Chuck E. Cheese: Where A Kid Can... Drink Alcohol?
By Samantha Abernethy in News on Apr 2, 2009 8:20PM
Ahh, Chuck E. Cheese. Where a kid can be a kid. Skee-ball. Pizza. Ball-pits. Frightening animatronic shows. And now... booze? The Chuck E. Cheese in Batavia has been charged with selling alcohol to minors. We weren't even aware that the restaurants served alcohol, let alone to minors, but it turns out a worker at the 511 N. Randall Rd. location was allegedly caught selling to an underage police decoy.
The violation was documented on March 5, although the ILCC just released the information in their monthly discipline report. The worker responsible will have to appear in court and the liquor license holder may be fined or their license could be suspended.
Our favorite kid-friendly spot has seen its share of scandals in the last year or so. In February a woman filed a lawsuit against the Oak Lawn Chuck E. Cheese, claiming that the franchise was responsible for injuries her child sustained in the play area because there were too many kids in it. In Dec. 2008, the Wall Street Journal reported on how often fights break out at Chuck E. Cheeses around the nation, including a particularly brutal brawl in Brookfield, Wis., last April that involved 40 people. These incidences of violence have cause many locations to stop serving alcohol and to hire armed security guards.
People, this is why we can't have nice things!
Adults get to keep the skee-ball, though. And the animatronics.