My friends and I stopped by to watch The Odyssey (fantastic movie) during a 2:00 PM Sunday showing…read more
A few visits ago, I would have given the Alamo Drafthouse an easy 5 out of 5 stars. Overall, it is still a great movie theater, and if you do not want to read the rest of my review, I absolutely recommend trying it at least once.
Let's start with the mostly positive aspects.
We ordered the new Jumbo Mozzarella Sticks. I really liked them. My wife thought they were average, but I think they are a big improvement over the old mozzarella sticks, and I would order them again.
My biggest issue is that, for $13 plus tax, you only get five, and "jumbo" is not the right word. They are only slightly larger than an average mozzarella stick. At that price, at least include eight.
I also love the atmosphere and ambience. Whether you are walking through the hallways or entering the theater, it just feels comfortable. I am not sure what they have done, but it just feels good!
The projectors continue to impress me. They seem brighter, sharper, and more detailed than those at any other movie theater I have visited. Absolutely fantastic.
The staff is also consistently excellent. Everyone has always been incredibly kind, and I have never really had an issue with customer service.
I have also enjoyed their Loaded Fries with Queso and several milkshakes, although I miss some of the flavors they removed from the menu.
Now for the negatives and why this is no longer a 5-star experience.
First, the seats do not recline far enough. I am 6 feet tall, and I always wish they reclined a little farther. I feel like I am sitting closer to a 90-degree angle than I would prefer.
Next, I understand that we went to "The Big Show" for a major movie release, but our entire group complained about the volume. It was far too loud, to the point that it hurt my ears during several scenes and I had to cover them. Even lowering it by 10% may have made the loud scenes more comfortable while leaving the quieter scenes perfectly audible.
During this visit, I ordered one of their newer pizzas, the BBQ Chicken Pizza. I immediately regretted it.
Friends and family have warned me that pizza is one of the weaker menu items. Unfortunately, they were right.
The pizza was not good, and I would never order it again. My biggest complaint was how sweet it was. I do not know if they use too much BBQ sauce or an extremely sweet sauce, but it overpowered everything else.
On top of that, the pizza was incredibly salty. It almost reminded me of eating popcorn. We did not get popcorn during this visit, so I know it was not coming from that.
The cost? $20.40 with "extra ranch drizzle" added on. Yikes.
I also have mixed feelings about the new mobile ordering system. I can see the pros and cons, and this was our first time using it, so maybe it will become easier with repeated use.
That said, if I could wave a magic wand and go back to the old pen-and-paper system, I probably would. Everyone else in my group felt the same way.
The biggest advantage is not having to wait for the check at the end of the movie. That part was genuinely nice.
However, it feels strange to pull out my phone during a movie just to order food or request a refill. The Alamo built its reputation on minimizing distractions and discouraging phone use, yet customers now have to use their phones to order. That feels backwards.
Also, connect to their unsecured Wi-Fi or you may have trouble using the ordering system. As someone who works in IT, entering my credit card information over an unsecured Wi-Fi network made me uncomfortable.
The payment process needs work too. Manually entering my entire credit card number while sitting in the theater was frustrating. Apple Pay, Google Pay, or the ability to securely save a payment method to an Alamo account would make the experience much smoother.
I considered giving this theater 3 stars, but that felt too harsh because I still genuinely enjoy coming here. I have had much better food in the past, and I still think this is one of the better movie theater experiences around.
I will be back, but this is not going to be our go-to theater. They charge premium prices for the food, but you are not always getting a premium product. Fortunately, the ticket prices seem to be on par with other theaters.
It feels like things have slipped over the past few years. The food is much more hit-or-miss than it used to be, and I am not convinced the mobile ordering system is an improvement.
My advice: skip the pizza. The food here is either fantastic or disappointing. There does not seem to be much middle ground.
Overall, I still recommend the Alamo Drafthouse, and I will absolutely be back. I just hope these recent changes improve because this used to be an easy 5-star theater for me.