The perfect local cinema. They do a ton of special events to bring you not so typical fare to the big screen. For example, they showed all the Academy Award nominated short films as well as 4/5 of the films nominated for Best International Feature. They also have really friendly staff and reasonably priced tickets and concessions. I go here OFTEN and will continue to support them. read more

I love this place. It made me enjoy going to the movies again! Comfortable seats, great prices. Always something new or interesting playing. Support local ! read more

I simply love this theater. The staff are always so kind & make the experience feel special. The prices make it even better. In a time where going out literally anywhere feels like a luxury buy, this place makes every penny worth it. The sound quality is great, the reclining seats that heat and cool are perfect, the concessions being affordable instead of a million dollars, this theater has single handedly made me a Classic Cinemas loyalist. I never used to go to the theaters before because the prices had just gotten so out of hand and the service usually sucked but this place has me coming back almost every week. I also LOVE that they do throwback movies & early releases of movies as well. This place is very nostalgic and makes it well worth it to get back in the movie theaters. read more

See all

GTOAT - Greatest Theater of All Time. Lake Theater truly embodies what it means to go to the Cinema. Some theaters have gotten more ridiculous than the movies they display. Classic Cinemas, especially lake theater, they've kept it classy and authentic. Obviously other theaters have higher quality experiences like better resolutions and audio setups, but I'd watch a film in 240p just to sit in those comfy chairs with my free refilled popcorn and ticket that costs less than the price of a box of cereal nowadays. I also thank the employees there, I truly enjoy knowing some companies use their resources to help those who may be less fortunate or have more difficulty in the workforce. Regardless all of the employees there are chill which is a plus. I love you Lake Theater, stay true read more

I've visited this theater several times and usually had a pleasant experience, which is why this visit felt especially frustrating. I arrived expecting to enjoy a film I had been excited to see, but it quickly became obvious something was off because the story already seemed far ahead. I double-checked with staff to make sure everything was correct, yet I was reassured that it was. Later, it became clear the screening had already started much earlier, meaning I missed a large portion without anyone informing me. What disappointed me most was the lack of communication or effort to resolve the situation afterward. The theater itself is clean and comfortable, but customer service during this experience left a very negative impression. read more

Every time I come to this theater, it's an awesome experience. The tickets are reasonably priced compared to places in the city, and the popcorn, snacks, and Slurpees are actually pretty affordable. They have different-sized theaters, so you don't always know which one you'll get, but every one I've been in has been great. The reclining seats are super comfortable with both cooling and heating, and the sound quality is excellent. I come here over bigger theaters every time because it's just a better overall experience. The bathrooms are always clean as well, which is a big plus. read more

This is our second time here for a birthday party! The entire theater was rented for a classmate's party. It came with popcorn, lemonade and fruit snacks. Each time we went, it featured recent releases. They've upgraded the seating with recliner chairs that can be heated and/or cooled. read more

I just love this theatre! I've been here for about 4-5 movies in the past year and really enjoyed them. Seats are spacious and comfortable, theatre is clean, snack and drink options (while a little limited) are perfect for what's needed. I feel like the ticket price is fair. read more

I've been coming to Lake Theatre since I was a kid and it still does not disappoint! I've I want to see a movie with great prices, definitely thinking of Lake Theatre first and foremost. Plus, they is plenty of parking nearby & even free after certain times/Sundays (I believe). I would only point out, the seats are kind of worn out BUT from a recent review, I saw that they are updating the seating with brand new heated/cooling recliners, so cool & much needed/deserved for this OP Gem. Personally, I don't have anything bad to say about this theatre! Thank you for all the years you've been around & I look forward to my continued support of stopping by from time to time. Personal Review: 8.9/10 read more

Classic Cinemas Lake XQ - Theater Seating - Cinema Near Me - Oak Park, Illinois

See all

This movie theatre is part of the classic cinemas theatre group. It is located in downtown Oak Park and from the outside it looks pretty much like any other movie theatre. But, once you get inside the difference is very evident. They have kept the history and elegance of this theatre and even brought in many fixtures and statues from different theatres that no longer exist. There are 9 different theatres and we saw our movie in theatre #2. They keep the theatres very dark, seating was hard to see. Luckily we stayed way in the back. The theatre is very long and narrow, but, even in the back the view of the screen was fine. There is nearby parking either in garages or parking lots. Go to the Lake Theatre to see a movie and take your time and enjoy your surroundings in a beautifully restored theatre. read more

See all

This is my go to movie theater as I am local and it is a great value. The only reason I am giving a low score is yesterday 3/28 while at the movie, there was what appeared to be a large rat run across the screen from the bottom left park of the screen to the right part. Yes I am sure it wasn't part of ghostbusters. This is unsettling for many reasons, we sit, eat and relax here. I hope management is able to do something. read more

Great spot for movies with your family and friends. It's a small theatre but they carry most mainstream films. They have clean facilities and really comfortable chairs that can recline. read more

Stopped in yesterday with my neighbor to see "A Man Called Otto." Not sure if they placed us in this theater because not many tickets were purchased for the film, but it was in such terrible shape. All of the seats and arm rests are completely worn out. It was so bad that as other people entered the theater it's the first thing they mentioned. I'm sure the other rooms aren't like this, but I'll stick to the AMC in Yorktown or Cinemark in Melrose Park from now on. read more

Classic Cinemas Lake XQ - Theater seats - Cinema Near Me - Oak Park, Illinois

This is an Art Deco gem of a movie theatre with memorabilia throughout from films, some in different languages. There is a nice selection of goodies at the snack bar. Then inside the theatre the seats are comfortable and spaced well making the screen visible, even without stadium seating. read more

