Dave & Buster's Only for Kids? Chuck E. Cheese Review

Earlier this year, I reviewed Dave and Buster's to understand whether a seemingly sophisticated restaurant/bar with video games and other games of chance could truly be enjoyed by a family with a seven year old, five year old and three year old.  I had compared it to an adult-friendly version of Chuck E. Cheese.  After all, its commercials touted how fun it was for adults during happy hour, but I'm sure I saw a couple of families in the background blurred out in a corner, so we had to try it.  Surprisingly, Dave & Buster's was able to muster a 35.5 Happies out of 50.0 Happies despite the fact that it took literally an hour to have someone take a hundred bucks for our simple little table order (with a couple of beers).  Don't even ask me how much money was dropped for those silly little tickets so they could be redeemed for Pokemon Cards, Silly Bandz and bouncy balls.

But I had compared Dave & Buster's to my memory of Chuck E. Cheese from back when I was a child and teenager. I had honed my skill in skee ball at my local Chuck E. Cheese and always remembered having a good time, but to truly make the comparison, I had to relive my younger days with my children.  I realize that bringing kids to a place like this is a much different matter than just reliving the good ole days.  I mean I had to twist my wife's arm just to accompany us; she was much more hesitant about this experience than I was. 

Natick, MA. 2pm.  After a morning and early afternoon dominated by Pop Warner Football and Fall Baseball leagues, the boys were already exhausted.  This might be a good thing at Chuck E. Cheese (not a good thing at dinner time when they're overtired and whiny).

GROG.  Let's just say that my wife was smart to bring her flask with her.  Could a place require beer and spirits for its workers and patrons more than an enclosed area full of screaming kids?  0.0 Happies out of 10.0 Happies.

KIDS CRAYONS AND OTHER ENTERTAINMENT.  This Chuck E. Cheese certainly had plenty of entertainment for the kids.  Video games, games of chance (for tickets of course) and playhouses dominated the restaurant area.  Of course you would expect that coming here.  The kids were happy going around the game room until they found a machine that promised at least 5-10 tickets every time - in this case a football game played with ping pong balls.  This area however was devoid of TVs, music or any other diversion for adults.  It was as if they were saying "Adults, you shall enjoy none of this experience, and we couldn't care less.  Better you than us."  The only entertainment I got was listening to my four year old try to leave without her parents.  More on that story later. 9.0 Happies out of 10.0 Happies.

SPEED.  You get your ticket, put it on a stand at your table and walk away with your kids.  When you get back, your nasty pizza is usually waiting for you.  Although this category discusses how fast your food arrives and not the quality of said food, I must say that I have never seen a nastier pizza in my life.  And I would eat that before I got something from the "Salad bar."  They lose points since I could have hoisted up nasty food like that in a hurry too - nothing special about that.  6.0 Happies out of 10.0 Happies.

DESSERT.  Similar to Dave and Buster's, the kids were redeeming their tickets long before we got to this point.  Cinnamon sticks and some sort of Apple Pie concoction were the choices.   The reason points are granted at all was that trying to 5 bucks for those two options deserves points for having balls.  3.0 Happies out of 10.0 Happies.

WHO'S PAYING?  We got food and game tokens to satisfy the kids for less than 70 bucks.  That is a reasonable price if it entertains the children for three hours right?  Uh, right?  Well, in any event, 70 dollars was a fraction of the cost that I paid at Dave & Buster's.  6.0 Happies out of 10.0 Happies.

Overall, Chuck E. Cheese receives a 24 Happies out of 50.0 Happies.  Awfully mediocre as an overall experience, but since the children were bummed out to leave, does the score really matter?  Well does it matter to anyone besides us parents?  Overall, given the choice between Dave and Buster's and Chuck E. Cheese, I would rather spend a little more money for a better overall experience.  Dave and Buster's wins!

