Pajiba

Alamo Drafthouse:
1) Full menu
2) Bar
3) Food and beverages served at your seat with a smile and without intruding on the movie!
4) OOOH! Check out the table in front of your seat. Where you can set down your fare while you take off your jacket!
5) Supporters of local brewers.
6) Supporters of local and independent film.
7) Terrific sense of humor.
8) Willing to eject and even BAN people who ruin their neighbors' movie experience.

They aren't alone in the theater business and we all know it! Support your local cinemas, especially the quirky ones! :D

Paddy, three year olds work better-they fit in tighter spaces, and their little heads are malleable.

"Does anyone really want air-popped corn chips and a bottle of tap water?"

Fixed it for you.

Am I the lone movie goer who does not like to eat at the movies? I feel distracted if I have a snack. I end up missing dialogue. Or the bloody shirt laying over there half hidden in the corner that no one sees but eventually leads to the killer.

I recently tried those food and alcoholic beverage theatres, and I was so angry when the waiter came to my seat half way through the movie to ask for new drink orders. I'm watching a movie! Leave me alone!

Oh man, I sound pretty cranky, huh?

Whoa there. If somebody munched their way through an apple at the theater the amount of stabbings would triple.
TK doesn't even like hearing popcorn, right? Could you imagine if someone was chowing down on a Granny Smith? Crunching and slurping juices. UGH STAB STAB STAB

News flash: Theatre food, including popcorn, pizza, nachos, & candy, is garbage. Mass produced, HFCS, subsidized, corporate branded, chemically formulated to stimulate your pleasure receptors garbage. Now a theatre chain is introducing "healthier" options that *GASP* aren't more appetizing than the factory garbage that theatres sell you at a 1000% mark-up. What's the problem?

Kballs:

You're a new parent. You're not going to see another movie in the next ten years that doesn't involve inappropriate loud noise of some kind (chewing, crying, munching, whining, feet stamping, back of chair banging with feet, etc.)from your fellow theatre-goers. Get used to it.

Posted by: lubeg at April 6, 2011 10:44 AM
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*weeps quietly*

I recently tried those food and alcoholic beverage theatres, and I was so angry when the waiter came to my seat half way through the movie to ask for new drink orders. I'm watching a movie! Leave me alone!

Oh man, I sound pretty cranky, huh?

Posted by: Scully at April 6, 2011 10:53 AM

They interrupt you during the movie? That freaking S U C K S.

Drafthouse system:

On the table is a menu, a pencil and about a dozen slips of paper. The front edge of the table has a metal rail on it. You select what you'd like from the menu, write it down on a slip of paper, fold the paper in half, then stick it in between the metal rail and edge of the table so it stands up like a flag to get the server's attention. Server comes by, takes the slip, returns with your food/beverage and that's it. They will speak to you when they do last call (usualy 3/4 of the way through every movie so they can clear tickets before the movie ends). But they do it in a whisper and are not offended by a simple wave of the hand to dismiss them.

The BEST part? The staff TEACH you how to do this if you're unfamiliar with the ordering system. They also run clips before each movie with the instructions. Clips made by the staff or fans which rotate out frequently.

If you prefer to be absolutely uninterrupted, don't raise a flag. Or order at the bar before hand. I often take my growler (yes, they have their own growlers) when I want to enjoy a beer but don't want to be interrupted. Watching "The Hangover" with a group of friends and draining your growler is a blast!

I have stopped going to movies with my friends who think AMC is the only way to go. I will not go to those theaters with three Drafthouses in San Antonio. Paying $10 for a movie ticket in order to see 30 minutes after the movie-start-time is bullshit.

I'll stick with my purseburrito.

"Hard to tell with all the whippets and bourbon."

I'm sorry, but that's a hilarious type-o. I think (hope, anyway) that you meant "whip-it/whippit," NOT the small greyhound-looking dog.

Eh, it works either way.

SWEETUMS! YA CAN'T BEAT UM!

We have Studio Movie Grills here in the Dallas area and they're overpriced bullshit. The food is mediocre at best, it's of course three to five times more than what you'd pay in a regular restaurant and sort of ruins, to me, the whole concept of dinner THEN a movie. You know, enjoy eating out, then go to the theater.

I love the idea of offering small simple sandwiches, pastries, and bagels a la Starbucks. The only problem is, with the theatre price markup on concessions, that bagel which probably costs you about $3 at Starbucks will now probably cost you $15 and a DNA sample (for when theatre chains start cloning patrons to fill empty seats at shitty movies).

At one of the mall AMC theatres here in Dallas, they used to let you bring in food from the foodcourt one level below the theatre. Stuff like Panda Express, Which Wich, Sonic, Paciugo...not exactly HEALTHY, but substantive. Then they realized people weren't buying butter-sludged popcorn and regular sized bags of M&Ms for $10, and quickly banned the shit out of that.

But movie theaters don't have to charge such a huge premium. A local independent charges $6 for their largest popcorn and its enough to feed an entire family. Their premium ticket price is $10 for an adult at a 3D movie. It's a one screen theater converted from an old vaudeville house. They normally can't even afford the biggest release of the week and only fill the place on weekends when they're airing an animated family film. They've been in business for longer than I've been alive and have barely raised any prices since I was a child.

The "theaters HAVE to charge that much" argument doesn't float with me. They'd still make a profit on popcorn and watered down colas if they lowered their prices a few dollars. They'd probably earn more money because people wouldn't see a menu that charges $14 for a large popcorn and two medium sodas and walk away without a purchase. A novel idea would be, I don't know, cutting back on sizes so they can charge less and still offer enough soda to fill your bladder to the bursting point during an 85 minute action film.

Am I the lone movie goer who does not like to eat at the movies? I feel distracted if I have a snack.

Not distracting to me, per se, it's just my preference to not eat while watching. Typically, it's the same for me at home (beer obviously doesn't count).

I would love to have a Drafthouse-style theater around where I live, but then again, Jibans aren't known for being the tidiest eaters in the world. I'd prefer not to sit down and inadvertently end up with chickenalakingpants thanks to the previous diner/theatergoer.

The Alamo has a bar/movie theater? I hope they at least put in a basement as well when they did that renovation.

Woo Cinemagic represent!

We got those new "Fruit Nut Snack Packs" a couple months ago. For $4 you get a little bit of pretzels, almonds, and raisins.... aannddd I think I've sold like three. No one wants them. Customers make fun of it daily.

No one wants healthy food at the movies. Especially when it's priced so high.

Huh. We have multiple movie theaters with full menus and adult beverages all over our city. It's more of a matter of choosing which one rather than *the* one. I figured since they were so ubiquitous here they had to at least be more than sporadic around the rest of the country. I'm surprised. Sounds like a good business venture to me.

An ex of mine used to sneak in four or five beers in to the movies anytime we went. We've got the one theater here and you can barely get beer in a convenience store, let alone a movie theater.