Couple brings Food and Fun

Raising two kids in Huntington Beach, Andrew and Bettina Pereira have been to their share of birthday parties, but unfortunately, most were outside the city.

The Pereiras have had to drive their kids, now 13 and 16, to neighboring cities and beyond for birthday parties and family fun activities. Soon, though, that won’t be a problem.

The Pereiras want to bring Endless Food and Fun, a restaurant and entertainment center complete with a buffet, fine-dining restaurant, two laser tag facilities and an arcade, to Huntington Beach. The Planning Commission approved a conditional use permit for Endless Food and Fun on Tuesday night, and the Pereiras are hoping to open the business in August at 7227 Edinger Ave.

“We’re creating a place where families can come and have a great time,” Andrew Pereira said.

The Pereiras moved to Huntington Beach seven years ago for the beach and all the water activities it affords. The only problem they’ve come across is finding fun activities inland.

“We wanted to get to an area that has all the things we want to do ... but on the other hand, it doesn’t offer any activities beside the beach,” Andrew Pereira said.

Their 45,867-square-foot facility will give families a place to eat and be entertained in one place — a kind of “one-stop shop,” he said. The business will have a beer and wine license, but will cater to all ages.

The facility will have seven private banquet room, a main dining area and three themed rooms for patrons to pick from. One room will have a surfing motif, while another will feature big-screen TVs to watch sports. The third, dubbed the “Huntington Beach Idol” room, will have a small stage with different musical equipment and a microphone for karaoke.

The restaurant portion of the business will have fine dining and a nearly 150-foot buffet that will rival those in Las Vegas, Andrew Pereira said. The buffet will have different ethnic themes during the weekdays, but will also have pizza and kid favorites every day, Bettina Pereira said.

“As parents, we have traveled to many destinations with our kids,” Bettina Pereira said. “We look for places that we can actually take our kids.”

The facility’s laser tag area will be the only one in Huntington Beach and the largest in California, Andrew Pereira said. The area will be state-of-the-art and allow players to feel like they are actually in a video game, he said. Players can earn points as they play to upgrade weapons, and dedicated gamers will be able to buy a chip to track their points and progress.

Parents, or those unable to physically play, will be able to get into action remotely through robots mounted on the ceiling and controlled by joy sticks.

Patrons will be charged admission to enter Endless Food and Fun, which will include the buffet, but customers who choose the fine-dining restaurant will have the admission subtracted from the check.

Andrew Pereira said he and his wife expect to hire at least 150 employees to serve the estimated 2,000 people who will come through the doors on a typical Saturday.

The two were involved with a similar business in Upland and own a limousine company that serves Southern California.