Went to watch Mart Supreme there. Not a bad experience. I found the critical key to not having the app destroy your experience. Don’t order one thing, and sit three seats away from anyone else.

Went to Slaughter Lane location yesterday. Got there early, scanned the QR code to make first order (as directed with instructions on the table), then the waiter showed up a minute later, said "yeah, don't mess with that, it's a pain in the butt." She took our order and then we made a couple of more pen and paper orders (four of us) and pressed the call button. Worked like the olden times.

I like Moviehouse better anyway, but live very close to Alamo on Slaughter, so chose it for convenience.

from reddit:

Went to my first movie at Alamo since the dumbass changes. Before the movie, they made the usual announcement about the theater being a quiet zone which meant no talking and no cell phone use (unless you're ordering). And if there is someone on their phone disrupting the movie, the only way to report them is by using the app on your phone.

I didn't order food or drink (and I don't think I ever will if I go back there), but the people next to me tried to and were having all kinds of problems.

Thought this was interesting. Undoubtedly, some of you are more clues in than I am but it's worth a watch imo

Went to the Lakeline location, it wasn't the end of the world and also there wasn't an app the QR code took you to a web portal which worked fine and in many cases was more convenient for getting refills or asking for an extra item like utensils or salt/pepper you could even order things for specific seats but that means that you have to ask whoever put in the order to get you something. The worst thing is they changed the menu and for some goddamn reason they got rid of chips and queso. There is nearly 0 waiter interaction, they didn't even check my tickets and will only bus your table if you press the button in the website. No one was texting and honestly there were fewer interruptions during the movie but it does seem like the last remnants of the Old Drafthouse have been swept away

People still go to theatres? Why?

because I don’t have one in my house.

3 hours ago, Michael Knight said:

Went to the Lakeline location, it wasn't the end of the world and also there wasn't an app the QR code took you to a web portal which worked fine and in many cases was more convenient for getting refills or asking for an extra item like utensils or salt/pepper you could even order things for specific seats but that means that you have to ask whoever put in the order to get you something. The worst thing is they changed the menu and for some goddamn reason they got rid of chips and queso. There is nearly 0 waiter interaction, they didn't even check my tickets and will only bus your table if you press the button in the website. No one was texting and honestly there were fewer interruptions during the movie but it does seem like the last remnants of the Old Drafthouse have been swept away

Yeah I was there today too. One drawback is if you put all your stuff in it comes out randomly whereas the server would usually make sense. Wife got a side of ranch for her pizza and it literally came out before our drinks. App, entrees, whenever. You can obv submit and then re-order if you care more about that than not having to fuck with it again.

it is easy to apply the season pass discount so that’s a bonus. Still no easy way to pay without typing in your credit card info and no way to pay with gift card.

4 hours ago, Wilcox Cummingtonite said:

People still go to theatres? Why?

4 hours ago, Wilcox Cummingtonite said:

People still go to theatres? Why?

To avoid people like you.

7 hours ago, TrashMaster G said:

To avoid people like you.

To be fair, he can be said to be avoiding the types of people (and Okies) who are adults and order ranch with the side of their pizza as if they were at Gatti's or CiCi's.

I'm more open to the idea that this isn't terrible than most highly online Alamo drafthouse people, especially given that my assumption is that it is the kind of move that is necessary for the Drafthouse to survive. I finally went to my local location (Raleigh) to catch Ready or Not 2, and the ordering wasn't particularly bad but what the fuck did they do to the menu? I'm assuming this was a glitch or the machine was down or something but they didn't even have diet coke? And they got rid of the broccoli goat cheese pizza! It seems highly pared down, which sucks.

Wwas there Monday night. It was fine but I didn’t order anything after the movie started. I didn’t notice any phone use

On 3/22/2026 at 8:21 PM, 4th&Five said:

because I don’t have one in my house.

I do. But my screen isn’t 50ft tall and I don’t have a commercial popcorn machine

Project Hail Mary was our first time with the QR Code ordering. We ordered our food immediately and then at the end of the last trailer, I put in a drink refill order for everyone. At the end of the movie, the site kept crashing with everyone trying to close their tabs at once so it took a half dozen refreshes to get it to work. I wasn't leaving until I zeroed out that extra 5% they try to add on as a tip. Fuck that. I wish the app had an option on refills for it to be immediate or maybe 45 or 60 minutes into the movie. That would improve it and cut down on people getting on their phones during the show.

On 3/22/2026 at 8:56 PM, Wilcox Cummingtonite said:

People still go to theatres? Why?

To talk about their brackets.

I sympathize with all of the staff there dealing with the changes, but 23% default gratuity for stadium food is excessive.

