan Bushnell.^[1] Headquartered in Irving, Texas, each location features arcade games, amusement rides and musical shows in addition to serving pizza and other food items; former mainstays included ball pits, crawl tubes, and animatronic shows. The chain's name is taken from its main character and mascot, Chuck E. Cheese. The first location opened as Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre in San Jose, California. It was the first family restaurant to integrate food with arcade games and animated entertainment, thus being one of the pioneers for the "family entertainment center" concept.

After filing for bankruptcy in 1984, the chain was acquired in 1985 by Brock Hotel Corporation, the parent company of competitor ShowBiz Pizza Place. The merger formed a new parent company, ShowBiz Pizza Time, Inc., which began unifying the two brands in 1990, renaming every location Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza. It was later shortened to Chuck E. Cheese's in 1994 and Chuck E. Cheese in 2019. The parent company, ShowBiz Pizza Time also became CEC Entertainment in 1998.

^ ^a ^b "Robots, Pizza, And Sensory Overload: The Chuck E. Cheese Origin Story", by Benj Edwards, Fast Company, May 31, 2017
^ Oates, Sarah (July 15, 1985). "Chuck E. Cheese Gets New Lease on Life". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 4, 2022.

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[Benj-1] "Robots, Pizza, And Sensory Overload: The Chuck E. Cheese Origin Story", by Benj Edwards, Fast Company, May 31, 2017

[Merger-Post-2] Oates, Sarah (July 15, 1985). "Chuck E. Cheese Gets New Lease on Life". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 4, 2022.

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