Dive Brief:
- Chuck E. Cheese is launching a Grown-Up Menu, which includes four pizza flavors, spicy meatballs, wings and desserts meant for adults, the company said in a press release Monday.
- The menu will roll out across its almost 600 locations nationwide this week.
- The items are part of the company’s strategy to offer new flavors and experiences to the millions of parents that visit each year, rather than just the chain’s youngest diners, CEC Entertainment CEO and President David McKillips said in the press release.
Dive Insight:
In addition to new menu items, the company has partnered with Virtual Dining Concepts to serve other, new items. In the spring, CEC served LankyBox Kitchen’s menu in-store as an LTO; the virtual brand was developed in collaboration with VDC and the popular LankyBox YouTube Channel. That offering included branded packaging, mac and cheese and access to unique rewards and 100 E-tickets and LankyBox trading cards. Chuck E. Cheese has maintained its relationship with Virtual Dining Concepts and serves cakes from Buddy Valastro as part of its Grown-Up Menu. Buddy’s cakes, which originally debuted in August, will be available in confetti, vanilla rainbow and chocolate fudge.
The chain has been working on expanding its reach, most recently expanding its distribution of its frozen pizzas to Walmart locations nationwide. The pizzas include 500 free e-tickets to use for a future visit to a Chuck E. Cheese location. Earlier this year, Chuck E. Cheese also partnered with companies like Funko, Bonkers Toy Co. and Wilder Toys to develop merchandise.
Parent company CEC Entertainment has also been focusing on expanding its Peter Piper brand through its Peter Piper Express units, which are 1,000 square feet and offer dine-in, to-go and delivery service. The first of these units opened during the first quarter. The fast casual concept has limited gaming and an extended menu that includes pastas, sandwiches, desserts, beer and wine alongside pizza and wings. The express concept was developed to take advantage of the fact that a bulk of Peter Piper’s sales come from food rather than arcade gaming.
