Chuck E Cheese tie in

[budman]

Back in the day... way back. I was working for Atari and doing all kinds of fun spaces. It was my first real high cool tech client. Lockheed was cool as hell, but Atari was fun!!!

As part of that when I did the executive dining room I got to meet the big dogs.

One of them then contacted me about an idea he had and asked that I do a restaurant for him called Chuck E Cheese which I did in Milpitas. Him describing what he needed was a bit out of the box.

That man was Nolan Bushnell. Describing the cheese crawl below the stage where rats and critters would sing and stuff took a few goes to get it. I did and taking my kids there was a hoot. Then he rented a 35K sf building in SV and asked me to do his World HQ. Also very interesting getting the animatronics built and tested. Super cool dude from my perspective.

I did not do his bigger restaurants (not really my gig) and he knew that. Just happy to be his beta tester so to speak.
Seeing the SJ one open was a shocker. Wow had they matured into a day trip to Disneyland for Pizza thing. Censory overload for sure. Kids loved it.

When I saw the article pop up on SF Gate (linked above) it brought back some good memories. Bushnell was a vid game pioneer, but like many had some crappola along the way. The sort you bring on yourself.

Anyone ever go to the Abel Street venue?? Small and not nearly as cool as SJ, but the start of an empire that still survives.

Super cool that my job has brought me to meet some many folks rocking the biz world. Seems like I am always doing something that is cool and fun.

The only NOT COOL thing is dealing with the Building and other departments. The new online shit drives this old man and for the first time actually looking forward to leaving it behind.

 

[Eldritch]

That is cool as hell you got to do that.

 

[TheRobSJ]

Many a night out with my dad was spent at that Milpitas Chuck E Cheese in the 80’s. He and I would split a pizza and I’d go hog wild (and so did my dad) with a pocketful of tokens with the latest video games. He’d take me at least a couple times a month and it’s one of the shining moments from what I remember of those years.

It abruptly ended when that Chuck E Cheese (maybe the whole chain?) switched to a different mozzarella cheese and the pizza tasted awful. My dad and I both immediately noticed the switch and didn’t like it at all. Pizza and video games went together just fine. But once the pizza was no longer the anchor point for being there, that was the end of those father-son moments.

 

[PorradaVFR]

Holy shit, I was jazzed as hell to have Bushnell in my linkedin network - he’s a legend....to have been a part of the Atari glory days into CEC’s launch...man. You’re cooler than I already thought!

 

[Eldritch]

Many a night out with my dad was spent at that Milpitas Chuck E Cheese in the 80’s. He and I would split a pizza and I’d go hog wild (and so did my dad) with a pocketful of tokens with the latest video games. He’d take me at least a couple times a month and it’s one of the shining moments from what I remember of those years.

It abruptly ended when that Chuck E Cheese (maybe the whole chain?) switched to a different mozzarella cheese and the pizza tasted awful. My dad and I both immediately noticed the switch and didn’t like it at all. Pizza and video games went together just fine. But once the pizza was no longer the anchor point for being there, that was the end of those father-son moments.

Chuck E Cheese was killer when I was a kid in the 80's and it is certainly sad to see it has devolved into World Star +Children. Back in the day it was super cool.

 

[Alan_Hepburn]

Our family preferred the Bullwinkle's on Lawrence/Homestead - much better pizza - we always got the stuffed pizza!

 

[mercurial]

the animatronics were incredible back in the day, the games were good, it was kid heaven. When I last went to one probably about 10 years ago, it was pathetic. just a single chuckie cheese robot who could like rotate a bit and wave its hand - totally a let down for me. But the kids still loved it, they didn't know any better.

 

[byke]

Pretty cool bud, fun to be a part of a pop culture icon like chuck e cheese. The most fun thing about that place, as a parent, it that it freaks out like one in ten kids. They know something is wrong, like they know they should love it, but they don't, because something is definitely wrong.

 

[dtrides]

Super cool Dennis!
One of my bud's worked for Atari (after he left Tandy) for a while!
From there he landed at Apple for a few years and then on to do his own thing.
Never made any of the big money but made a living doing what he loved to do!
PS: Asteroids was my jam !...
Just remembered, Lonster has a Asteroids game in his front room!
I need to go see my buddy and have a game!
DT

 

[budman]

Cool that some remember and actually went to the Milpitas venue!

My job has land me a few really cool folks to work with. Nolan is one for sure. Larry Page (Google Founder) another. We were lucky to be their first Architect when they took over the SGI Campus in Mt. View. They changed me from suits to shorts for work.

 

[ST Guy]

I know a guy who used to work at Chucky Cheese wearing a life size Chucky costume. The stories he could tell. He was a self taught engineer and ended up as a CEO at several successful medical device start ups.

 

[kneedraggeroldy]

That's pretty cool Budman. You brought back some memories as I worked for Chuck E Cheese back in the day as a teenager as a night shift supervisor and even played chuck, jasper and the gang in the suits for B Day parties......oooohhhhh could our crew PARTY! back then )

 

[Blankpage]

I’ve never been inside of a Chuck E Cheese. We didn’t get to do anything cool like that. When I was a kid my parents would give us rocks to play with. If you were lucky they’d clean the mud off the rock first.

 

[budman]

Solid parental influence.

 

[ThumperX]

Thank you for this thread Budman. You just made me take a step back in attitude and realize what I do has broadened my horizons beyond anything because of the people I encounter.

Having a cool career that is made cooler by your clientele should never be taken for granted