This is a footnote to the Domino’s Pizza thread. I notice on more than one occasion that several incidents of mob violence and crime have occurred there over the years.
That’s supposed to be a “family friendly” restaurant! What’s up with that? Does anyone know about this? Are there any Straight Dopers out there who worked at Chuck E. Cheese? Any ideas why this chain attracts violent people to it’s family friendly doors?
Um… examples?
It’s cheap, it’s fast, and that’s about all you need to attract violence at a “family” restaurant.
It doesn’t attract violent people, it creates them. Have you ever been to one? Have you ever eaten their food?
How does Chuck E. Cheese “create” violent people? FYI—It has been many years since I have eaten there. I wasn’t particularly impressed by it and truthfully, I don’t have children nor do I care to be in “family friendly” restaurants because they often tend to be noisy and not very relaxing. I prefer adult venues (and no I’m not referring to strip clubs).
Cop: “Mr. Cheese, we’d like to talk to you downtown.”
Chuck E. Cheese: “Talk all you like, but you’re getting nothing from me. I’m no rat!”
I can only speak for the one in my area, so take that as you will, but it is located in a lower income neighborhood and patronized by the denizens of said neighborhood that have the lifestyle and issues that one might expect; poor, dysfunctional, a large child to adult ratio. Note that I’m not saying all poor people are dysfunctional or bad parents; I am currently the poorest person I know. I’m just saying that this location at least attracts what one would consider a trashy element. Maybe the business model is to put the restaurants in lower socio-economic areas.
Two words: Skee. Ball.
Kids hyped up on sugar allowed to run wild and play games? Duh.
There was an article in the wsj some years ago about violence at CEC. I recall a quote from a cop about how they had now calls there than to the nearby biker bar.
Yo. Ain’t no vi-o-lence lahk da Skee-Ball vi-o-lence.
Serious, you bettah be ready to go mano a da f’ckin’ mano wid dat Skee-Ball shit. You call out SliderSkee an’ mah minn-ions, you bettah hab da 50-pointahs or be goin’ dowwwn (down dat li’l tray at da bottom, capeesh?)
They see me rollin’, mah Skee-Ball…
In my neck of the woods, I’ve heard that gangbangers/dealers bring their kids to such places so as to keep the kids occupied while they conduct they bidness.
I guess it’s not a far leap from a bidness dispute to fisticuffs.
“Hey, your boy just bumped into my kid.”
“Yeah, well maybe your kid needs to watch where he’s walkin’.”
“Maybe you better watch YOUR self, BITCH.”
“What you just say to me, mother FUCKER?”
And so on and so forth.
The ABC story is incorrect in one respect. The pizza place was ShowBiz Pizza, not Chuck E. Cheese. I lived in Aurora at the time and went there many times.
Also, the families of the victims would never allow the place to reopen, picketing, asking the company to make the place a memorial, and threatening to sue until, finally, the building was torn down and a strip center put in.
Bob
I … wait … no. Huh?
I’m a bit confused. I’ve been promising the Dudeling that as soon as he’s able to change all the bobbins in the main loom room within a single shift (and without any mistakes), I’d take him to Chuck E Cheese. What the hell is in store for us?
Horrible, horrible “pizza”. And, I guess, crime.
“Win/Win!”
(that was my kid’s reaction to “Pizza and Crime”)
A whole mini-mall of titty bars?
I hate to disagree with you, since you ate there and all, but in 1993, the restaurant was definitely a Chuck E Cheese’s. In 1990, ShowBiz rebranded all of their restaurants into Chuck E Cheese outlets.
FWIW, I lived in the Denver metro area at the time and remember the coverage in the Rocky and the Post and the various TV stations and it was always referred to as a Chuck E Cheese at the time of the murders.
In fact, here is a contemporary story about the killings from the New York Times archives.
http://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/16/us/gunman-kills-4-workers-at-colorado-restaurant.html
It’s not family-friendly; it’s Family-friendly. THE Family. Youse got a problem wit’ dat?