Chuck E. Cheese’s wants adults to know that it’s “not playing games with our food anymore”: The chain has just announced it will test out coffee bars in the Dallas area, so parents can calmly sip cappuccinos while their children are off terrorizing each other in the ball pit. The company has also unveiled a nationwide menu revamp “for grown-up tastes,” with dishes like Alfredo pizza and churros, in hopes that it’ll make the brand seem more tolerable to parents.
“I think you’d guess 10 or 15 other places before you’d guess that Chuck E. Cheese’s would provide this type of pizza,” says Tom Leverton, CEO of parent company CEC Entertainment, demonstrating a remarkably pessimistic view of his employer’s food. “It’s not artisan, but it is surprising.”
Perhaps this is a good thing, because it’s the adults at Chuck E. Cheese’s — heroin smokers, dangerous mobs, shooters — who generally need entertainment.
