Chuck E. Cheese — Restaurant in Peoria

Over all my kids enjoyed their time, and that is at the end of the day what matters. Unfortunately moment we walked in we had an issue with the machine eating our money and once handing the manager the slip telling us to go to them for our refund she refused to give us our money back and only offered a time card after I had already ended up using my debit card to get the play cards it owned us. I didnt think we would have an issue getting our cash back from them before using my card to make the purchase. So we were out 50$ and got a time card back only supporting half of what we even lost to the machine. She just seemed very unwilling to work with us and as much as we wanted to call it and just go we decided to let our kids at least try to have a good first experience with what we remembered being a very magical place when we were kids but of course something eles had to happen. The first 3 games we attempted to play were broken and not working right with no out of order sign on them, so we ended up wasting points on broken games. We didn't even bother with complaining since the manager wasnt willing to do anything about their machine eating our cash. It definitely isn't what it used to, be and we were okay with that. It felt like the staff couldn't keep up with the amount of kids and work load that needed to be done mainting the place. We chose not to eat there due to tables not being cleaned and how the drink fountains looked. I do want to note that there was a few staff members who seemed to really be trying to damage control and even when it seemed overwhelming, they still put on a smile for the kids. I loved how they interacted with my kids. They smiled and engaged with not just mine but all the children around them. They knew how to handle the situations that played out before them, and these workers definitely deserve better. They deserve games that work, a clean environment and I really hope they get noticed for the extra mile they go to make the kids smile day in...

My kids love this place. I've learned great ways to maximize our visits for a lower cost, making it a more enjoyable experience.

Some suggestions for people complaining about the prices.... Groupon has packages. I usually get the Family pack that has two 60-min play cards, plus a large pizza & 4 drinks... for only $54.99 (sometimes $49.99 on flash sales). The one large pizza is enough to satisfy my 6 & 8-years-old plus myself. The Chuck-E-Cheese website has deals. They have reward sheets, coloring sheets, etc... where you can get your kids free tickets or free extra minutes to add to their cards. You can download their app and register your family's birthdays... they'll often send you free treat coupons for birthdays and half birthdays. After a visit, if you do their survey, it will send you coupons for things like 30 free play minutes. Also, a lot of the items that have a price on them... like the branded items, can be bought with e-tickets. The staff at the counter will convert the price for you... its usually like... a $5.99 item is 599 tickets. I find that my kids will usually want a bag of cotton candy for like 400 tickets or Chuck-E-Cheese merch over getting a bland prize for an inflated amount of tickets.

This location continues to add new games and change the layout each time we're there. We usually go about once a quarter on weekdays when my kids have a day off school. Lunch time on weekdays is usually very empty and we get our food pretty quickly.

The pizza could be better but it's not bad. My kids enjoy it. I wish it was thicker.

Getting signed in with the Groupon deals is usually a pain, I wish there was better training for employees on that (or a cheat sheet handy for them) - they usually have to grab a manager for help, or do a lot of manual things in the system and I feel bad for holding up the line.

Overall, it's been a great place for us...

I recently visited Chuck E. Cheese to enjoy a fun day with my child, but the experience was completely ruined by the manager, Crystal. She is, without a doubt, one of the rudest individuals I’ve ever encountered in customer service. From the very start, she approached me with hostility and anger for absolutely no reason. I wasn’t asking for anything unreasonable—just a drink and trying to have a nice time with my child.

Her behavior was shocking, especially for someone in a management role at a place designed for children and families. It was clear she didn’t care about providing a positive experience, and her attitude made the visit uncomfortable and stressful. I understand that everyone has bad days, but this wasn’t a one time incident. Another employee even confided in me that Crystal is always like this and that none of the staff enjoy working with her because of her constant negativity.

I’ve never felt to escalate a complaint like this, but her behavior was so unacceptable that I reached out to corporate. Unsurprisingly, I never received a response, which only adds to my frustration.

It’s crazy how someone so clearly miserable and unfit for customer service could land a management position at a child-centered establishment. Her lack of professionalism and outright rudeness make me never want to return. Crystal’s attitude not only ruined my visit but also tarnished the reputation of the entire location.

I hope this review encourages Chuck E. Cheese to evaluate the type of people they allow to represent their brand, especially in management positions. Families deserve a welcoming and pleasant experience, not...