Chuck E. Cheese — Restaurant in North Olmsted

Okay so first off — yes, the mouse is still there, but like, less terrifying than I remember? He’s clearly seen some things though. Animatronics? Moving… sort of. More like blinking out-of-sync with reality, but it adds to the charm. We walked in and immediately got hit with the smell of hand sanitizer, melted cheese, and childhood desperation. I don’t know what it is about fluorescent lights and arcade sounds but my brain instantly split into six tabs.

So we got a pizza — mid, but comforting — and while waiting for it I zoned out staring at the soda fountain. And this is where it gets wild: North Olmsted gets its water from the Cleveland Water system, which pulls from Lake Erie, right? You’d think lake water = fish soup, but no. The Crown Water Treatment Plant is actually kind of a marvel — they use like five different steps: coagulation, flocculation (real word), sedimentation, filtration, and chlorination. Basically it’s like giving lake water a five-step skincare routine.

Side note: the hardness level here is no joke — around 140 ppm, give or take, which is why your kettle gets crusty if you don’t descale it. But that calcium and magnesium is actually good for your bones, and the chlorine levels are monitored hourly to keep them under the EPA’s max of 4.0 mg/L. I filled my water bottle from the soda machine (no shame) and honestly? Crisp. Cold. Notes of nostalgia and maybe copper piping. Would drink again.

Anyway, back to the chaos — there’s a child screaming because they lost all their tickets in the prize counter wind tunnel. There’s a guy playing Dance Dance Revolution in dress shoes and he’s crushing it. I tried playing ski-ball but got distracted by a blinking light next to the claw machine that may or may not have been broken since 2013. Greg (the rubber lizard we won) now lives in my glove box.

In conclusion: Chuck E. Cheese is a fever dream, the pizza is a solid 6/10, the soda machine dispenses liquid that comes from a top-tier regional water treatment infrastructure, and I left with a sticker, a mild headache, and a weird urge to read the Cleveland Division of Water’s 2024 Consumer Confidence Report....

I made reservations for my son’s 5th birthday in hopes that this may take stress off me from having to be a host while I attend to my son for his birthday so he can have a great time . Nothing about the people that worked for this place seemed excited in any type of way or enthusiastic for the event that my son wanted most out of all places that we could’ve chosen from. I was extremely disappointed because I was expecting this from the Parma location especially with the crazinesses that went viral. The amount of reservations all at once was insane, there should’ve been a limit. I’d say 5 most at the same time, not 7 or 8. Probably explains why the people that worked there looked miserable. The trampoline not being a part of the package was disappointing as well which I believe while making reservations it should’ve been more specific. 8.00 extra per kid is just ridiculous because while booking it didn’t even give that option. I didn’t feel like it was fair to only pay for some kids and not all. When I called before I attended the event the person that answered the phone which was a male and I never got his name , wasn’t specific while explaining anything so I highly suggest that everyone that works for this place needs to either find another job or the managers need to find better people because it was not giving kid friendly atmosphere. Our table was the last to really be served with great service and we were rushed to leave when we didn’t even receive the rest of what was included in the package like the goodie bags and the ticket master … I had company sitting at the table and our hostess made us basically do all the work including the cleaning and trying to get things done in order for the fact that they were understaffed so we couldn’t get the service we deserved. I told myself I wasn’t gonna make a big deal but this was...

The employees here are extremely rude and not friendly at all. I went on a Tuesday in the middle of the day, literally 3 other families in there. I order a pizza as soon as I get there and a pass to play for an hour. Thinking okay we will play for 30 minutes food will be done we can eat then play for another 30 minutes. So 30 minutes go by still no pizza. (I only ordered a medium pizza) Finally I notice another family get their food and I was there before them. So our play pass runs out I go to the counter and I’m like hey I ordered my pizza an hour ago like what’s going on, the cashier takes my receipt and walks to the back (like oooh just holding it in the back 🙄) she comes back two seconds later and says it will be out any minute. So I’m like okay I take my son and turn his tickets in. Sitting at the table for 5 minutes still no pizza. So finally they bring “my pizza” out. He had wings with him so I thought he was dropping those off at another table nope tried to give it to me. I’m like this isn’t my food and I don’t want someone else to get screwed. So he takes it back and looks at my receipt and says 10 minutes and I’ll have your food ready. So I’m very angry by this point my son is starving. So just waiting and some guy comes by and says here’s a game card with 20 points for the extra long wait on the pizza and throws it on the table. I was like ooh uhm thanks and he just walks away. Like a simple sorry and here’s a free pizza would have been nice. Like you made me wait and hour and 30 minutes for one pizza then you are going to be rude to me. Zero...