Say Goodbye to the Last Vintage ’80s Chuck E. Cheese

The last of the vintage '80s Chuck E. Cheese locations is on the verge of a complete remodel. It's the end of an era.

If you were an '80s kid, you probably had nightmares about a dead-eyed, animatronic animal band after visiting Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre. If you were a '90s kid, you probably have fuzzy memories of pizza and games Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza (they'd dropped the "Theatre" from the name by the late '80s). Nowadays, it's just Chuck E. Cheese (not "Chuck E. Cheese's"), and there are about 560 of them peppered across the U.S. of A.

My fuzzy memories are of a Cub Scouts field trip to the Peabody (or was it Danvers?) location in the '80s. Yes, the band and the music were off-putting. My cousin was downright terrified of the herky-jerky pizza rat and his minions. But the pizza was fine for my grammar-school palate. And there was Skee-Ball! And a Funhouse with a bunch of tiny rooms you could work your way through, complete with a slide at the exit. My fellow Cub Scout Steve would not come out. I still can picture his mom screaming up the slide at him.

Those vintage vibes are about to be nothing but a memory. The YouTube channel 80s Life recently shared a walk-through video of the Chuck E. Cheese at 8425 Reseda Blvd. in Northridge, CA. The news is that this location is about to receive a full makeover, erasing all traces of it's '80s/'90s glory. So let's take one last look at a Chuck E. locale that for many of us serves as a time capsule of sorts. Simpler times with simpler pizza and simple games to win simple prizes. And take a look at those booths!

Those Gen X drinks back in the day just hit different. If you're a kid who grew up in the '80s or early '90s, you know what I mean.

I had a paper route starting age 12. Every afternoon, after school, I would deliver the Wakefield Daily Item to subscribers in my neighborhood of Greenwood. The Item was published daily, five days a week, and a weekly subscription for home delivery cost $1.65. Every Thursday, I would collect from my customers, and almost all of them would tip me. Some gave me $2 ($0.35 tip), others gave me $3 ($1.35 tip!) Usually, I'd clear about $30 in tips. $20 would go in the bank, and $10 would go in my pocket.

That's a decent amount of walkin' around money for a middle-schooler. And I spent a decent amount of it at the Greenwood Pharmacy. They had a Slush Puppie machine that we abused so egregiously (2 pumps in a medium? Try 5!) that they finally moved it behind the counter. Luckily, a Pump'n Pantry had recently opened on the other side of Main St., so my friends and I took our business there. Because their Slush Puppie machine was still ripe for misuse and abuse.

By the time I became a regular at Pump'n Pantry, I had graduated to more mature libations. What was better back in the day than walking around town with an IBC Root Beer? It looked like you were drinking an *actual* beer! And remember OK Soda? The quintessential Gen-X soft drink. Those two are in the mix for this week's 12-Inch Poll, alongside a bunch of other throwback beverages. Refresh yourself with a selection of back-in-the-day refreshments, vote for your favorite, then hit the ROCK 92.9 Facebook or Twitter to shout out any others I might have missed.

🎶It's great-tasting fun when you punch open one!🎶

New York Seltzer for the more sophisticated Gen X palate.

Nobody drank this. Hell, the SNL parody was more popular than the actual product.

Fresca's popularity dates back to the '60s, but I remember getting cans out of the soda machine at the Wakefield Bowladrome in the late '80s.

I mean, they got Kate Bush sign off on the commercial, so that's a win, right?

IBC knew their bottles looked like beer bottles. And they smartly played into it.

Like a Slurpee, but you can only get it at the movie theater!

100% the sugar, double the caffeine. Children should not have been allowed to drink this.

For '80s, and '90s kids, this is the taste of summer.

A marketing disaster. The ultimate Gen X "you had to be there" moment.

These were SO GOOD. Black Cherry and Lemon Lime, in particular.

The quintessential Gen X soft drink. Marketed and sold.

A staple for any Gen X kid who grew up with a 7-11 in their 'hood.

Then there were those of us who grew up on Slush Puppies. Fun in a cup!

The Snapple Lady! A '90s legend!

The lizard told me to be myself and also to drink Sobe beverages and who am I to argue with the lizard?

Or "Sunny Delight," if you're old enough to remember.

The unofficial beverage of rap-rock and nu-metal.

The Boomers that raised us were all: "we drank Tang growing up so you will, too!"

From right here in Massachusetts!

Another soft drink that transcends generations. But Generation X drank our fair share.