Most children who grew up in the late 1970s or the 1980s are very familiar with a little restaurant known as Chuck E. Cheese’s. A trip to Chuck E. Cheese’s was a little trip to heaven for any child who was interested in playing video games, eating pizzas, and jumping into a pit filled with colored plastic balls. The quality of the pizza may have been hit-or-miss, but the fun had by all was always what was important about a visit to Chuck E. Cheese’s. Here are seven things you don’t know about Chuck E. Cheese’s.

1. The “E” in Chuck E. Cheese’s name stands for “entertainment”.

2. The Chuck E. Cheese character is designed, drawn and marketed as a mouse. Before a 1995 company-wide facelift, Chuck E. Cheese was actually a rat.

3. The first Chuck E. Cheese was opened in San Jose, California in 1977.

4. The founder of the Chuck E. Cheese chain of restaurants was Nolan Bushnell who was also the founder of Atari.

5. Chuck E. Cheese’s filed for bankruptcy in 1984 and was bought out by its only competitor, Showbiz Pizza Place.

6. Voice actor Bob West did voiceover work for the Chuck E. Cheese character Jasper T. Jowls. He is probably more recognizable as the person who first voiced the Barney the dinosaur children’s character. After West retired from the role of Barney, it was taken over for a short time by Duncan Brannan who had voiced the character of Chuck E. Cheese himself.

7. CEC Entertainment, Inc. is the parent company of Chuck E. Cheese and is headquartered in Irving, Texas.

Chuck E. Cheese’s was more than pizza and video games, there were also a great number of games to play that would award tickets. The tickets could then be used to buy prizes as you left the restaurant. Chuck E. Cheese’s remains one of the more popular places to hold a child’s birthday party, and with good reason… kids just love it there.