Brand History Timeline

Originating in Houston in 1955 as “Monterey House,” this Tex-Mex restaurant chain grew across Texas and Oklahoma. In 1987, ShowBiz Pizza Time, Inc. acquired the chain and began re-branding it as “Monterey's Tex-Mex Cafe,” shifting to a more upscale dining experience while reducing the number of locations. By 1994 the chain was sold off and is now operated under the name Monterey's Little Mexico.

Founded by Anthony “Tony” Cavolo in Glendale, Arizona in November 1973, Peter Piper Pizza began as a neighborhood pizzeria offering high-quality pies at an affordable price in a family-friendly setting. Over the 1980s and 1990s the brand expanded throughout the Southwest and into Mexico, introducing sizeable game rooms and entertainment zones to connect food and fun. In 2014 it became part of the same parent company as its sibling chain Chuck E. Cheese under CEC Entertainment, LLC, and in recent years has evolved to include smaller-footprint formats prioritizing carry-out and delivery to meet changing family dining habits.

Pistol Pete's Pizza emerged in the early 1970s (with the earliest verified location in 1974) as a Texas-based family-oriented pizza and arcade venue, offering buffets, kiddie rides, and game rooms alongside its dining. At its peak it expanded across several U.S. markets, even introducing “Super Store” formats with indoor carousels and full entertainment zones. By the mid-1990s the chain was acquired by Peter Piper Pizza (in 1995), and gradually all Pistol Pete's locations were re-branded or absorbed into Peter Piper's network, with the Pistol Pete's name phased out by the late 1990s.

Founded by video-game pioneer Nolan Bushnell in 1977, the chain originally opened as “Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre” in San Jose, California, combining pizza dining with arcade games and animatronic entertainment in one of the early family-entertainment-center formats. Over time it merged with its chief competitor ShowBiz Pizza Place and rebranded under the Chuck E. Cheese name, evolving its image and concept along the way. The brand has become synonymous with kids' birthday parties, arcade tokens, and marrying dining with play.

In 1980, the chain welcomed families in Perth, Western Australia with an all-in-one venue combining pizza dining, arcade games, and a large animatronic stage show—clearly inspired by the U.S. model of Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre, which first opened in 1977. The animatronics for Pizza Showtime featured characters like “Ringo Dingo” and a violin-playing Black Bear, and the design team acknowledged studying the U.S. entertainment-restaurant model when creating it. Though it operated only until around 1984, Pizza Showtime exemplified how the Chuck E. Cheese concept was adapted globally.

ShowBiz Pizza Place launched on March 3, 1980 in Kansas City, Missouri, by hotelier Robert L. Brock in partnership with animatronics-maker Creative Engineering, Inc., offering families a new spin on pizza dining combined with arcade games and a full-stage animatronic show known as The Rock-afire Explosion. Facing aggressive competition and industry shifts, ShowBiz acquired its primary rival Chuck E. Cheese's in 1984 and soon thereafter underwent a “concept unification” that phased out the original animatronic show and rebranded locations to Chuck E. Cheese by the early 1990s.

The brand emerged in March 1981 in Queensland, Australia as the Australian counterpart to Chuck E. Cheese's, but under the name “Charlie Cheese's” to avoid the local slang meaning of “chuck.” The concept offered pizza dining combined with arcades and animatronic-style entertainment, mirroring its U.S. origin's family-entertainment model. It operated for only a few years—closing around the mid-1980s—with two known locations in Surfers Paradise and Carina.

Opening in March 1981 in the heart of Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Grundy's Entertainment Centre was developed by the Reg Grundy Organisation and billed as a major family-entertainment destination featuring arcade games, indoor rides, a massive four-slide waterslide attraction and a dining area that included “Charlie Cheese's Pizza Playhouse” (an Australian variation of the U.S. concept by Chuck E. Cheese). After the slides closed in 1987 and the venue's appeal waned, the centre was sold and eventually closed in September 1993, making way for what became a large TimeZone arcade in the site's footprint.

