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The first Chuck E. Cheese's in San Jose, California

Posted: 24 Jan 2007 17:30
by dth1971
Does anyone living in California or used to live in California state remember visiting the very first Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre location that was on Winchester Blvd. in San Jose, California after it first opened in May 1977? If so, does any 1977 film/video footage of the original 1977 wall portrait format Pizza Time Players animatronic show? First location San Jose CECPTT photos are also possible as well.

Posted: 25 Jan 2007 19:23
by dth1971
Also: Does anyone remember the early 1977-early 1980's Chuck E. Cheese's Southern California/Northern California/Central Calfornia locations?

Posted: 25 Jan 2007 20:39
by mgrmk
There was a Chuck E Cheese in North Hollywood, I was a young kid and don't remember the exact location but I think it was on Lankershim? This was the first location I know of in the San Fernando Valley. I do know later there was one in Northridge on Reseda Blvd. just north of Nordhoff and another in Granada Hills on San Fernando Mission Blvd and Woodly Ave.

Posted: 25 Jan 2007 22:58
by dth1971
Other early Chuck E. Cheese's 1979-1980/1981 locations included Odgen, Utah (opened in 1979, closed in 1993) and in states of Texas, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Michigan, Florida, and North Carolina.

Posted: 25 Jan 2007 23:02
by lvkewlkid
I believe the first Chuck E. Cheese opened in Henderson, NV in the late 90s, so where did it open in the 80s in NV?

Posted: 26 Jan 2007 17:27
by runchadrun
The Granada Hills store is still there, squeezed next to Big Lots. It's not a very visible location.

The one in Reseda apparently has valet parking:
http://franklinavenue.blogspot.com/2007 ... uck-e.html

Posted: 26 Jan 2007 18:42
by Jeff
The El Monte and Pico Rivera Chuck E Cheeses have been around since I was a kid in the early 80s.

Posted: 26 Jan 2007 18:59
by javelin
The Garden Grove location I remember was still there the last time I went by a couple of years ago.

Posted: 28 Jan 2007 16:51
by dth1971
lvkewlkid wrote:I believe the first Chuck E. Cheese opened in Henderson, NV in the late 90s, so where did it open in the 80s in NV?
Edited out "Nevada" in one of my post threads.

Posted: 31 Jan 2007 11:04
by dth1971
Also: A web site at http://rock_afire.tripod.com or http://www.showbizpizza.com pays tribute to 1977-1980's and present day Chuck E. Cheese's (Pizza Time Theatre as originally called).

Posted: 01 Feb 2007 19:06
by TheQuestioner
javelin wrote:The Garden Grove location I remember was still there the last time I went by a couple of years ago.
I drove by there the other day and it is still there. Does anyone know when the Garden Grove location opened? It looked like this was the same physical location they had in 1984, which was the last time I drove by that part of Harbor Blvd.

I remember seeing this Chuck E. Cheese in '84 and thinking that it was unusual, because at that time I thought CEC was going out of business. I don't recall exactly why I thought that at the time, but I guess the chain was going through some kind of upheaval back then. There were not a lot of locations in Maryland at that time, so if some/all of those closed it might have seemed like they were going out of business for good. Needless to say, within a couple of years there were more locations than ever in MD and in many other places.

Posted: 01 Feb 2007 21:17
by TheStranger
In 1984...according to the Wiki entry on CEC:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_E_Cheese

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Showbiz_Pizza_Place
In 1984, the company purchased the assets of Chuck E. Cheese's, after they declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. They then proceeded to change the name of the company to Showbiz Pizza Time, Inc. Both restaurants were kept operating as separate entities. After disagreements over a period of years with Creative, Showbiz management decided to go ahead with a restructuring of the restaurants called "Concept Unification". This would consist of renovating all Showbiz animation into Chuck E. Cheese characters, as well as renaming all stores to "Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza". This would be the end for the concept known as "Showbiz Pizza Place", although the company is still in business, as the current management of the "Chuck E. Cheese's" concept is a direct line from the "Showbiz Pizza Time, Inc." era, with little connection to the original "Pizza Time Theatre" ownership. They are now known as CEC Entertainment Concepts, L.P.

Re: The first Chuck E. Cheese's in San Jose, California

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 17:28
by Buckethead
Modesto, CA has had one since 80-81. Not surprised reading about the change in ownership. Went there often in the early-mid 80s & it had an incredible atmosphere. Went again around 87-88 & it was a buzzkill, doom & gloom vibe.

Re: The first Chuck E. Cheese's in San Jose, California

Posted: 26 Jun 2013 19:59
by crainbebo
The Chuck E Cheese in Lynnwood, WA, IIRC, used to be a Showbiz Pizza in the 1980s (with that Rock A Fire Explosion animatronics instead of Chuck etc) then was turned into a CEC in the '90s when Showbiz went out of business. Kids screaming and yelling of course!

It never was a Pizza Time Theater from what I know.

-crainbebbo