Showbiz Pizza Place Map and Brochure (1980)
Location: Irving, TX
Years Active: 1979 – 1994
ShowBiz Pizza Place, often shortened to ShowBiz Pizza or ShowBiz, was an American family entertainment center and restaurant pizza chain founded in 1980 by Robert L. Brock and Creative Engineering.
It emerged after a separation between Brock and owners of the Chuck E. Cheese’s franchise, Pizza Time Theatre. ShowBiz Pizza restaurants entertained guests through a large selection of arcade games, coin-operated rides and animatronic stage shows.
The two companies became competitors and found early success, partly due to the rise in popularity of arcade games during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The type of animatronics used in the ShowBiz Pizza chain distinguished it from its rivals, which offered many of the same services.
Following Pizza Time Theatre’s bankruptcy in 1984, ShowBiz merged with the struggling franchise to settle a former court settlement mandate, forming ShowBiz Pizza Time.
By 1992, all ShowBiz Pizza locations were rebranded as Chuck E. Cheese’s.
Showbiz Pizza Place Brochure 1980
FAQ
Does ShowBiz Pizza Place still exist?
ShowBiz Pizza Place as a chain does not exist anymore; its locations were gradually rebranded as Chuck E. Cheese restaurants following a merger and restructuring that began in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The original ShowBiz Pizza brand effectively ended when its unique animatronic show, the Rock-afire Explosion, was replaced with Chuck E. Cheese’s characters. However, the legacy of ShowBiz Pizza lives on through online archives and tribute shows of the Rock-afire Explosion animatronic band, which still performs in a few venues outside of the original pizza chain context.
Where is the original ShowBiz Pizza?
The original ShowBiz Pizza Place opened on March 3, 1980, in Kansas City, Missouri, at 2726 NE Vivion Road in the Antioch Shopping Center. This location was the first in the chain and featured the unique animatronic show that became a hallmark of ShowBiz Pizza. The site closed in 2007 and was later demolished, with a new shopping center now occupying the area.
Will ShowBiz Pizza ever come back?
There are no current plans to revive ShowBiz Pizza Place as an active standalone chain. The original brand was fully rebranded as Chuck E. Cheese’s by the early 1990s after a merger, and while dedicated fans have revived interest in the Rock-afire Explosion animatronic band from ShowBiz Pizza, the pizza restaurant itself has not made a comeback. Some enthusiasts have recreated the ShowBiz Pizza experience in private or small venues, but a full commercial revival is unlikely at this time.
What happened to ShowBiz Pizza Zone?
ShowBiz Pizza Zone was a restaurant and arcade based on the original ShowBiz Pizza Place concept. Over time, the broader ShowBiz Pizza brand went through significant changes, including merging with the struggling Chuck E. Cheese (Pizza Time Theatre) chain in the 1980s. This merger resulted in the gradual rebranding of all ShowBiz Pizza locations into Chuck E. Cheese’s by the early 1990s, ending the ShowBiz Pizza name and concept as a standalone brand. The Rock-afire Explosion animatronic show was replaced by Chuck E. Cheese’s characters during this rebranding effort known as Concept Unification, and the company name later changed to CEC Entertainment, Inc.