Founded by Hank and Doreen Wiebe in Kelowna, British Columbia, Scandia Golf & Games began in the early 1980s as a backyard-amusement project that evolved into a full-scale family-entertainment centre. Over time the facility expanded its offerings to include indoor jungle-mini-golf, outdoor mini-golf, go-karts, batting cages and a large arcade with redemption ticket games. In 2008, Scandia acquired a full set of the animatronic band The Rock-afire Explosion from another venue. The show remained there until vandalism and asset disposal issues halted its use. Today the operation remains open at 2898 Highway 97 North in Kelowna as a multi-attraction centre still worn with nostalgia and updates alike.

In 1983, entrepreneur Nolan Bushnell—best known for founding Chuck E. Cheese's—launched Zapp's Games, Bar & Grill (also styled Gilbert Zapp's) as a more adult-oriented twist on the family-entertainment restaurant model. The concept combined arcade games, a full-service bar, and animatronic entertainment (featuring a mascot called “Wolfman Zapp”) in a venue geared toward adults rather than kids. Only a handful of locations were ever launched, and by the early 1990s the chain had ceased operations as the model failed to scale profitably.

A separate Rock-afire Explosion show was also installed at the Club Hotel Eilat, a family resort located in Eilat, Israel. Despite featuring the same animatronic characters, the resort's attraction was entirely independent from the Billy Bob's Pizzatron restaurant chain.

Founded in 1987 in Northern Ohio by grocery-store entrepreneur Marc Glassman, Marc's Funtime Pizza Palace operated as a chain of six pizza-and-arcade family entertainment venues primarily converted from earlier pizza theatre sites. The venues featured custom animatronic shows that adapted characters from the earlier “Pizza Time Theatre” model into new forms and themes unique to the brand. All locations had shut down by 2004, marking the end of the chain's run.

The Australian version of the “Billy Bob's” concept operated in Knox (Victoria) starting around 1988 and is reported to have closed by about 1993. While detailed documentation is scant, community reports note that it featured the Rock-afire Explosion animatronic show imported from the U.S. model of themed pizza/arcade restaurants, making it a short-lived but unique adaptation of the U.S. family-entertainment style.

Originally launched in 1988 under the name “Jungle Jim's,” the chain that became Jeepers! aimed to offer a more expansive indoor entertainment experience than the typical arcade-pizza combo, incorporating full-scale rides and a “Python Pit” indoor roller coaster alongside games and dining. Over the 1990s, Jeepers! opened multiple locations across the U.S., often inside malls, positioning itself as a destination for birthday parties and family fun. Despite its ambitious format, the company struggled to maintain profitability and gradually shuttered or rebranded its venues by the mid-2000s.

Originally opening as a ShowBiz Pizza Place location in the mid-1980s, this venue re-branded itself as Billy Bob's Wonderland in 1989 to avoid the chain's conversion to Chuck E. Cheese branding. Located at 5 Cracker Barrel Drive, Barboursville, WV, it stands out as one of the few remaining places where the classic animatronic band The Rock-afire Explosion still performs publicly. Over time, the multiple previous locations (East Barboursville, Clarksburg WV, Ashland KY) consolidated into one large facility in 2003 where the show and arcades continue to draw nostalgia-seekers.

Launched in October 1989 in Kansas City, Missouri, Discovery Zone was created as an indoor play-and-entertainment center built around elaborate jungle-gym style mazes, ball pits, roller slides and arcade games for kids. The brand expanded rapidly, going public in 1993 and acquiring rival chains to swell to nearly 300 locations at its peak. However, a combination of over-expansion, mounting debt and shifting entertainment trends led to its first Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1996. After a brief restructuring the chain filed again in 1999, sold off many outlets to Chuck E. Cheese, and by the end of 2001 the original brand had essentially vanished from the U.S. family-entertainment-center landscape.

Launched in 1991 as a child-focused indoor play-zone concept by McDonald's, Leaps & Bounds was designed as an expanded version of the PlayPlace playgrounds—featuring large tube-maze structures, ball pits, arcade-style redemption games, and birthday-party offerings. In 1994 the chain's assets were largely acquired by Discovery Zone (through a merger that brought about some 45 Leaps & Bounds locations into the Discovery Zone network) and subsequently the brand was retired.

