Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Fresno City Gets Extension in Herndon 4-Story Apartment Case

2 days ago

With Major Heat Risk Forecast, This Is a Good Weekend to Stay Indoors in Fresno

2 days ago

Trump Says Intel Has Agreed to Deal for US to Take 10% Equity Stake

2 days ago

Epstein Associate Maxwell Says She Never Saw Trump Behave Inappropriately

2 days ago

Pew: US Immigrant Population Declines for First Time in Nearly 60 Years

2 days ago

Powell, Citing Jobs Risk, Opens Door to Cuts but Doesn’t Commit

2 days ago

FBI Agents Search Ex-Trump Adviser Bolton’s Home, Source Says

2 days ago

Gaza City Officially in Famine, With Hunger Spreading, Says Global Hunger Monitor

2 days ago

Gavin Newsom’s Redistricting Plan Is on Its Way to Voters. What You Need to Know

3 days ago
Fresno's Chuck E. Cheese to Reopen Friday. Company Hopes to Squeak Through Bankruptcy.
Randy-Reed-Image
By Randy Reed, Operations Manager
Published 5 years ago on
June 25, 2020

Share

Fresno’s two kid-friendly Chuck E. Cheese pizza restaurants will reopen their dining rooms Friday with limited seating and other safety procedures in place, local managers said.

Most of the stores’ electronic games will be operational, but mascot Chuck E. Cheese himself will remain in lockdown for the time being.

Like other Fresno restaurants, Chuck E. Cheese locations closed their dining rooms when the state’s COVID-19 emergency orders were issued in mid-March. Both local stores have only been offering take-out service since then.

Christine Flores, who manages the North Blackstone Avenue restaurant, is eager to have families return. “We’re just looking forward to getting back open,” she said.

Parent Company Seeks Bankruptcy Protection

The move comes as the nationwide chain struggles to remain afloat. Parent company CEC Entertainment filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Thursday but said it will continue to reopen stores while it negotiates with its creditors.

Company officials said the prolonged closure of many outlets due to coronavirus restrictions led to the bankruptcy filing.

CEC and its franchisees operate 734 restaurants in 47 states and 16 countries. As of Thursday, CEC has reopened 266 of its 555 company-operated Chuck E. Cheese and Peter Piper Pizza restaurants.

Both Fresno Chuck E. Cheese locations are company-owned.

Focus on Safety and Sanitation

Saul Esquivel, manager of the West Shaw Avenue location, said workers will follow required health and sanitation requirements.

“All of our employees are going to be wearing gloves, sanitizing on a regular basis between tasks,” he said. “We’ll have someone exclusively going through the store, cleaning constantly.”

Guests will be asked to wear masks when they’re not eating at their tables, Esquivel said, and social distancing markers will be visible throughout the store.

To provide enough separation between customers, some games will be turned off, but “we’re shooting for about 70 percent of our games to be on and available,” he said.

However, the chain’s namesake mouse character, who often roams the floor greeting patrons, will not be returning for awhile, Esquivel said.

Chain Founded in San Jose

Chuck E. Cheese got its start in San Jose in 1977 when Atari cofounder Nolan Bushnell opened Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza Time Theatre, featuring a cast of animatronic characters.

“Where a kid can be a kid,” the chain promises in its tag line.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno State Bulldogs Can’t Find Answer for Daniels in Loss at Kansas

DON'T MISS

Hegseth Authorizes Troops in DC to Carry Weapons

DON'T MISS

Texas, Florida Seek to Join Legal Challenge to Abortion Pill

DON'T MISS

Wrongly Deported Migrant Abrego Released, May Be Detained Again

DON'T MISS

Judge Blocks Trump From Withholding Funds From Los Angeles, Other Sanctuary Cities

DON'T MISS

Lyle Menendez Denied Parole After 35 Years in Prison for Parents’ Shotgun Murders