I’d love to know how many of the individual theaters are unprofitable, because Tim and Karrie League started by running miscellaneous old genre screenings before they started getting first run films at S Lamar and seemed to be growing just fine with a devoted cadre of film lovers and a good menu. They certainly had little difficulty getting investors at the time.

I liked Alamo for a minute due to the lesser release movies they would show or just the quirky nature of the place. I thought the food and drink aspect was over-rated. I don’t care if others wanted to eat/drink but it could be distracting with the staff moving around.

If given the choice of a clean, well run “regular” theater vs Alamo, I quickly moved back to the regular theater. I thought Alamo was a great niche theater for people who wanted that experience, but it just wasn’t for everyone. Also in Houston, wasn’t it in far west Houston at westchase mall or something? You can get more suburban or vanilla than that.

14 hours ago, LCHorn said:

I’d love to know how many of the individual theaters are unprofitable, because Tim and Karrie League started by running miscellaneous old genre screenings before they started getting first run films at S Lamar and seemed to be growing just fine with a devoted cadre of film lovers and a good menu. They certainly had little difficulty getting investors at the time.

Tim League had something private equity doesn't: he gives a shit about film culture and is his own target audience. PE is just there to frack the value out of their holdings, fill em full of debt, and then shut them down after the debt servicing payments get too high.

PE doesn't have the patience to build gradually and build a community. They have shareholders that won't be able to afford a fourth vacation house if they don't deliver!!!

14 hours ago, LCHorn said:

I sympathize with all of the staff there dealing with the changes, but 23% default gratuity for stadium food is excessive.

I’d love to know how many of the individual theaters are unprofitable, because Tim and Karrie League started by running miscellaneous old genre screenings before they started getting first run films at S Lamar and seemed to be growing just fine with a devoted cadre of film lovers and a good menu. They certainly had little difficulty getting investors at the time.

that was before the economy had hit the shitter

11 minutes ago, Captainant said:

Tim League had something private equity doesn't: he gives a shit about film culture and is his own target audience. PE is just there to frack the value out of their holdings, fill em full of debt, and then shut them down after the debt servicing payments get too high.

PE doesn't have the patience to build gradually and build a community. They have shareholders that won't be able to afford a fourth vacation house if they don't deliver!!!

PE isn't about buying businesses with a plan to shut them down. Their only goal is to quickly ramp up revenues, cut costs, and sell them. Yes that can include closing underperforming locations. But it's no surprise that ordering by app is appealing to owners. It removes friction to ordering and gets the order to the kitchen immediately. Potentially fewer mistakes.

But let's be honest that Alamo was never about a pristine movie watching experience. I don't see how ordering by phone is that much more distracting then wait staff roaming around. Now if a movie goer has their phone on the brightest setting and they need 5 minutes to decide between a burger or chicken tenders, thats on them.

Finally if a founder sells out to PE, good for them, but they're the ones killing their vision.

39 minutes ago, Captainant said:

PE doesn't have the patience to build gradually and build a community. They have shareholders that won't be able to afford a fourth vacation house if they don't deliver!!!

21 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

PE isn't about buying businesses with a plan to shut them down.

Sony owns the Alamo Drafthouse now.

41 minutes ago, chainsaw said:

that was before the economy had hit the shitter

They were expanding in 2007-2009 during the Great Recession.

My point is they've changed their business model as they've grown (which makes sense, there's only so much national demand for repertory films).

That said, the governing principal of the old Drafthouse seemed to be "we have this space, let's get creative with it", and that meant Master Pancake Theater, Sing-A-Longs, Terror Tuesdays and Weird Wednesdays, Rolling Roadshow, and my favorite, the Dionysium. It meant D level celebrity guests, mariachis in the lobby, a bucket of beer and a kitchen that actually tried to make the dining attractive on its own. Probably high heresy, but there was a point in time where their chunky salsa was my favorite in Austin. Tickets were cheap because food and drinks were always the main source of revenue.

I'm sure all of that was a ton of work, but it was in contribution towards something greater than consumerism, and even as they introduced the first run films, they kept up their attention to the very basics of theatrical--make sure the sound mix was right, don't cheap out on bulbs for the projector and don't let patrons ruin the experience of other patrons.

That's the business model I think that still thrives in 2026.

I just go back to the old days of sneaking a flask in and ordering a mixer.

51 minutes ago, LCHorn said:

Sony owns the Alamo Drafthouse now.

They were expanding in 2007-2009 during the Great Recession.

My point is they've changed their business model as they've grown (which makes sense, there's only so much national demand for repertory films).

