Chuck E. Cheese

Chuck E. Cheese
Trade name	CEC Entertainment
Formerly	Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre (1977–1990); ShowBiz Pizza (1987–1989); Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza (1989–1993); Chuck E. Cheese's (1994–2019);
Company type	Subsidiary
Traded as	Nasdaq: CHKY (1981–1984)
Industry	Pizzeria; Restaurant; Family entertainment center;
Founded	May 17, 1977; San Jose, California, United States
Founder	Nolan Bushnell
Headquarters	Irving, Texas, United States
Number of locations	568
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 LankyBox Kitchen
Services	Arcade games; Birthday parties; Kiddie rides
Owner	Apollo Global Management (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 a chain of American family entertainment centers and restaurants founded in 1977 by Atari's co-founder Nolan Bushnell. 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.

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