CEC Entertainment adds Texas Roadhouse vet as CFO

Chris Monroe will oversee the finance and real estate teams for Chuck E. Cheese’s parent company as it looks to expand.

New cfo role

Chris Monroe will lead CEC’s real estate development teams in addition to its finance functions, per a Thursday press release. He joins CEC, the parent company of Chuck E. Cheese and Peter Piper Pizza, as CFO roughly 11 months after departing Texas Roadhouse, where he led the chain’s finances during a period of significant same-store sales growth.

Prior to joining the restaurant sector, Monroe spent about 30 years in a variety of finance roles at Southwest Airlines, ultimately rising to the SVP treasurer post.

Scott Drake, CEC’s president and CEO, said Monroe’s “combination of large-scale restaurant finance expertise, capital markets experience, and proven ability to drive operational performance through data and discipline makes him the right leader to partner with our team as we continue to invest in our brands.”

Monroe said CEC’s scale, including more than 600 locations across 18 countries, and the loyalty of its guests, position it well for future growth.

Drake is Monroe’s predecessor in the CFO slot, and stepped up to the CEO role in February to succeed David McKillips, who had led the brand since 2020.

CEC has undertaken a number of major moves in the last year. In April 2025, Chuck E. Cheese announced it had installed superhero-themed playgrounds in 125 locations. In July, it announced a spinoff meant to appeal to adults through arcade games.

The brand signed a multi-unit development agreement in the United Kingdom in September. In November, the brand announced a new indoor playground concept, Adventure World, “focused entirely on active play,” according to a press release. Those new concepts have helped set the stage for a growth push under Drake.

Since 2024, Chuck E. Cheese has offered a tiered subscription pass as a way to encourage repeat visits and build consumer loyalty, a feature it still offers.