Saw a movie here for the very first time last night. Decided to take my friend for her birthday since it looked spectacular from the website and we wanted to try something different. We usually go to Studio Movie Grill so I expected it to be similar...
There were definitely a lot of differences starting with the fact that they don't let you print your tickets from home. You have to pick them up at a kiosk when you arrive which was actually very quick and easy as long as you have the credit card you bought the tickets with on you. Also, they have a specific age rule so that kids under the age of 18 aren't allowed to go there unless they are accompanied by a parent or guardian over the age of 21. What a great rule!
There was a pretty good sized bar in the front lobby but not a single person was sitting at it. The bar at SMG has always been packed out every time I've gone, so this should have been a red flag.
About 15 minutes before the start of our movie, we headed into our designated theater. I was really excited until we walked in and there was a horrible stench. To be honest, it smelled like Chuck E Cheese.
Our seats were great! Smack dab in the center of the room. They were also very comfortable and clean. The problem was it was so dark, we had to squint to read our menus. And this was before the movie! A waiter appeared literally 2 minutes later and asked us what we wanted which was unexpected since I hadn't even pressed the call button yet. We both thought the mac and cheese sounded really good but I ended up ordering a Pizzini which is supposedly one of their "signature items" and she got a bacon cheeseburger. If you get a Pizzini, they charge you 99 cents to upgrade to french fries or else you are stuck with crunchy, loud potato chips. No way was that appropriate for the movie! We also both ordered diet cokes since the alcoholic beverages were way too overpriced and I had already spent $12.75 each on the tickets.
The food came out really quickly. Almost too quickly to the point where I started to question how fresh it was. The fries were way too salty and tasted like they were from McDonald's. The Pizzini was very dry and bland. Luckily it came with a special dip that was sort of spicy, but still decent.
After eating half of the Pizzini and half of the fries I was extremely full. Decided to focus on the movie and save the rest of my food to take home for later. However, I was unable to do that because THEY DON'T GIVE OUT TO GO BOXES?! About 20 minutes before the movie ended I pressed the call button to see if I could get one, but nobody ever showed up. At that point there was still one waitress roaming around collecting people's bills, but she didn't even acknowledge me. I can't believe they would have the nerve to charge $12 for an entree and then not even allow us to take any leftovers home. This was a huge disappointment, but mainly because I hate wasting food. On our way out I looked to see if anyone else had received a box, but they hadn't.
One of the main reasons why I probably won't go back to this theater was that parking was a huge pain. It's one of those structures where you take a ticket and then when you leave you have to stick it in a machine and pay. At least I was able to get away with not paying since the movie theater validates tickets at the front when you walk in. Just be sure to keep your ticket with you, and not in your car.
Overall, I was not impressed. Was expecting a first -class experience, but instead received one that was mediocre. I think I am going to stick with Studio Movie Grill since it is cheaper and the food is much better.