I didn’t think that was anything new. Didn’t it used be fairly common for theaters to offer extremely cheap all-day passes, or even free double features?
-FrL-
Here in Utah we have a couple of movie theaters where you can get whatever you want (pizza, subs, Mexican, etc.), with a nice tray that fits into the drink holder in the chair. You can swing that tray around once you are seated, and munch away. All of the restaurants are in a central area that looks like a mall’s food court. You can stay there and eat, or take it into the theater itself. The price is a little more than you would expect from a similar place, maybe $8 for a normally $6 sandwich.
I found the darkness of the theater, though, made consuming my hot pastrami sub rather difficult, and the fresh home-made chips were delicious but too noisy while crunching them to hear the more subtle dialog; maybe I’ll wait to order those for an action flick where it really doesn’t matter what they are saying, and lots of things blow up.
Here is their website:
http://www.megaplextheatres.com/nowshowingdetail.php?th_code=3
Next time you come out West, check them out. This being Utah, though, you won’t find any alcohol being sold, just soft drinks. 
It’s all about profits. Things to make you thirsty and then something to slack your thirst just about sums the situation up all around.
My parents have mentioned going to movies way back when just because they were one of the few places that were ‘air cooled’ at that time. On really hot summer nights, they were a relaxing place to cool off.
At the time, air conditioning was unknown or extremely rare. Even the ‘air cooled’ theatres weren’t air conditioned. They usually had fans blowing air past big blocks of ice. One local one had it’s own deep well; they pumped cold water up, ran it thru a radiator, and blew fans thru that. (Then dumped the water down the drain! Obviously long before anybody was concerned with conserving water.)
And regarding movie theatres selling beer or wine – they would need to get a liquor license to do that – added expense. Plus the dram shop liability insurance needed – that is a major added expense. Plus then they would need to hire all adult workers, who would need to be paid more. Most movie theatres operate barely in the black – it’s likely these added expenses would not be affordable for them.
Were they allowed into the theater free or extremely cheap?
-FrL-
And here’s a movie theater/restaurant for any DFW Texas residents who are unlucky enough to be unfamiliar with it: The Granada.
Theaters off of the US bases here offer all kinds of stuff. What’s even better is they don’t cry about you bringing in your own stuff.
On the US bases, they have the traditional candy, popcorn, and soft drinks. In addition, they have bottled water and nachos.
The Arclight Cinema in Los Angeles has a 21+ theater that lets you bring beer, wine, martinis, etc. into the theater from the bar. All their theaters have reserved seating, which is really nice, too.
I believe it was something like 35¢ (25¢ at matinee time). And the theatre didn’t make any effort to clear the auditorium before the next showing, so you could go in at 4pm and stay until midnight.
That seemed real cheap to me, but they indicated that it was a significant part of their spending money. Like it was not uncommon to go on a date with only $1-$2 in your pocket.
I went to one of these places in Austin when I visited a friend. Drafthouse Theaters. It was pretty cool. They had a table in front of the seats, a small shelf and a dim light under that for reading menus and such, and they served alcohol. The food wasn’t bad either.
You guys who are talking about how some movie theaters are barely in business and how this is a bad idea, how do you think small restaurants stay in business? They don’t even have the draw of a movie to help out. I think you’re missing the point. Places like this don’t depend on shuffling through large volumes of people who only get a couple of snacks and a drink, they provide real food and anticipate getting a decent portion of the money that the audience would normally have spent at a restaurant before or after the show.
They usually also cultivate an atmosphere that makes people want to come back. The place I went to had a really cool display when “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe” was playing. They had some “fur” coats hanging, a lane of close-packed trees with fake snow, and a lamppost at the end. It looked really good. If they were trying to make themselves stand out, they succeeded, because I was there Christmas of last year and I still remember it.
One hyphenated word: drive-ins. The ones around here sell pizza slices, hamburgers/cheeseburgers, french fries, egg rolls, hot dogs, and other foods. Of course, you’re eating them in your car, so the drive-in doesn’t have to clean up afterwards, but the food is great.
