Amazing Jake's - CLOSED

2.5 star rating
7 reviews Rating Details
Price Range:
$$
Accepts Credit Cards:
Yes
Parking:
Private Lot
Attire:
Casual
Good for Groups:
Yes
Good for Kids:
Yes
Takes Reservations:
Yes
Delivery:
No
Take-out:
No
Waiter Service:
No
Outdoor Seating:
No
Alcohol:
Full Bar
Wheelchair Accessible:
Yes

Karalyn G. said: "Great Pizza and Great Service!!"   read more »

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7 reviews in English

  • Review from Scott W.

    • 16 friends
    • 83 reviews

    Aurora, CO

    3.0 star rating
    2/7/2009

    UPDATE ---  I'm 39 now and this place shut down - are we surprised?

    Okay so I'm 38 now (my friends say I don't look it).  Well, anywho, on my birthday Wednesday (yes I'm aware that's a week night) I decided to give this place a try because I like reverting to childhood and playing Ms. Pacman and Air hockey.

    Now first all the positives:  It is expansive, no, cavernous really.  It is extremely well lit, and colorful, but not so loud and noisily overwhelming that you don't want to stick around.

    This place was clearly designed for kids by all the designs and decor.  Good for them.

    With the exception of skee-ball, (get to that in a moment) all games and activities and machines seemed well-oiled, and in good condition.  I PARTICULARLY enjoyed seeing not 2 with one half-awake but 4 newish looking air hockey machines, and even a smaller one, thoughtfully, for the kids.

    The bumper car ride was well thought out and fun.

    And I didn't get attitude from any staff.  They all smiled and seemed genuinely helpful.

    So, yes, I can honestly say take your kids there, and if you are an adult reverting to childhood and don't want hordes of kids around, go on a weeknight.

    Before the cons, one more thing.  Okay so anyone expecting gourmet food at an amusement place geared to kids?  You know, I just don't know that that is done anywhere, so not sure it's fair to slam the food Barb.  Objectively speaking, the food distribution areas all looked clean, well lit, well organized.  For what it was the food was decent - we had pizza, linguini and salad.  It will please kid's cuisine demands fine, if you want to satisfy a distinguishing adult's taste, eat elsewhere before you take the kids.

    Okay, now the cons.

    Although he smiled about it and apologized, the manager who was supposed to be near the front of the place to sell us tickets so we could, you know, do stuff there, fell asleep in his little office behind the ticket terminal.  We thought the place was closed at first and they had forgot to shut the door (7pm on Wednesday).  We finally found the pizza guy to go wake him up.  

    The price menus are really confusing, even to him a little bit I think.  If you want the full meal deal, it's basically $20 an adult for everything.  Yes, steep, but yes, I had made up my mind I wanted that experience, and was willing to pay for it instead of having to drive to D&B or Elitch's.

    Regardless, falling asleep and not expecting customers is a losing sign for any business even on the "slow night".

    Okay, now the evening was a bit tarnised with a skee ball incident.  The skee-ball there is called Fire-Ball, and yes, we played all 4 machines and found the same thing - each machine CHEATS!  Now true I didn't complain at the time, because the pre-teen employees honestly had their handful with one last minute horde of kids shopping with their tickets, and I didn't want to make it more of a drama than it was on my birthday, but we noticed at least 4 times on each machine, it wasn't counting 40s or 50s, and once not even a 100.  That is just wrong.  Yes, dollars-to-tickets for what you get in prizes it's already highway robbery, come on Jake, do you really have to rip people off further right in front of their faces and then force the preteen employees to get the guff?  No. Fix the darn machines.

    Finally, adults seeking entertainment there will naturally want a few more offerings than the place has, and should go to D&B (Dave & Buster's), but for kids this is perfect.

    Oh, forgot to mention the climbing wall, didn't do it but it was impressive to see.  The putt putt golf didn't look so hot and had a scary freako lifeguard mannequin sitting on top of it, that's why we didn't.

