Chuck E. Cheese — Restaurant in Whitehall

Recently had my granddaughter’s 6th birthday party here. This decision was based on a birthday party attended at a Chuck E. Cheese in NYC a few months ago - that was a fantastic experience! Unfortunately, not the same at this location.

The Good: My granddaughter was oblivious to the inadequacies and she had a blast. Kids were rambunctious but staff didn’t overreact and kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

They did have a table set up with tablecloths and a sign.

Each kid was given a reusable cup with swirly straw which they enjoyed. But, cups quickly got mixed up and kids were drinking from random cups. Would have been a nice touch to provide a permanent marker for us to label cups.

The Bad: The limited staff was pathetically slow and lacked communication skills. They didn’t provide much direction, information, or supplies unless we made an inquiry or request.

The pizza slices were ridiculously small. Kids were told they could have one or two slices. All opted for 2 which combined were still barely larger than half of a single pizzeria slice. Also, they started bringing pizza out without enough warning. An announcement was made and pizza was brought out almost simultaneously. Kids were in the midst of playing games and by the time we got them all back to the table, the server was gone and we would up serving the kids.

The mouse character was severely lethargic and didn’t demonstrate the least bit of enthusiasm. Come on this was a little kids party and the character should be required to bring life to the character. Instead s/he barely moved to the music. Again, the kids didn’t notice but all the adults did.

At the end of the allotted time the server informed us we were responsible for clean up and could only remain in that area for 15 minutes but we could move to other tables and stay as long as we liked. Having to clean up seems like it should be an employee responsibility, but we took it in stride and made quick work of it.

Being able to remain longer for the kids to play was promising, but turned into yet another problem. After watching us move the gifts and belongings to another area the server told us that the tables we chose were still part of the designated party area and would have to move again. It should have been pointed out where we could move to so we didn’t have to move twice. Additionally, another party ended around the time ours started and that group was permitted to remain in the designated party area for far longer than 15 minutes- closer to an hour before they left.

It’s a shame that the service was so pathetic especially since we know from first hand experience that some locations provide a top notch experience. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for...

Let's start with the positives here : if you have a kid who is hyper and runs all over the place, this place is great for an outing, because the area they will run off and explore to is limited. You aren't going to lose your kid taking them to an outing like this, ha! There are a good deal of games for the kids to choose from, and kids can scan their preloaded cards to begin playing wherever and whatever they like. Good amount of seating. Intermittently, a mascot will come out and hype the kids up. Personally, I have always found mascots absolutely terrifying. But my 6 year old daughter loved approaching Charles Entertainment Cheese and curiously touching his nose. Power to her. Kid is a braver person than myself.

Negatives : is it just me, or is there less to do here than when I was a kid? It could just be me. But I seem to remember climbing around tubes and getting lost (in a good way!) I understand the sanitary reasons behind discontinuing them, but they were still cool and mysterious to enjoy as a kid. Then again, I wouldn't want to have to try to get my kid out of one of those if she refuses to come out, haha! I also miss the concept of "tokens"- as a kid, I liked handling and using them. Made me feel "rich!" But then again, nowadays people often don't carry cash or use change, everything is paid for by card, so it's possible kids feel the same level of maturity and excitement by scanning their own to use the games and features. Could chalk this one up to just a changing world... if you could see me writing this review, I am signing wistfully and gazing into the distance.

Ok, my final complaint, and this one is actually relevant. You have to use some kind of QR code jawn and a website or app to order your food to your table. I detest when places do this, because if there's ever a thing that's going to give you a pain in the neck, it's technology. Sometimes you just want to be able to relay your order to a human being and browse a physical menu in your hot little hand. Especially if you're like me and refuse to invest in some expensive state of the art smart phone. It'll be a cold day, buddy!...

Update: they responded on here, with a link that just sends you to their website no actual complaint section, just their website instead of looking up my contact information and directly reaching out! Unprofessional I'm all fronts.

I want to be clear my party host was a Gem, with that said management need to get it together! I want you to understand one thing, we paid $457 for a 2 hour slot, and a party host, yet they kept taking our party host because they had no one to dress up as the mouse! Which left us with no host for a while, looking for basic utensils, and needing simple questions answered. The other party host was amazing trying to help us with anything they could. But again, if we paid so much our party host should of never been taken. And I wasn't going to complain at all, but one thing set me off and made me want to wear orange in jail, all my guest was disgusted by the behavior of this one lady who came from the back room by the kitchen (chunky lady) the birthday girl was a 4 year old child who is non verbal, she was a inch from yelling at my child in the blaster the two party host was in shock that she even was so disrespectful, and my husband and I lost it with her. Borderline yelling at my daughter was unprofessional and unacceptable and if this is the type of people working there I will never take my children there again! Management needs to fire this lady, not only did she treat my child this way, she treated the party host this way causing a hustle work environment for those poor girls. If they can't speak up for themselves I will! Those host was great even with all the circumstances, that lady was horrible and for almost $500 I expected better attitude from that lady whoever she was, because she ain't even give her name when asked she just walked away. I truly wish I didn't take my children there just from that 1 lady talking to my 4 year...