Agreed. The drive in offers limitless options when it comes to food and drink since you can really bring in anything you want. Also, it’s the only place I’ve ever been where I appreciate the moron in the Neon with the $7000 stereo. 
Greater Union’s Gold Class cinemas are a great example of those premium cinemas.
The ticket prices are very, very expensive… We’re talking $25-30 a pop last time I went to one. But they’re adults only, so nobody under 18*. There’s only about a dozen seats in the whole cinema, and they’re all really cushy recliner style chairs. Each one has a table next to it, you can order beer, wine and light meals before the movie starts, and you can even set an order for the midpoint of the movie, where an usher will come in, clear your table and bring more drinks or food to you. It’s fucking great.
*On preview, I see that they’ve changed their rules somewhat. The Macquarie GU used to be 18+, but it appears that they’re now letting minors in when accompanied by an adult. But still, who’s going to pay $30 to take a kid to the friggin’ movies?
Alamo Drafthouse, out of Austin, as linked by Sleel.
It’s a difficult business model because you’re basically combining two completely different industries with different management requirements and profit structures. Theatrical exhibitors know they will make no money from the movie itself and rely on huge markup on cheap food for their profits, while low-end restauranteurs (which is what most of these places are) make money by slashing margins on the food. The two approaches, obviously, are in conflict.
There used to be one of these type of dinner-and-a-movie joints here in Seattle (the Cinema Grill). They had beer and wine and a reasonably diverse menu, sandwiches and pizza mostly, with a couple of pasta options if memory serves. The food wasn’t very good but at least you had a number of alternatives so you could experience different mediocrity every time.
The mistake they made was to offer admission for a buck or two less than a regular theater. They thought it was a good incentive, that viewers would be attracted by the cheaper ticket and the theater would make its money back on the food. What ended up happening, though, is that people would buy a ticket for the movie and then not order food. And then the actual viewing experience was sort of negative, because the waitrons would take the food order before the movie started and then deliver it about twenty minutes into the film, which was extremely distracting (rustle rustle, “I wanted ranch dressing,” rustle rustle, silhouetted waitrons in front of the screen, “do you want another beer,” etc etc). It was worse, obviously, if you didn’t have food yourself.
The Seattle location went out of business a few years ago, though there are still a few branches dotted around the West. Too bad, because it made a good change of pace, even if they still had a few kinks to work out.
This sounds like the Bethesda Theatre Cafe in Bethesda, Md. It’s now been converted to condos or apartments, I think.
I’d pay $30 AMERICAN to see a movie without cellphones and teenagers talking. Oh, and that I could see without waitstaff getting in my way. for $30 they can afford to hire noise-Nazi ushers.
Of course only epic sci-fi/fantasy movies would be worth that cash, but those are the only types of movies I see in the theatres anyway.
I don’t know about $30, but I’d definately pay $20 for some of those features no hesitation.
You get that some at the Alamo Drafthouse and it’s kinda distracting. But the good food, beer, and the overall atmosphere makes up for it. The guy that runs the Alamo loves movies and it shows. He works hard to make going to the movies an experience and I (and a lot of other people I know) won’t even consider seeing a movie elsewhere if it’s showing at the Alamo.
De-lurking to mention the Premium Cinema in Lombard, IL.
http://www.moviewatcher.com/theatres/theatre_information.jsp?unit=832 (couldn’t make the pretty linky thing happen)
$15 per ticket and no one under 21 admitted. I LOVE this place!
They only show one movie at a time though, but if they are showing something you want to see, it’s totally worth it!
I’m noticing all kinds of theatre/bar/restaurant combos mentioned as though they were exceptions to the rule. Is this common in the US? In Canada, all of the big megaplex-type theatres (Silver City, Colisseum, etc.) integrate fast food chain joints in their theatres. It’s common to find theatres sporting Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, KFC, and other miscellaneous and sundry chain stores in their main foyer along with the usual concession counter. This is still a fairly recent thing, having come up only in the last decade or so, but it’s quite prevalent.