That said, the governing principal of the old Drafthouse seemed to be "we have this space, let's get creative with it", and that meant Master Pancake Theater, Sing-A-Longs, Terror Tuesdays and Weird Wednesdays, Rolling Roadshow, and my favorite, the Dionysium. It meant D level celebrity guests, mariachis in the lobby, a bucket of beer and a kitchen that actually tried to make the dining attractive on its own. Probably high heresy, but there was a point in time where their chunky salsa was my favorite in Austin. Tickets were cheap because food and drinks were always the main source of revenue.

I'm sure all of that was a ton of work, but it was in contribution towards something greater than consumerism, and even as they introduced the first run films, they kept up their attention to the very basics of theatrical--make sure the sound mix was right, don't cheap out on bulbs for the projector and don't let patrons ruin the experience of other patrons.

That's the business model I think that still thrives in 2026.

Some of my favorites were a late night showing of Office Space where they had an intermission and everyone got to take a swing at a printer with a baseball bat, and a Tron showing with Tron Suit Guy,

6 minutes ago, Deej said:

Some of my favorites were a late night showing of Office Space where they had an intermission and everyone got to take a swing at a printer with a baseball bat, and a Tron showing with Tron Suit Guy,

That sounds fun as shit.

I think I'm cancelling my season pass soon. This place doesn't seem worth supporting if they don't want to pay people to work there. It exists in Austin as a relic of old culture, but culture can't be created by corporations and distributed by QR codes. I think the time has come.

I'll hold on to my last great Ritz memory, the Sunday before Covid shutdown. They had a screening of Dazed & Confused on a Sunday afternoon. Got high and watched it with 4 friends. Went and had a beer upstairs at a dead Maggie Mae's. The following week everything shut down and I wouldn't enjoy an afternoon out and about like that for a while. That might have been one of the last days of the Ritz Alamo.

I miss the original 4th and Colorado location. Even the building is gone now. They always had the fun, themed showings of random movies and Mister Pancake was always a must.

3 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Also in Houston, wasn’t it in far west Houston at westchase mall or something? You can get more suburban or vanilla than that.

West Oaks Mall.

That Alamo sucked.

The whole mall has been dead for years.

55 minutes ago, Deej said:

I miss the original 4th and Colorado location. Even the building is gone now. They always had the fun, themed showings of random movies and Mister Pancake was always a must.

Saw OG Shaft there. Everyone got a 40 of schlitz malt liquor with their ticket.

Also saw Predator where everyone got cap guns to shoot off during the action. So much fucking fun.

58 minutes ago, Deej said:

I miss the original 4th and Colorado location. Even the building is gone now. They always had the fun, themed showings of random movies and Mister Pancake was always a must.

This. Every show we saw there was fun.

We saw a 1959 "horror" movie there called The Tingler. There were buzzers installed under the seats to "shock" the audience members at key moments.

55 minutes ago, BurdineBandit said:

I'll hold on to my last great Ritz memory, the Sunday before Covid shutdown.

54 minutes ago, Deej said:

I miss the original 4th and Colorado location. Even the building is gone now. They always had the fun, themed showings of random movies and Mister Pancake was always a must.

I never cared for the Ritz because their parking lot was total ass and getting in and out of South Lamar was so much easier (also, it seemed perpetually damp inside), but the 4th and Colorado location was nerd paradise for a time.

The spirit of the Alamo was, for me, about a bunch of creative types that didn't have enough talent to do it as a primary occupation, but as a hobby or a side gig they could do really cool shit. Whether that was designing posters, or dreaming up festivals, or playing jazz music before and during a screening of "Round Midnight".

It was that same kind of restless energy you'd feel on campus, which would make sense because The University was such a great laboratory of culture.

It's also why I think that unharnessed energy is still there, and a revised version of the original Drafthouse would kill it. I just bet it was a 24 hour job for the Leagues.

1 hour ago, Jerry Callo said:

This. Every show we saw there was fun.

We saw a 1959 "horror" movie there called The Tingler. There were buzzers installed under the seats to "shock" the audience members at key moments.

That wasn't a buzzer.

I could be wrong but I think they frame the 18% "service fee" as a vehicle to provide full benefits/health insurance to the employees, and then additional 5% as gratuity. Of course that begs the question why not just pay them a better wage or provide those benefits vs. building it as a % on our bill, which we all know the answer to: it's because they want us to pay for it vs. taking out of their profit.

We've reduced our alamo trips from probably 1-2/month pre-COVID to 1-2/year nowadays. It's sad, I look back with fond memories, my wife and I would enjoy going. Now it feels like a soulless husk masquerading as Alamo Drafthouse of old.

TheWrap

Colorado Alamo Drafthouse Workers Strike Over 'Disastrous...

“This creates a worse experience for customers and makes our jobs harder," one Alamo Drafthouse employee says

Tthat’s my local Alamo.

The NB location changed to a Santikos and is now miles better.

