Chuck E. Cheese Bounces Back With Store Remodels and Subscription Program

Chuck E. Cheese filed for bankruptcy in mid-2020. After shedding $705 million of its pre-bankruptcy debt over four years later, the children’s entertainment restaurant has reinvented itself, attracting new guests as well as ones that haven’t visited in years.

Just like every other restaurant, the COVID-19 pandemic adversely impacted Chuck E. Cheese. A lack of foot traffic and low sales pushed the company into financial default. Yet, even after the pandemic, the chain had another problem to resolve — how to get children and their paying parents away from smartphones and iPads, and get them back into restaurants.

Chuck E. Cheese’s parent company, CEC Entertainment, had the answer. The company devoted the last few years to revamping its image, updating technology, and remodeling its restaurants, spending nearly $350 million in the process.

“The company was capital-starved for many, many years,” said CEO Dave McKillips, per CNBC. “It had not been remodeled. It had not been touched.”

The changes have been beneficial to CEC’s bottom line. In 2019, annual revenue reached $912 million. Yet, by 2023, revenue rose to $1.2 billion despite closing nearly 70 locations.

The Chuck E. Cheese Experience Remake

The Chuck E. Cheese famous animatronics are gone and so are the physical, paper tickets. Entering the restaurant now, kids are met with trampolines, digital dance floors, and Jumbotrons. Music is provided by Kidz Bop and games featuring familiar brands like Paw Patrol and Marvel take center stage.

While often a source of contention in the past, the menu has taken a turn for the better. Pizzas went from generic and bland to made-from-scratch pies. Instead of just pepperoni and cheese, BBQ chicken and meatballs are new topping options.  Even parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles have some options on the menu.

“The grownup menu is going to feature pizzas that are spicier, that have jalapeños, have chicken, have onions, have the ingredients, a base on it that is going to appeal to not only a multi-generation but multi-ethnicity as well,” McKillips said, per QSR Magazine. “So that’s been fun for us.”

Last year, Chuck E. Cheese introduced a subscription program — the Fun Pass Membership. Plans start at $7.99 a month and can go up to $29.99 per month. Guests receive different levels of free game play and discounts depending on the monthly package selected.

Roughly 400,000 Chuck E. Cheese memberships were purchased in 2024 versus the mere 79,000 the year before. According to McKillips, “This shows that the value consumer will seek and will spend if they’re getting great return on their spend.”