Chuck E Cheese or Chuck E Booze brawls?

Take a couple hundred crazed, out-of-control kids, flashing lights, audio-visual distractions and junk food.  Stir in adults who have slammed back a few (or more) alcoholic drinks. What do you get?

Once a delight—driven haven for children, Chuck E Cheese has become the venue for an increasing number of parent disputes and fist fights.

While the entertainment chain claims it has a two drink maximum per adult, an Inside Edition investigation uncovered that the policy is not strictly followed and can easily be circumvented.  In fact, one reporter was told by staff to simply use a friend’s ID and approach a different server to get served more than the maximum.

It’s easy to excuse bad child behavior is such an atmosphere of over-stimulation, but more and more parent brawls are being captured and shared, leading some to question the wisdom of drinking in such a setting.  Most of the fights are alleged to have involved over-served parents behaving badly.

What was behind the decision to serve alcohol?  With sales declining in the past decade, the decision was made to reach out to millennial mothers by expanding the drink menu, as least according to the head of Chuck E Cheese’s parent company, CEC Entertainment.

“Her kids know it’s a fun place to go, but millennial moms want to provide that great experience without sacrificing for themselves. Before she was a mom, she was going to places like Panera and those concepts. She wants something that fits into her millennial lifestyle.”

In response to the Inside Edition expose, CEC Entertainment told investigators “that they take their alcohol policy very seriously.” Employees who violated the policy were terminated.

Known as the place “where a kid can be a kid” let’s hope they can get this situation under control, lest they become known as the place “where adults can be idiots.”

[Feature Photo: Eteixido/ Wiki Creative Commons]