Restaurants

Chuck E. Cheese Corporate Office

Chuck E. Cheese’s was founded in San Jose, California in 1977. The company is a chain of American family entertainment and food restaurants. Co-founded by the creator of Atari, Nolan Bushnell, Chuck E. Cheese’s was the first restaurant to integrate food, live entertainment for children, games, and a play center inside one business. The original name was Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza Time Theatre.

The company began franchising in 1979 and has been sold several times over the years. Today, Chuck E. Cheese’s is owned by CEC Entertainment Concepts, who also owns Peter Piper Pizza.

In July 2018, the company initiated a “pay once play all day” program, rather than rely on tokens. This has been a very successful program, with all participating franchises reporting increased revenue.

Chuck E. Cheese’s has more than 600 locations in the U.S. The company had annual revenue in 2015 of $922 million. The restaurant chain most often hosts birthday parties for children, which feature costumed figures of performing animals and arcade games.

Chuck E. Cheese's

The company began franchising in 1979 and has been sold several times over the years. Today, Chuck E. Cheese’s is owned by CEC Entertainment Concepts, who also owns Peter Piper Pizza.

History

Rainforest Cafe Corporate Office

Rainforest Cafe was founded by Steven Schussler in 1994 in The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. The company operates a chain of themed restaurants designed to look like a tropical rainforest. Design items include living plants, mists, waterfalls, and rainforest figurine animals such as elephants and frogs.

In addition to the restaurant, most locations also feature a gift shop with items for sale such as toys, games, stuffed animals, and action figures.

The company currently has 28 locations in the US, along with locations in France, Japan, and the United Kingdom. The company has almost 7,000 full time employees and annual revenue in 2004 of $259 million. Landry’s Restaurants, Inc., purchased the company in 2000.

Rainforest Cafe

In addition to the restaurant, most locations also feature a gift shop with items for sale such as toys, games, stuffed animals, and action figures.

History

Famous Dave’s Corporate Office

Famous Dave’s Barbeque was founded in Hayward, Wisconsin, in 1994 by Dave Anderson, an Ojibwe native who later headed the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. What began as a roadside BBQ restaurant has now developed into 200 locations in the U.S., one in Canada, and one location in Puerto Rico.

Famous Dave’s went public on the NASDAQ and can be found under the ticker symbol: BBQ. The restaurant has received more than 700 awards over the years for their secret barbeque sauce, including the 2012 People’s Choice Best Wings Award, the 2014 People’s Choice Best Barbeque, and the 2014 People’s Choice Best Catering Award.

In addition to restuarant’s, Famous Dave also sells its BBQ sauce, cornbread mix, and pickle chips in many major grocery store chains.

Famous Dave’s parent company, BBQ Holdings, wants to add other venues to its names, such as a breakfast restaurant or pizza.

Famous Dave’s maintains a corporate office in Minnetonka, Minnesota.

Famous Dave's

History

In addition to restuarant’s, Famous Dave also sells its BBQ sauce, cornbread mix, and pickle chips in many major grocery store chains.

Famous Dave’s parent company, BBQ Holdings, wants to add other venues to its names, such as a breakfast restaurant or pizza.

Famous Dave’s maintains a corporate office in Minnetonka, Minnesota.

Checkers Drive In Corporate Office

Founded in 1986 by Jim Mattei, Checkers Drive-In is one of America’s largest drive-through restaurants. The company operates both Rally’s and Checker names and began as a Checkers Drive-In located in Mobile, Alabama. The companies merged in 1999.

The company was sold in 2014 to a private equity group, Sentinel Capital Partners. Checkers Drive-In is now headquartered in Tampa, Florida. Both Rallys and Checkers offer little or no seating areas but have double drive-throughs on both sides of the location. A few older locations have drive and park service.

Checkers was sold to another private equity group, Oak Hill Capital Partners, in 2017 for $525 million.

Checkers Drive-In offers standard American food such as hamburgers, hot dogs, French fries, and milkshakes. As of 2014, the company had 784 locations.

In 2018, the company announced that it would be expanding into the Pittsburgh area with more than 2 dozen locations planned.

In December 2022, Checkers opened a new location in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The company maintains a corporate office in Tampa, Florida.

Checkers Drive In

History

Checkers was sold to another private equity group, Oak Hill Capital Partners, in 2017 for $525 million.

Checkers Drive-In offers standard American food such as hamburgers, hot dogs, French fries, and milkshakes. As of 2014, the company had 784 locations.

In 2018, the company announced that it would be expanding into the Pittsburgh area with more than 2 dozen locations planned.

In December 2022, Checkers opened a new location in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The company maintains a corporate office in Tampa, Florida.

Four Seas Ice Cream Corporate Office

Wells Watson converted an abandoned blacksmith shop to create Four Seas Ice Cream, in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The store is still in the same location where it was founded in 1934. In addition to ice cream and ice cream dishes, the company also sells sandwiches, salads, ice cream cakes, and other deli items.

Four Seas Ice Cream is one of the three oldest ice cream shops in operation in New England. The company has numerous awards to its credit and is listed as #7 on the list of The Top 10 Ice Cream Shops in America. The Four Seas name doesn’t actually refer to 4 oceans, but the four bodies of water that surround New England; the Atlantic Ocean, Buzzards Bay, Cape Cod Bay, and Nantucket Sound.

When most ice cream locations close in the winter months, Four Seas remains open part time and offers ice cream cakes and pints to go.

Four Seas Ice Cream

When most ice cream locations close in the winter months, Four Seas remains open part time and offers ice cream cakes and pints to go.