Posts
But I'm not quite sure now, as the town of (thank goodness I live in the city of) Brookfield, WI has decided that CEC corp. should not be able to renew their liquor license, as police were called to said establishment 81 times in 2007 through May of 2008 (something similar happened in 2007 to another CEC in the city of Milwaukee... and things have improved there since they got rid of the alcohol). Perhaps the Brookfield CEC voluntarily decided not to renew their license; I honestly don't remember; the paper is at my boss's house, and www.brookfieldnow.com has not yet posted the article.
I'm just not sure I want to have Max's party there if I can't down a beer or 12 and get into a full-on chick fight with another mom whose 5-year-old guest inadvertently stops at my table for a minute or two and takes a piece of cake because she thinks it's for the party she's attending. If a kids' restaurant is going to stop serving alcohol, does that mean they're going to stop serving martinis at the PTO meetings as well?!
On a more serious note, though I never quite understood WHY CEC sold and served alcohol, the adults should be a little more responsible, right? Drinking so much that it's not legal to drive your kids home, drinking so much that you're getting in fights at a child's birthday party, etc., etc.; it's more than a little ridiculous. And regardless of whether alcohol is served or not, no one needs to be fighting or dealing drugs anywhere; hello!
The last time I went to CEC, in April, I made the mistake of going on a Saturday night. I have no idea what I was thinking. Max came back to the table in tears because a big kid had made him swipe his token card on a game before Max would be "allowed" to play himself (I wish Max was half as obedient with me as he is with strangers). I was livid, but since Max couldn't remember what the kid looked like, and the restaurant was so crowded I would have had to wait 20 minutes to talk to a worker, we left.
I apparently have quite the short memory, because I put "Chuck E. Cheese gift card" onto Max's wishlist for his birthday. Grandma and Grandpa gave him $25. We'll be using it on a weekday, and going to dinner at 4PM, or lunch, if I can take a day off, and this will hopefully be July 1 or later, when there is no longer any liquor served. I think that will be the last of the business we give them. We shall see.
If CEC wants to keep their restaurants going ANYWHERE, they need to do the following: 1) stop serving alcohol, and 2) limit the amount of people inside (I have a hard time believing the place is not breaking fire codes on a regular basis on Friday and Saturday nights, at least in Brookfield), and if the individual restaurants do have issues like the one in Brookfield is having, they need to beef up their own security (which they have on weekends). The Town of Brookfield should not have to be responsible for CEC's poor management skills. I'm also appalled by the fact that when the head honchos from Texas CEC headquarters flew up here to discuss matters with the Town of Brookfield, CEC wanted to have a casual, private meeting at a coffeehouse. Yes, that's the perfect way for a municipality to discuss a community issue. The TOB wisely declined, saying this was town business and needed to be conducted on town property and could not be a private meeting. CEC declined to meet with them (another reason I cannot give them my business... hello, judiciary ethics, anyone?).
Attached is the latest posted article from the Brookfield News (the meeting discussed never happened, per CEC's issues over where to meet). http://www.brookfieldnow.com/story/index.aspx?id=760536
There was another story today that will be posted tomorrow, I would assume. Otherwise www.jsonline.com has LOADS of juicy CEC stories.
2 comments:
Thanks for that perspective on CEC. I haven't been since I was a child, but my son has been campaigning for a birthday party there ever since he went for a friend's party last year. They went on a weekday for lunch, so I think it was a really good experience for him. But this certainly gives me pause, which, combined with the cost and lack of value, has me more determined to do my own party at the park somewhere!
No, problem, Joy! Btw, this may just be a local issue, and here, the issue really is on Friday and Saturday nights... I would really check into your local one before judging it. I was just EXTREMELY pissed at the corporate honchos wanting a private meeting with the town. Very shady and unprofessional.
Post a Comment