I really enjoy dine-in theater, especially if it is a unique theater or dining spot. So far, Nitehawk and iPic Theater are my top favorites (you can read about Nitehawk posts here: http://www.foodlovergirl.com/nitehawk-cinema/ and http://www.foodlovergirl.com/nitehawk-cinema-2/ and about iPic posts here: http://www.foodlovergirl.com/ipic-theater-hudson-lights/ and http://www.foodlovergirl.com/ipic-theater-hudson-lights-2/). I have been waiting for this new theater, Alamo to complete construction and open up in Brooklyn for a while. When it was finally done, we went for a visit in December 2016 to see Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The building is brand new, and there are more construction going right around it. Very modern design, easy to spot.
When we found an entrance, we were lost for just few seconds. They have clear signs everywhere, and we quickly found out the theater is located on the 4th floor. This building is also the home to Century 21 Department Store and Target (which was still under construction in December). We got up to the 4th floor, and it was right next to the huge Century 21.
Right at the entrance was a huge black and white photo of New York City, and some kind of silver triangle thing in front of it. They also had a few planes hanging from the ceiling. It was for taking a King Kong photo of yourself! They had an instruction of how to do it, which was helpful. But, without the King Kong costume, you kind look funny, never looking scary or powerful… But it was still very fun!
The inside had red and yellow geometric carpet, and long escalators going up. At the end of the hallway on the main level was a bar called “House of Wax” which was not open since we got there in the AM. It looked pretty nice, other than the entrance of the bar.
The entrance of the bar had so many wax faces….pretty scary… I think there are more of those scary wax figures in there… you have to be brave enough to drink there at night, otherwise you might have some strange dreams that night.
They have a bathroom right before you get to the House of Wax, with kind of funny sign… It is for anyone who needs to go! And right around the corner was a wall covered with old small posters.
Back to the theater area. Speaking posters, they had lots and lots of old movie posters, which was fun to look at. They were all over on the wall, all the way up the escalator. I particularly liked the Jaws poster…
Once we are on the upper level, the parade of old posters kept on going. Quite entertaining while you are walking around.
We finally got to our theater, showing the Rogue One. It was nice size, and since it is just built, it was super clean from top to bottom. The screen was a nice large size, great for an action movie! And everything was brand new – the seats, tables, carpeting – everything!
And the seat number is placed on the table, right in front of it. Yes, this is seat assigned theater, which I prefer. It is always good to have your own seat. But… I must mention, no one, not a single staff, checked our movie ticket. Not when we walked in to Alamo, and not when we walked into the theater. I mean, anyone could have taken our seat, without having a ticket! I hope they are more careful and efficient nowadays…
What I liked the most about their interior is their light fixtures. I liked the design of the old film reel, creating cool shadows on the walls. Bringing the old design into contemporary, modern world.
So, the food. It is done the same way the Nitehawk Cinema handles the ordering process. The instruction is clearly indicated on both the Order Card and also on the font page of the menu. The Order Card and pencil are placed at the each table, and you write down your order on the card, place it in the rail on the table, and the server will see it and come get it. You can do this as many times as you need, before and during the movie. This makes it more convenient, but at the same time, kind of annoying if you are sitting nearby people who keeps making more orders, because their servers will keep coming back, walking in front of your seat each time… So it is best if you can order everything at once, before the movie starts, for your sake and for others around you.
For this movie event, they had a special menu, printed on the back of Death Star, which was super cool! It didn’t have any clever Star Wars themed name, which was a bit sad…but it was more tropical island type, like Hawaiian style sliders, island salad, etc… We didn’t order anything from this menu, since we didn’t find any of them too attractive. but we ordered food from their regular menu.
We started off with popcorn. They have few flavors, and we chose Popcorn with Truffle Parmesan Butter ($9). It comes in a pretty big aluminum bowl. It is quite big, so you will want someone to share that with. It was really good, flavorful, great Parmesan flavor. The aroma of truffle was really nice too.
We wanted to get samples of few different food, so we decided to order few appetizers to share, instead of ordering large portioned food. We got Thai Wings ($12.50) with Celery, Carrots, & Blue Cheese Dressing, Baked Pretzels ($9) with Brooklyn Defender Beer Cheese Sauce, and Fried Pickles ($8) with Buttermilk Ranch. They all arrived after the movie had started, so I could not take photos of them… The only thing I managed to take a photo of was the Thai Wings. It was tangy, juicy, spicy, and really good. The pretzels were great too, they were small-sized soft pretzels, maybe the size of the pal of your hand. It was really nice, the beer cheese sauce was perfect with them. The fried pickles were good too, we had no complains on any of them.
We also got one shake, Strawberry Cheesecake ($9). Now, they have so many super yummy sounding shakes, some of them non-alcoholic, and others alcoholic shakes. But, there is an option to turn the non-alcoholic shakes into alcoholic shakes if you want. For this strawberry Cheesecake shake, there was an option to add Navy Strength Rum (the price becomes $12). Since I just wanted a good shake, without the rum, I didn’t add it. The shake was so tasty, it was wonderful shake, no rum needed for me! It had very good strawberry flavor, with graham cracker bits in it to create the “cheesecake” factor, with creamy whipped cream. My goodness it was so good, and it was a big glass too! Thank you!
The food was great, the movie was really awesome, but the only thing was, the experience of watching the movie. They have wonderful policies like “No Texting, Talking, Cell Phone Policy” and “No Latecomers Policy.” However, we saw there were several people allowed to enter the theater after the movie had started. But that was not the worst part. The horrible thing was that there was a crying baby in the theater. And the baby cried and cried for a while… The mother would not take the baby outside, and that really distracted us from enjoying the movie. The staff never came to handle the situation. Alamo allows mother-and-baby duo on certain days of the week, and that’s great, but when the baby starts to cry and won’t stop, please consider the other patrons and step outside until the baby calms down… And if the customer is not doing so, they should have a staff who talks to them and get them outside. For this reason, I am not sure if I want to go back to Alamo… The food was good but Nitehawk Cinema that is nearby also offers great food, so… We will see…
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema – 445 Albee Square W #4, Brooklyn, NY 1120