Kid Mania

About

Two separate visitors used the same word for the smell, and a third called it a knock-off of the chain it is plainly modeled on. That is the risk you are taking. Alongside it: arcade and claw machines repeatedly found out of order, a card machine that would not sell a game card, air conditioning that struggles in a Texas August, and staff that more than one parent found on their phones rather than greeting anybody.

Set against that, the layout is genuinely well judged. Sightlines are excellent — one parent rated visibility nine out of ten and meant it as the reason to bring a toddler — and a separate section for four-and-unders keeps the little ones from being flattened by the big ones. There is a quiet room where parents can work and still watch the floor, and the pizza draws unexpected praise.

The maze is the draw and it takes adults as well as children. Come before eleven if you can. This is a weekend venue in the extreme, running more than three times busier on a Saturday than it does midweek.