Why Peter Piper Pizza is developing a fast-casual concept

Can Peter Piper go fast casual? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features David McKillips, CEO of CEC Entertainment, the parent company of Chuck E. Cheese and Peter Piper Pizza. CEC has had an almost literal roller coaster ride in the three years since David became CEO. The pandemic pushed it into bankruptcy and then the reopening helped it come back remarkably strong as fun-and-games chains proved popular among consumers who wanted to get out of the house. We talk about those issues and we also talk about Peter Piper, the regional pizza chain CEC operates. David talks about the company’s efforts to break out of its core market. Specifically, he talks about a new type of fast-casual concept based on the Peter Piper name that CEC has started to test. That could give the company a third brand it can grow with. It’s a newsy discussion on pizza and games on A Deeper Dive so please have a listen.