23 American Chain Restaurants That Have Closed Their Doors and Left a Hole in Our Hearts

If you look at this picture and ask, “Why does this look like Chuck E. Cheese?” you’re not far off. Showtime Pizza was founded by Robert Brock, who signed a franchising agreement with Chuck E. Cheese in 1979 but decided to do his own thing.

But the mouse won in the end, and all Showbiz locations eventually became Chuck E. Cheeses sometime in the late ’80s—some kids like Showbiz, others like Chuck E. Cheese. Either way, those animatronics were the stuff of nightmares.