    Bottom line, for parents in Aurora, this is a mostly desirable convenience worth paying a little more for the kids to enjoy and saving gas doing it.

  • Review from Barbara s.

    • 43 friends
    • 169 reviews

    Denver, CO

    2.0 star rating
    8/22/2008

    I did my time with my 8 and 9 year old here yesterday.  If you tell yourself that you're going to spend $50 for 3 hours of fun, you can get through it.  I don't like the food at all, but it's better than say, um, well, it's better than . . . a hot dog cart?  We went at 1PM to avoid any lines and got instead unstaffed areas.  You pick your poison I guess.  Aurora and DPS were both back to school already, but my Cherry Creek kids still needed something fun to do but they'd already cut back on staffing.

    First we waited 10 minutes for the kid to come run the go karts.  Then, despite my having paid $50 for my buffet, my children's buffets (2), and a set amount of points, plus unlimited rides, I could not ride the go kart with my son without buying more points.  Thanks, Jake!  THAT'S amazing!!  If you're going to put such a high height requirement on a ride, make certain the parent doesn't have to pay more to ride WITH the kid.  Bumper cars weren't staffed AT ALL, but my daughter said the man at the prize counter was very nice and helpful.  

    Won't be back unless it's absoluely necessary like an invite to a b-day party.

  • Review from shawna m.

    • 2 friends
    • 12 reviews

    Aurora, CO

    1.0 star rating
    3/29/2009

    RUN !!!!!!!!!
    This place is Nasty ...... The Buffet was dirty there was hardly anything out in the first place the tables are dirty the rides are so dirty that my sons hands were black with dirt after one ride on the coaster. I could go on forever on how awful this place IS. Another thing also is that we went at 8pm and bought the unlimited 3hr package they close at 10 on a Friday ????? The Manager was more than willing to take my money and not inform me of the closing time. When I found out I went back and spoke with him about everything and was denied any type of refund. When I showed him about the truly sad buffet and how dirty is was. I was told that maybe I should not have such high exceptions ?? So my advice is save your money and your health.

  • Review from Neal J.

    • 31 friends
    • 105 reviews

    Willow Glen, CA

    2.0 star rating
    12/30/2008

    Amazing?  More like completely unamazing.  We tried to go here a while back but it was closed for a private party, so they gave us complimentary buffet and 25 point admission.  Today we decided to give it another try, but called first to ensure we didn't run into the same problem.

    We arrive a little after they open and it seems their point system has now changed to a cash system so the 25 points we have are good for about 5 bucks, plus the buffet.  I asked if we could apply that to the "unlimited" package which includes the "attractions" but that was denied.  They were "kind" enough to add $5 to the "fun card" for games other than the attractions.  ~$65 out of pocket for 1 adult and 2 girls (1 at the adult admission price).  

    The buffet is mediocre at best, pizza, pasta, salad bar, and dessert, but the girls liked it.  The attractions are not that amazing, but they do have laser tag, a rock climbing wall, go karts, and other fun things.  You can ride these an unlimited amount of times, but they do limit you to 3 hours...apparently this is new.  So, unlimited is not really unlimited, but 3 hours here is plenty, trust me.  

    The fun cards are good for the arcade games and all the games that give out tickets, like skee-ball.  You can redeem the tickets if you happen to get a bajillion of them to get a prize that is worth getting.  Most are worthy of dollar store prices.  

    Staff is mostly friendly, but definitely short handed.  The guy handling ticket redemption was also responsible for filling the tickets in the games.  If you've ever seen kids redeem tickets for prizes then you know each kid takes a good 20 minutes making up their minds.  All this after you have to wait in line for 40 minutes just to get to the counter.  

    I would estimate about 10 percent of the games were out of order as well as 1 attraction.  Considering there may be 10 attractions, that's 10% as well.  I should have asked for 10% off.  Many of the other games worked but were visibly damaged making some of them impossible to play anyway or at the very least put you at a big disadvantage.

