Playroom Cafe — Local services in Wheeling Township

I went there today with my son, two nieces and nephew. We came because it's too hot for the park today. We had an ok time, but the experience could definitely have been better, and I want to warn others about a few things. The owner of this company seems to write back pretty hastily to other negative reviews, defending the business and attacking the customer, instead of realizing the business is NOT perfect and needs improvement. The way you do that is by listening to the complaints and seeing if you can make modifications, not immediately defending and attacking back.

The food is pretty awful. The chicken tenders did not look cooked and looked like something you'd see in a school hot lunch. A child threw up in the corner right next to all of the gym equipment while we were there. I told his mother who was away from him and I had my nieces tell a staff member. I understand kids throw up, my son in particular is Autistic and used to suffer from behavioral vomitting. So its ok, things happen, but the mother got to it first and barely wiped it up. The staff member we told did absolutely nothing about it, and waited for another staff member to come clean it. It probably took (although I wasnt watching the exact time, this is an estimate) 10 or more minutes to get the other staff member to come clean it. That's vomit literally sitting next to where kids are playing just sitting there for that amount of time. I saw the other staff member wipe it up pretty quickly, no extreme cleaning or sectioning the area off during. Why do people not playing have to take off their shoes and wear socks?! All of us had socks on or with us except my one niece. She didn't play on any of the equipment (11 years old so too old) and just sat at a table eating. She was forced to buy socks and sit and eat in them. That literally makes no sense. Do you sit in socks at a restaurant?! She was uncomfortable and it was weird. At the Ball Factory, which we go to all the time, if you're not in the play area and you just sit and eat food, you dont have to take your shoes off. My nieces sit and eat there all the time while we go in and play and since they are not in the play zone they can keep their shoes on. Speaking of taking shoes off, we had to take them off immediately. Literally before signing the waiver or ordering food. The first thing they told was take your shoes off, THEN sign the waiver and order food. When you walk into the Ball Factory (which I mention because its a similar type of place, gym equipment, food, for kids, etc) you pay first and can sit down at a table, order food, go to the bathroom, whatever BEFORE taking your shoes off. You only have to take them off when entering the play area. Please consider letting other food come in for people with food restrictions. As mentioned my son is autistic. Hes also non verbal and has ARFID. He has extreme food issues and only eats 1 food and only drinks milk. It didnt affect us today because he was in no mood to sit and eat, but if we decided to come back and he wanted to eat with the rest of us, he wouldn't be able to, because his food wouldn't be allowed. His alternative food is allowed in a restaurant. Its also allowed in his school lunch. So why wouldn't it be allowed here? It was INSANELY hot in there!! It was 96° according to my car when walking in. Whole reason we went there was to avoid the heat at a park. It was super hot. I could hear a fan/air conditioner? Above us but didnt feel any air. My son was profusely sweating. We probably would have stayed for an hour or 2 like we do at a park if it wasnt so hot. We asked if they could turn the air up, and were told its broken. No air with this heat? Close!

On the pro side of things and why I give it 2 stars, is the play area itself is nice. Its cute, and relatively safe. I felt comfortable letting my son play on it while I was watching him instead of on equipment with him like I am at the ball factory or park. They have a large tunnel slide which my son loved, and a step up roller coaster slide which he...

Today we visited Playroom Cafe at the Mount Prospect location — the same place we used to go to often and really liked. But unfortunately, this time I was extremely disappointed.

There’s a new staff now — two new girls who have absolutely no sense of customer service or politeness. In the baby area, where little kids crawl and play, it was disgustingly dirty: there was leftover food and trash all over the floor, and kids were trying to put everything in their mouths. At first, I waited a little bit, hoping someone would come clean up — because the previous staff used to clean carefully every 10–15 minutes. But this time, no one came at all.

Eventually, I went and politely asked them to clean the baby area. And what happened? The girls came over with visibly annoyed attitudes, as if I was bothering them. Instead of using a vacuum cleaner, which was always used before, they brought a dirty dustpan and broom. I asked, “Are you really going to clean with that?” — and one of them, clearly irritated, replied, “Yes.” I said, “That’s really unsanitary — you used to vacuum before.” She replied, “We’ll vacuum after.” What’s the point of doing it that way?! It made no sense and was disgusting.

What made me even more angry is that I stayed there from 1:00 PM to 5:40 PM, and during that whole time, no one cleaned at all, except for the one time I asked — and even then, it was done with attitude and very poorly.

This is absolutely unacceptable. In children’s play areas, hygiene and sanitation should be the top priority because kids can easily get sick. These new employees have no respect for customers and no understanding of basic cleanliness. I truly regret not taking photos to show how bad it was.

I strongly urge management to take this seriously, remove such careless staff, and restore the high quality this place used to have. Until that happens, I do not recommend anyone to visit this location. It is genuinely unsafe for children.🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻

And you know what I just noticed? All the recent reviews about the staff are negative, and everyone says it used to be better. Why, as the head of the company, are you not paying attention to this? It’s clear that people are unhappy with the current staff. It’s just terrible. I also noticed that there were hardly any people in the place. If this continues, you may soon have to close it down due to the dirtiness and the disrespectful behavior of your...

I visited this play place on 05/04/25 with my toddler specifically because their website and signage state that it is designed for children six years and under or under 48 inches tall. Unfortunately, the rules are not enforced, and the environment was extremely unsafe for small children.

From the moment we entered, it was clear that there were multiple children well over the age and height limit — many running, climbing, throwing food, and roughhousing on the play structures. My son is under two, and even while holding his hand, I didn’t feel he was safe. At one point, older children were climbing on top of a slide and shaking it while my son was attempting to climb up.

I spoke with the manager, who acknowledged she was aware of the issue but explained that a birthday party was taking place and the host “felt bad” about excluding older children. This admission made it clear the staff knowingly allowed rule-breaking for convenience. Although I was given a free pass, I explained that I would not return because I don’t live nearby — nor would I want to come back to a place where safety rules are disregarded.

Throughout our visit, older children continued to behave inappropriately with no real supervision from their parents or intervention from staff. My father also addressed concerns with the manager, who eventually asked a few children to leave — only to then hand their parents free passes as well.

When I pointed out additional children clearly over the height limit, the manager stated she had to “accommodate everyone.” But that defeats the very purpose of a facility meant for small children. The posted rules and signed waivers mean nothing if they’re not enforced. Allowing children who exceed the size limit puts younger toddlers at risk — and I witnessed that risk repeatedly during our visit.

I came to this facility hoping to give my son a safe, age-appropriate place to play, but instead, I left feeling frustrated and disappointed. If management continues to prioritize pleasing every group over enforcing their own safety policies, then this is not a safe place for young children, and I cannot recommend it. It’s a lawsuit waiting to happen.

I took photos of the conditions and behaviors I witnessed. Out of respect for the privacy of the children involved, I will not post them here — but I am more than willing to share them with ownership or anyone who wants to question the seriousness of...