Okay, so “all hail” is a little strong, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover what an enjoyable place Chuck E Cheese’s can be when I attended a birthday party with my son there the other day.

The kids had a great time, of course, in the ball pit, the extensive system of tubes, and playing the many games.

The adults also enjoyed the party thoroughly, shooting hoops, playing skee ball (we had a Grand Prize winner in our group who won a certificate worth 250 tickets–that got pooled with other tickets to buy an Elmo ball for the birthday boy), and watching the kids have fun.

The thing that may have made the biggest impact on me, however, was how friendly, outgoing and professional all the young members of the staff were. Somebody is doing a great job of hiring and/or training there. I get the impression that they look for slightly small employees, because some of the staff didn’t look old enough to be holding down a job, but they sure acted old enough.

Maybe not “all hail”, but certainly “thank you, and great job”.