Opening in June 1993 in Libertyville, Illinois, Chimpy's Pizza Safari was a niche family-dining and arcade destination that featured the animatronic band The Rock-afire Explosion as its central entertainment draw. The venue included a safari jungle theme throughout its décor and game area, and even issued custom game tokens bearing the restaurant's branding. By the mid-2000s the Libertyville location had fallen into disrepair and closed around 2005, with the fate of its animatronic show thereafter uncertain.

Looney Bird's launched in 1993 as a short-lived spin-off of ShowBiz Pizza Place and a niche entrant into the pizza + arcade/animatronic family-entertainment market. It centered its branding around the animatronic character “Looney Bird” from The Rock-afire Explosion and installed the show in all of its locations. With only three confirmed locations (including one in Orlando, Florida), the chain never scaled beyond its test and regional rollout and shut down by the mid-1990s.

Opened in 1994 in Tinley Park, Illinois, Odyssey Fun World was a large indoor amusement venue that served families in the South Chicago suburbs. The company brought in the animatronic band The Rock-afire Explosion from ShowBiz Pizza Place / Chuck E. Cheese's heritage for its locations, making them among the first non-restaurant installations of the show. Eventually both the Tinley Park and former Naperville locations discontinued the animatronic shows (with the Naperville site closing in January 2019), marking the end of that chapter of the brand.

This concept blended pizza dining, arcade games and even a roller rink, launching in the 1990s and featuring the Rock-afire Explosion animatronics (installed by inventor Aaron Fechter and his assistant). The location closed in 2008, and today the building remains, though the animatronics were removed and stored after no buyer emerged.

Operated under the company name Billy Bob's Pizzatron LTD, this Israeli chain opened three locations (Ness Ziona in 1997, Rothschild Mall in 1998, and Bat Yam in 1999) that used the Rock-afire Explosion show. Financial difficulties led to bankruptcy in 2007, with various show components sold or abandoned, making the Pizzatron concept a rare international footnote in the era of animatronic pizza-arcade restaurants.

The Staten Island branch of Fun Station USA opened in 1997 in New York and became a prominent indoor family-entertainment venue. It featured a large arcade area, kiddie rides and a full animatronic show by The Rock-afire Explosion installed during the early 1990s, in line with the heritage of the classic pizza/arcade venues. The animatronic show at this location was later de-installed around 2007 and the characters were dispersed.

Launched on October 1, 2001 by CEC Entertainment, LLC, T.J. Hartford's served as a prototype adult-targeted concept built by the company behind Chuck E. Cheese's. The venue combined full-service dining, a bar, dozens of TVs for sports viewing, and arcade games (including special tokens) to create a hybrid of casual dining and entertainment. Although expansion plans were considered, only the one location in Lewisville, Texas operated, and the concept was shuttered on February 17, 2008.

Opening in 2004 in Indio, California, Rock-afire Pizza brought the full-stage animatronic band The Rock-afire Explosion to its dining-and-arcade format, delivering the nostalgic pizza-arcade-show experience. The animatronic show ran until July 31, 2008, at which point it was replaced by large-screen TVs showing sporting events. The restaurant itself closed around 2011, and its former location later became a Shakey's Pizza, which has since also closed.

Located in Euclid, Ohio, Token Town USA combined pizza dining and arcade entertainment with a restored Rock-afire Explosion show. In 2016, the venue faced a brief legal dispute with CEC Entertainment over its token design's resemblance to the classic Chuck E. Cheese tokens, which was later resolved without lasting impact.

A bar and arcade located at 334 E 31st St in Kansas City, Missouri, the Rock-afire Bar opened in May 2018 and featured a near-complete installation of the animatronic band The Rock-afire Explosion from the former pizza-arcade era. It operated on an adult-friendly model (bar + arcade) and showcased characters such as Billy Bob, Mitzi, Beach Bear, Fatz, Dook and Rolfe/Earl on a single stage setup. Due to rights issues with the animatronic band's creator Aaron Fechter, the venue shut its doors in February 2019 and has not reopened.