DON'T MISS

California Cities Lack Unified Response On Homeless Encampments

DON'T MISS

Trump Crime Crackdown Deploys Troops in Washington’s Safest Sites

DON'T MISS

California Voters Still Support High-Speed Rail, Even If It Never Gets Done

DON'T MISS

Turkish First Lady Urges Melania Trump to Speak out on Gaza

UP NEXT

California Cities Lack Unified Response On Homeless Encampments

UP NEXT

California Voters Still Support High-Speed Rail, Even If It Never Gets Done

UP NEXT

Fresno Crash Sends Car Into Building After Running Red Light

UP NEXT

Fresno City Gets Extension in Herndon 4-Story Apartment Case

UP NEXT

Atwater Prison Inmate Charged for Threatening to Kill Prosecutor’s Family

UP NEXT

Fresno Firefighters Contain Cambridge Avenue Blaze, No Injuries Reported

UP NEXT

With Major Heat Risk Forecast, This Is a Good Weekend to Stay Indoors in Fresno

UP NEXT

Remembering Ron McCary, Who Did It All for KMJ

UP NEXT

Community Shares Messages of Support for Joseph Castro While He Is in Hospice Care

UP NEXT

Pew: US Immigrant Population Declines for First Time in Nearly 60 Years

Wrongly Deported Migrant Abrego Released, May Be Detained Again

21 hours ago

Judge Blocks Trump From Withholding Funds From Los Angeles, Other Sanctuary Cities

21 hours ago

Lyle Menendez Denied Parole After 35 Years in Prison for Parents’ Shotgun Murders

21 hours ago

California Cities Lack Unified Response On Homeless Encampments

21 hours ago

Trump Crime Crackdown Deploys Troops in Washington’s Safest Sites

21 hours ago

California Voters Still Support High-Speed Rail, Even If It Never Gets Done

21 hours ago

Turkish First Lady Urges Melania Trump to Speak out on Gaza

21 hours ago

Fresno Crash Sends Car Into Building After Running Red Light

2 days ago

Fresno City Gets Extension in Herndon 4-Story Apartment Case

2 days ago

Atwater Prison Inmate Charged for Threatening to Kill Prosecutor’s Family

2 days ago

Fresno State Bulldogs Can’t Find Answer for Daniels in Loss at Kansas

The Bulldogs could not stop Jalon Daniels. If the Kansas sixth-year quarterback wasn’t accurately completing passes, he was running out of t...

10 hours ago

10 hours ago

Fresno State Bulldogs Can’t Find Answer for Daniels in Loss at Kansas

Soldiers with the 30th Armored Combat Brigade from the South Carolina National Guard at Union Station in Washington, Aug. 20, 2025. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has authorized National Guard troops deployed to Washington to bring their weapons with them on their mission. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times)
19 hours ago

Hegseth Authorizes Troops in DC to Carry Weapons

A patient prepares to take Mifepristone, the first pill in a medical abortion, at Alamo Women's Clinic in Carbondale, Illinois, U.S., April 9, 2024. (Reuters File)
21 hours ago

Texas, Florida Seek to Join Legal Challenge to Abortion Pill

Kilmar Abrego Garcia walks, after he has been released from the Putnam County Jail in Cookville, Tennessee, U.S., August 22, 2025. (Reuters/Seth Herald)
21 hours ago

Wrongly Deported Migrant Abrego Released, May Be Detained Again

U.S. flag and Judge gavel are seen in this illustration taken, August 6, 2024. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)
21 hours ago

Judge Blocks Trump From Withholding Funds From Los Angeles, Other Sanctuary Cities

Lyle Menendez attends his Board of Parole hearing online from the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California, U.S., August 22, 2025, that could lead to freedom after decades in prison for the 1989 shotgun murders of his parents. The final decision will rest with the governor, who can either accept or reject the board's recommendation. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation/Handout via REUTERS
21 hours ago

Lyle Menendez Denied Parole After 35 Years in Prison for Parents’ Shotgun Murders

21 hours ago

California Cities Lack Unified Response On Homeless Encampments

Members of the Mississippi National Guard eat ice cream and boba tea on the National Mall after U.S. President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard and ordered an increased presence of federal law enforcement to assist in crime prevention, in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 21, 2025. (Reuters/Al Drago)
21 hours ago

Trump Crime Crackdown Deploys Troops in Washington’s Safest Sites

Search

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Send this to a friend