Certainly, we’re familiar with the major American movie theatre franchises and their array of candy, bottled water, sodas, big soft pretzels, and frozen bon-bons, not to mention popcorn and hot dogs.
If you go to a smaller theatre, you may find bagel dogs, coffee and hot chocolate.
Are there other options out there? I’m especially curious about what’s available at the movies outside the U.S.
I honestly don’t know, as I never go to the movies anymore.
Either some guy with a pneumonia sits behind me and coughs in my hair for 2 hours, or some 6’5" guy wearing a cowboy hat sits in front of me with his 14 kids.
I gave up, basically.
Gawd bless Netflix.
You can ask for your Juniour Mints, Cookie Dough bites, and some other candies frozen at the Majestic Bay theatre here on Market Street. They keep some under the counter, and some in the freezer.
I’ve never noticed that anywhere else. It might be commonplace, though. I’m still somewhat new here.
There’s a great indie theatre here called The Flicks. They offer pannini sandwiches, roasted brie on toast, various soups, cookies, and a fairly wide selection of beer and wine. They were the first theatre here to show Brokeback Mountain and March of the Penguins, and the only one to show The Aristocrats.
You want an Example?
Alright, well you can walk into a movie theater in Amsterdam, and buy a beer. And I don’t mean just like no paper cup, I’m talking about a glass of beer. And in Paris, you can buy a beer in McDonald’s. And you know what they call uh…a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?
That’s what I’ve heard anyway.
There’s a couple of theaters around here that do the by-the-pound type of candy. Basically the giant buckets of every type of candy which you can mix and match and scoop into a bag. I thought that was kind cool.
Every other theater has the standard ballpark fare. Pizza, Dogs, Nachos, Pretzels and stuff.
There’s a few specialty ones that do full service meals with booze too.
“Full service”? How’s that work? Like dinner theater, but darker, and no refills? Or is it like airline service, but darker, so you’re dribbling salad dressing down your shirt and stabbing yourself in the hand with forks? And wouldn’t there be a LOT of clinking and rattling?
Cinemas in the UK offer popcorn with either sugar or salt. In most cinemas you can serve yourself (from a huge tower o’popcorn) so I tend to get a mixture.
Irish cinemas offer only freshly popped salted popcorn…you can however, buy those horrible bags of stale popcorn with some sort of “candy” coating. “Butterkist” is the biggest brand.
We also get pick n’ mix sweeties, ice-cream tubs, hotdogs, nachos, big bags of M&Ms and Maltesers. No pretzels, bagels, cookies, frozen candy, soups or sandwiches. No hot drinks either.
There’s a bar on the first floor though…a full bar, with comfy sofas and banquettes, so you can wait for your friends to arrive or dissect the movie afterwards.
Instead of the typical theater style seating they have tables and reclining swivel chairs. The floor is tiered so that you can see over the rows. The menu is your typical bar menu with sandwiches and fries. Mostly finger foods to keep the silverware to a minimum. They do refills and stuff on drinks but you just have to place the food order before the movie starts. They deliver it within the first 20 minutes of the movie.
From what I’ve seen at Auckland multiplexes so far: Coke, popcorn, and maybe a chokky frozen ice cream. Not even lemonade anymore, which I usually prefer to sip at as I’m watching movies, ‘else th’ ol’ bladder starts getting insistent.
In the US, the snacks are ridiculously expensive. To the point that I usually refuse to buy them just on principal.
I’m talking $8-$10 for a medium popcorn and two medium drinks.
I’m in the OKC, which is technically outside of the USA.
Some of our cinemas are offering meals. Fast food, but still. Chicken, burgers, fries, pizza slices, etc…
Also we can find nachos, pickles, Starbucks coffee, frozen Slurpee type beverages, fresh fruit, plus the usual assortment of popcorn, cokes, and candies. The movie house is the only place I can find Jordanian Almonds. Jordon Almonds. Whatever. No alcohol even allowed on site.
At the theatre, we only have beverages. Alcoholic and non. No beers.
Loews, soon to be part of AMC, offers deep fried everything. Chicken fingers, shrimp, Nathan’s chili cheese dogs, chili cheese fries, as well at the usual candy, soda, popcorn.
When I ran a theatre, I just loved Twizzlers. The cost per unit was low and they had the highest mark up and they sold the most every week.
Twizzlers, you were good to me.
I’m near Los Angeles, and my favorite movie theater is the Arclight in Hollywood. They have a full bar that serves dinner, and have some 21 and over showings of movies that you can take your drinks into. They do serve the normal popcorn, candy, and hot dogs like everyone else, but they also make caramel corn on-site every day. I seem to remember that they used to (and still might) serve sausages on a bun too, but I don’t remember seeing that for a while. Add into that no commercials / infotainment before the movie as well as assigned seating, and I’m loving life.
In my old neighborhood in Tokyo (Sangenjaya), there were (still are, AFAIK) a linked pair of theaters, one of which would always show mainstream films while the other showed art and indie films. You could watch a double-feature at either for just 1300 yen (US$12), less than what the regular theaters would charge for a single film. The only catch was that the mainstream films arrived right about the same time as the video release, and both theaters were really old. Never dirty or scummy, just very well-worn.
Anyway, the only concessions they sold were peanuts, pretzel sticks and beer*, plus they had a vending machine that sold soda and coffee. However, they were very relaxed about bringing food in, so my wife and I would always pack drinks, cookies or sandwiches when we went.
*all the movie theaters sell beer, and some of the more upscale ones sell wine as well. You can buy beer at McDonalds here as well.
Without a doubt, the best stuff locally is at the local drive-in, called the Stars & Stripes. Their menu is here. They have burgers, and pretty damn good ones, too, plus funnel cakes, fried shrimp, grilled chicken sandwiches, cheese sticks…and fried Twinkies, which I dunno if I could bring myself to try.
My movie ‘theater’ of choice is actually a drive in. :> A very new, 3 screen affair with a fabulous concession stand. The price of admission gets you a double feature for less per person than a single movie in a conventional theater and these are first run movies. I love it love it love it. Plus, I get to watch from my car and talk as much as I want during the movie, which will annoy nobody else. Here is a link to the concession menu.
Good lordy. From what I’ve read here so far, I feel more deprived than ever.
Oh yes, I have smuggled stuff too. I once sneaked in a sack lunch for three. Those cans of cold drinks made me shiver, but it was worth it.