9 minutes ago, NorthLoop said:

The NB location changed to a Santikos and is now miles better.

Santikos has the worst popcorn

https://www.indiewire.com/features/commentary/alamo-drafthouse-sucks-now-1235188253/?fbclid=IwdGRjcARGZntleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEeNw0F38zIYycWufrej-w6_xZIb6_GMojyzmlknFx-_JSae7wIAPB_8yyEDj8_aem_2_nHONwltO0ZsaF2qEMqhg

Jesus Christ, what a little bitch.

Things seem…better? The last 2 times I was able to apply rewards and still not noticing any phone use and love that they put up a disclaimer that they appreciate and understand the irony of telling you report people on their phone by…using your phone

Some good stuff coming out this year so reactivated my season pass

At least in Raleigh, it’s still leagues above any other choice. I don’t mind the mobile ordering. The whole bit where they tell you to connect to the theater wifi is stupid and unneeded and just confuses old people. I wish they could get it working in the app so that it stores your credit card. Or at least use Apple Pay? And I hate that it texts you for last call. But overall meh. Yeah yeah private equity Sony bad etc etc but if this helps them continue to exist and they keep doing the other things that I like, I don’t care.

I’ve heard some noisier audiences lately but I think that was film dependent. More of a Devil Wears Prada thing than a change in theater thing.

6 minutes ago, Celery Man said:

I wish they could get it working in the app so that it stores your credit card. Or at least use Apple Pay?

Really the 2 big things that need to be fixed. Apple/Google Pay and if you use the app, storing payment

Question……

Why do people feel the need to eat in a two and a half hour window while watching a movie?

The food is way overpriced and usually shitty.

Go somewhere before or after.

Never understood that

I like eating while watching a movie, many people enjoy having drinks during a movie, and I don’t always optimize my life for cost efficiency.

Personally, I spend almost literally every single waking moment responding to other people’s problems. I had to stop twice in the middle of writing this to do that. My workdays start at 6 and I go to bed at 10. When I can make it happen, I love to eat a pizza while watching a Friday matinee alone in the dark with everybody fucking all the way off.

I typically choose movies around lunch or dinner to make a whole thing of it

I’m not going to a 2pm movie and eating a burger. But a noon movie or a 6/7pm movie? I’m optimizing my time by doing two things at once

I despise the text to remind you to close your tab with like 20 minutes left in the movie. It's usually during an important scene and my phone buzzes. Stupid.

4 hours ago, Stringer said:

It's usually during an important scene and my phone buzzes. Stupid.

I think I’ve identified your problem. lucky for you it’s an easy fix.

15 hours ago, Steamboat1874 said:

Question……

Why do people feel the need to eat in a two and a half hour window while watching a movie?

The food is way overpriced and usually shitty.

Go somewhere before or after.

Never understood that

That doesn't matter. It shouldn't be about judging the customer for their ordering and dining preferences at a movie theater. It's that they spent 30 years building a brand that placed the movie-watching experience at the center of their appeal, and they've taken a big fat shit all over that by making that experience much worse than at AMC, where people aren't ordering chicken wings from an app that is confusing to a large percentage of the audience. They lost sight of their identify, degraded the customer experience, laid off staff, and raised prices. It's a big fucking middle finger to their customers. AMC never pretended to be anything other than what they are. I actually prefer the experience because its far less pretentious and hypocritical.

Fuck Alamo Drafthouse. I'm done with them.

I can’t completely eliminate notifications from my phone because if it goes off 6 times in a row one of the kids vomited at school or something and I need to leave the theater to go get them.

Our closest local theater is a Marquee. It is a much shittier experience than the Alamo. I saw Project Hail Mary there and holy shit it was awful, from that perspective. I think it’s huge crow Alamo is having to eat after leaning in so hard on the “no phones” thing after the magnited states of America voicemail to now integrating it into the process. But apart from venting anger at change or at taking measures to lower staffing, I don’t see the difference from that one change really. I haven’t noticed anyone ordering more food in a distracting way. There’s less of an opportunity to explain anything to your waiter but they fucked anything like that up half the time before the change anyways.

the app is confusing for olds but that was a small percent of the audience anyways. I feel bad for people who can’t figure it out, but it’s 2026. Putting in credit card information is a pita but otherwise it’s a menu app, it isn’t confusing.

Edited May 26May 26 by Celery Man

15 hours ago, Steamboat1874 said:

Question……

Why do people feel the need to eat in a two and a half hour window while watching a movie?

The food is way overpriced and usually shitty.

Go somewhere before or after.

Never understood that

I get having something to snack on and a beverage. I don't get eating an entire meal. I don't like not being able to really see my food, and a lot of times there is someone near me who hasn't figured out how to eat without sounding like a pig at a trough.