David K.
Yelp
This is a combined review for the movie theater (4.5 stars) and the food (2.5 stars). That averages to 3.5 which I'm rounding up to 4.
The theatre: it's cheap (where else can you find a movie for $6 these days?). Comfortable: you can choose from a variety of seats, from traditional theatre chairs, recliners like you'd have in your living room, and funky old upholstered sofas, their fabric tattered and torn, complete with throw pillows. That's what we chose. It was very comfortable. Because of their age and condition I wondered about the possibility of fleas or other nasties sharing it with us (but with absolutely no evidence to suggest that). It's a small theatre; probably 50 seats in all, with plenty of room between the rows for the trays for your food. The tray tables are moveable, and available at the front for you to take to your seat.
Picture quality was excellent, in sharp focus and bright enough. Sound was decent, though our movie was not of the action/adventure type so probably didn't tax the sound system much. At times we did hear sounds from the adjoining theatre, a slight distraction at times. The screen was kinda high up; it should have been lower for a more comfortable viewing angle.
And of course they serve food. Not the typical popcorn and overpriced candy served in most theatres but items like real house-made pizza and nachos. And beer and wine. That's big! And the do serve popcorn for those that require it for their movie experience. I didn't try it but some other reviewers said they didn't like it because it wasn't buttery enough. Since nothing is more disgusting to me than the stink of overbuttered movie popcorn that sounds like a big plus to me, and maybe I'll try it next time.
You order the food at the counter and for any items that need preparation they give you a beeper to alert you when it's ready. (A flasher actually, not a beeper; can't have beepers going off during the movie!)
We got two 10-inch pizzas. Interesting ingredients and names taken from classic movies. I had the Treasure Of the Sierra Madre (jalapenos, hot sausage, onion, roasted red pepper, salsa verde, and monterey jack) and DW has the Mediterraneo (eggplant, tomato, pine nuts, garlic, black olives, capers, and calamato olives). As I said, very interesting ingredients. You can also build your own. I wish the end result had been as good as the description sounded. The pizza itself was only average - and that's if I'm being generous. The crust was bland and bready and tasted store-bought; not freshly made and stretched out by hand. The toppings and cheese were adequate in quantity. Unfortunately, mine had cooled to room temperature by the time our flasher went off, while DW's was so hot I had to use the provided oven mitt to carry the metal tray to our seat. (Of course that is a good thing, not a complaint!).
While they do serve wine, it was terrible wine, barely even drinkable. At any real restaurant I would have sent it back. (I think it was called Bota, from a box.) The portions are confusing; they're called single and double. We got doubles. Turned out they were huge (served in a 16 ounce plastic tumbler, filled most of the way up). That's too big; about 2/3 of a bottle! When one glass of wine is enough to make a lightweight person legally intoxicated I think there could actually be some liability issues here if a patron were to get into an auto accident afterward. Even the single is 8 ounces! Stick to a standard 5-ounce pour for a single please, and maybe offer an 8-ounce large.
They do seem to have better and more abundant choices in the beers, though.
Intermission: All the movies have an intermission. I suppose that could be considered necessary by some for a food-oriented theatre, but it really breaks the flow of the movie which was under 2 hours and I didn't like that.
Mailing list: I've been on their mailing list for over 10 years when I first signed up and look forward to their updates about 6 times a year. (Paper, in the mail!) Reading about the movies they're showing has given me many leads over the years of movies to see locally or on Netflix. Living almost 300 miles away I've only been to Reel Pizza 3 times in all these years and I feel a bit guilty about all the wasted paper and wasting their money on me, but then I realize that the mailings are probably paid for almost entirely by their many advertisers so it may in fact not cost them anything. And as for paper vs. email: I actually do read paper fliers whereas if it was an electronic mailing list sent by email it would go straight to the trash without being read. Yay paper!
