If you haven't been into a Chuck E. Cheese's in the last decade, your memories of the go-to birthday party spot probably consist of florescent lights, animatronic shows, cafeteria-style pizza, and lots of tickets.
While the tickets are staying, the food and atmosphere are undergoing huge changes, starting at its San Antonio, Texas locations. More locations are expected to undergo renovations next year.
Among the updates: open kitchens, so kids can watch their pizza being made and parents can trust the food being served; an updated menu with thin-crust pizza (they make the dough in-house), fresh wraps and sandwiches, salads, and local specialties; and digital ordering kiosks and tablets for servers. Those slightly terrifying animatronic characters are getting phased out too.
As for the open kitchen, Chuck E. Cheese's CEO Tom Leverton told Eater, "It's like theater. The kids like watching the pizza toppings go on and seeing the pizza coming out of the oven."
The venues are toning down their purple and red exteriors in favor of more muted colors, like grey and green, Leverton told CNBC. Inside, the color scheme will be toned down as well, though the play areas and new dance floor (where Chuck E. Cheese himself appears once an hour) are still plenty colorful.
"Our goal was to create a space where parents were just as excited to go as their kids," lead designer Brent White said in a statement.
The brand is looking to compete with restaurants like Olive Garden, Cheesecake Factory, and Chick-fil-A in terms of parents' perception and eagerness to hang out there. They even hosted a blind taste test recently, pitting their Thin and Crispy pepperoni pizza's against Pizza Hut's – Chuck E. Cheese's won.
Kids can still enjoy pizza and giant cookies with their games, but now parents have healthier and more interesting food (and drink!) options and a more aesthetically pleasing space.
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