    The only reason UNAmazing Jakes gets 2 stars is because the kids did have a good time.  Value for your dollar simply isn't there.  I don't see myself going back anytime soon.

  • Review from Sherri S.

    Denver, CO

    4.0 star rating
    9/6/2007

    I threw my son's 6th birthday party here, and talk about excitement to the Nth degree. There is a climbing wall (which got mom's heartrate up), laser tag, go-karts, bumper cars, mini-golf and so many games, it's like Dave and Buster's on crack.
    Here's the catch, you have to buy the all-you-can-eat buffet just to enter the facility. So if you don't know this beforehand - every parent who drops off a child for your b-day event must pay to walk their child to the b-day room. This rubbed me very wrong.
    When you pay hundreds of dollars for the children, it's almost insulting to ask the parent to pay to drop off their kid. And something I would never do. So, arrange to gather all kids at a meeting point before you attend or let the parents know that they have to pay an entry fee to drop off/ pick up. lame.
    When you reserve a birhday room, you also get a personal server, which is very convenient for bringing drinks and food to the kids instead of having the kids run the buffet course.
    The buffets were extensive; pizza, pasta, salad, desserts, and al kinds of fountain drinks. It really is a kid's paradise. They also have a special for a day pass, which looks to me to be the best bargain as far as playing goes.
    It's a great fun time for kids and adults alike.

  • Review from Douglas R.

    • 97 friends
    • 176 reviews

    Denver, CO

    3.0 star rating
    8/14/2008

    I give it 2 stars My 3 Daughter said 4! That in itself pretty much can explain Amazing Jake's. From a kids perspective this place is AMAZING its has food a climbing wall, mini golf, bumper cars go karts and theme rooms! From a parents perspective this place AMAZINGLY shrinks your wallet!

    One nice thing about Amazing Jake's is that food is really above average considering this is a buffet. The pizza isn't top notch but its better then tostinos and obviously costs more then!

    The theme rooms are pretty cool and you can usually find a decent seat in a not to crowed area. SO far this place is meeting your expectations, and the pasta bar has a nice variety of pastas to match most tastes and some very tasty. The soup, salad, and baked potato bar is top notch. All the food met expectations and makes you think cool we found a good go to spot for occasional rewards when the kids get let out of their cages IE my house!

    Truly this place has some great potential, the exterior and entry way lead you to believe that this is a wonderland and you imagine this is what Charlie felt first walking into the chocolate factory! However with the scope of this operation you know its going to cost a little bit to partake the Amazing in Jakes.

    Now on to the part that really doesn't meet expectation, the entertainment I got duped into buying a ride/fun pass and we walked over the to the climbing wall its nice but pretty standard. Then they played the laser tag, both attractions were decent. But here is where the glamor of Amazing Jake's faded fast. The mini golf is what a mini golf course would be like if Wal Mart sold them prefab. The bumper cars were in such a small area that it felt like riding the elevator at work when it was time to go home. The Go Kart track is so small that you feel like your Racing in Mario Kart on your WII, except you cant throw things at Donkey Kong. The entertainment at Amazing Jake's really has a run down and chintzy feeling to it, almost like a Nickel Play trying to be Dave and Busters! Oh and what self respecting place for kids wouldn't have a ticket redemption center with worthless cheap plastic crap! Wtih the exception being here this place cheap plastic prizes really lack imagination! And are worse then the toys you get in kids meals at lower end fast food chains.

    With all the said your kids will have a great time here, there is a lot to do and there is some decent food. If like me you will also have a good time because your kids are enjoying themselves. But driving home you will realize dam I just spent $150 bux and that's when buyers remorse hit you!

  • Review from Lou T.

    • 30 friends
    • 36 reviews

    Littleton, CO

    1.0 star rating
    8/11/2009

    Gross, just gross.  That basically explains the food.  Plus, the options for games there suck- Get yourself a yo-yo cuz its more entertaining than this dump.

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