One cautionary note.  Do not rely on their security system and protocols - one line in, one line out and identifying stamps for parents and children.  I dropped the family off while I had to park in the back of the building and walked in by myself.  I did not receive a stamp.  Neither did my wife who walked in with the kids.  And the kids received stamps that were smudged (Who was at the door, some sort of stoner?!?).  As we were leaving and they were checking our stamps, none of us matched.  Secretly, I was thinking this was my chance to run away.  The new guy at the door was very nice about it and asked my 4 year old daughter if I was her Daddy.  Thinking he was kidding, she said "No."  Getting a little nervous, and seeing the gatekeeper get a little upset, we told her to stop kidding around.  Luckily, the guy realized that only her real parents would react like that and let us go.  Make sure when you walk in that you walk in together and everyone's stamps can be identified. 

photograph courtesy of chuckecheese.com

Chuck E. Cheese for Adults? Dave & Buster's Review

A 7 year old's nirvana?  5 year old's utopia?  3 year old's paradise?  A parent's worst nightmare?  Opinions, of course, run the gamut when Dave & Buster's is the topic.  Growing up, Chuck E. Cheese was the "go to" kids restaurant; what with its skee ball and rudimentary video games like Pacman and Galaga.  But today's kids are a little jaded.  They obtain their Nintendo DSs, Wiis and IPods at an absurdly young age now, just so they don't fall behind their friends.  Chuck E. Cheese is still fun, but the kids are looking for something more exciting, and frankly the food at Chuck E. Cheese is disgusting.  Dave & Buster's promises something a little more.  The place is larger, the games are louder and the food is edible.  Maybe even the parents can enjoy themselves here too.

12pm.  Providence, RI.  Driving an hour out of the way to go to a restaurant seems a little absurd to me.  But everyone is excited and that's the point after all.  We park our car and make our slow trek up the escalators (remember, kids can be entertained for hours on escalators, especially if they go both up AND down).  Surprisingly, I can't hear the restaurant from 500 feet away like I thought I would.  Then we walk inside.  Oh the games are in the back.  All of the adults are in the front of the restaurnat watching the games at the bar.

GROG.  A lot of choices for beer.  Guinness, Stella and Bass are mixed in with the typical domestic light beers.  Numerous fancy drinks ar on the menu too.  The place gets points simply for having Grog in the first place, like they knew that parents would need to have a drink to survive the Ticket Redemption Room at the end.  8.0 Happies out of 10.0.

KIDS CRAYONS AND OTHER ENTERTAINMENT.  A perfect score!  You have pool, basketball hoops, Rock Band, Dance Dance Revolution, Skeeball and other games of chance all in one place - next to our table.  The first time the helicopter game next to us went off, it literally shook the ground to the point where my daughter grabbed the table and asked "What the?"  The real treat, though (for the kids, not really for the parents) is the ticket redemption room where you can redeem your 400,000 tickets for prizes.  Kids go crazy for this room at any amusement park, but this one seems different.  Numerous video games for the Wii, Play Station and the XBox adorn the walls.  My kids end up getting Pokemon cards and 10 bouncy D&B basketballs.  That's alright, this stuff will all end up in the trash a couple of weeks from now. 

Really, can a place ge more entertaining than this?  I think I even played a couple of games myself sneaking them in while pretending to go to the bathroom.  I know my wife was playing some games too, even hough she would never admit it.  11.0 Happies out of 10.0.  Yes, 11.0.

SPEED.  One of the wheels just fell off.  We sat near the bar in the game room.  Numerous waitstaff walked by us, admittedly with those "Better you than me" looks as I'm wrestling the jacket off my 3 year old daughter who's running toward one of the bouncy balls that she won on the way in from the claw game.  It took 20 minutes to flag someone down to take our drink order; that is just not right.  We just want a couple of beers, 3 Grilled Cheeses and some Edamame. I'll even pay you extra if you don't forget about us again.  One of the good things about the lack of attention is that we didn't feel rushed to leave our table, which was a good thing since my daughter fell asleep on the heap of jackets under our table.  4.5 Happies out of 10.0.

DESSERT.  Who cares?  The kids are all in the Ticket Redemption Room at this point anyway.  I think there was some ice cream or brownies or something.  7.0 Happies out of 10.0.

WHO'S PAYING.  Over a hundred dollars getting 3 power cards.  (Did you know that they make you pay $3 to obtain a power card?  Keep them if you go more than once.)  Over a hundred dollars on food and drinks.  Holy crap!  And all we come back with are 4 stuffed animals, 5 bouncy balls and tired kids?  I'll take it!  But that is a lot of money.  Add in the fact that Providence is an hour away and this is a once a year journey. 5.0 Happies out of 10.0 Happies.

Overall, this is more of a kids' paradise than a parent's worst nightmare.  Kids are growing up fast these days and to be able to make them smile and getting them excited about anything is a big deal, and I think this experience is worth it.  I wish the rating was higher because we all ended up having a good time, but in the end, 35.5 Happies out of 50.0 Happies.  Not perfect but better than bad.