This place is really an Oak Park gem. Classic beautiful design with modern upgrades like leather seats and loud surround sound. Ticket prices are cheaper than AMC too. read more

Classic Cinemas Lake XQ - Cinema Near Me - Oak Park, Illinois

See all

The Lake Theatre is classic old school cinema at its finest. The prices are great. They offer a cinema loyalty card that is totally worth joining for free. Use your card to accumulate pts when buying your movie tix and also at the concession stand. They offer free refills on popcorn, soda, and slushy's. You won't find the huge massive screens and reclining chairs in this theater. So if that's not something that you are willing to part with then the Lake Theater isn't for you. The Lake theatre and its huge lit sign outside as you make your way down Lake St is homage to downtown Oak Park. It's clean, friendly staff, big screens, perfect sound, comfortable seating, and great prices is what makes this my favorite go to spot to see the next box office hit. ~ Enjoy Yelpers! read more

Classic Cinemas Lake XQ - Cinema Near Me - Oak Park, Illinois

I tried to use a gift card to see West Side Story. Guy puts it in, I have issues making the card work. I think it's done but he says it didn't go through and runs it again. It reads DUPLICATE TRANSACTION. I think it means it did go through. But he gets a manager I guess. We try to run it again a few times. It is cold and windy and I begin to reconsider my decision and just ask for my card back. She me a COMPLIMENTARY ticket. I decide against it and set off as I am actually heading out to get groceries anyway. I stop for coffee. While there I check the balance of the card and there is the charge from The Lake Theater. So I call and they can't credit my card but I can have a ticket or cone foe cash or have it mailed. Nice enough. My argument they did not seem to understand. If I pay for it it isn't complimentary. If I had not checked they would have gladly kept my money for my complimentary ticket. I had to come back which is just wasting my afternoon. read more

Theater isn't horrible but the audio quality is absurdly bad really hard to listen to the actors half the time also the chairs are so close to each other so you can't fully recline and watch the movie because it's covered by the seats In front of you because they are so close to one another they should really fix these simple things to make it an enjoyable movie experience don't think I'd come back and it's super close to my house just isn't a great movie watching experience. read more

I enjoy the free popcorn and drink refills, and Shawn the ticket man. Shawn is so entertaining and great at his job. I get so excited when I walk through the door and he's standing there asking for my ticket. Shawn is such a great compliment to the overall theatre. I wish that everyone in customer service had his personality. I like how the theater gives jobs to the youth in the community. I always see teenagers inside the box office and at the concession stands. They do a really good job at team work. The only complaint that I have is that the women's bathroom on the main level was not the cleanest. However, I'm sure this issue will be resolved soon by management. I can't wait to visit this location again in the future. Until my next review.... read more

Classic Cinemas Lake XQ - Free refills on popcorn and soft drinks - Cinema Near Me - Oak Park, Illinois

This place has all of the benefits of a big theater with the quirky charm of a smaller theater. Saw the Avengers here and there were lots of seats and luckily it wasn't packed to capacity. The seats don't recline but the sound and picture are superb. The neon sign is pretty neat and the carpet give off that art deco 20s look. read more

Classic theatre with comfortable seats that are kinda worn (I'm told they will be replacing all of these in the next couple months). If you are thinking of buying tix through Classic Cinemas thinking you'll get reward points (that aren't worth much) and skip the line, don't bother as they charge you a service fee that is not charged at the box office. read more

It is a great theater but the movies are too loud and sound is distorted. speakers flutter because they are overdriven. Likely causing hearing damage. Bring earplugs. read more

After experiencing city prices for going to the movies, Lake Theatre got me excited! Every year on Christmas Eve my boyfriend and I watch the newest Star Wars movie in the theatre. Since we were visiting his family for Christmas so we thought why not check out Lake Theatre. It was fairly easy to purchase our tickets online. Since we were going to a show before 4 pm we were able to score matinee movie tickets. The tickets were priced around $6 not including processing fees. Both of our tickets came out to the price of just one movie ticket at the surrounding movie theatres. The theatre itself is easy to navigate. The movie screening area was massive and not what I expected. I was told that the movie screening area used to be double its size but they cut it in half. I can only image the movie going experience when it was double its size. read more

Nice theater, smaller than most but I enjoy that quality very much. Plus many good restaurants in the area.

Their website shows showings but when you get there they say they don't have that showing that day even though it's on their website. then when you go in theres theatre rooms saying they are showing the movie even though they are not. when asked the manager gave a very condescending response and didn't even apologize for the mistake that is clearly on their end for posting showtimes they don't have. happened to multiple people trying to watch a movie there read more

This theater is exactly what Chicago and near suburbs need . We need a place like this nowadays. I've been going to this theater for a very long time and even more so after the pandemic. It's a classic looking theater. When you walk into the doors , you are greeted with so much respect in that small little encounter of them seeing your ticket and telling you which number is your movie playing. I come to this theater for mainly a few reasons , no they don't have the big IMAX and all the other things other big theaters have . This has more then that. If you want to actually enjoy the movie with none of the distractions , disrespectful people that bigger theaters have coming through the doors, you come here. That's why I give the theater a 5 star. Granted I wish they had other food items but they do cover the basic bases and that's fine. They have pop corn , nachos , fountain drinks and slurpees , and candy items. Thank you again for having such nice and welcoming staff and they have the right management team read more

Very spacious and cozy place to watch a movie. Not expensive like these other theatres. And they give refills. Theatre was clean also.

Don't go here to watch "Black" movies! They shove us in theater 7 (or is it 9) , which is NOT upgraded. Old seats, poorly layout, can't get good view without fidgiting. read more

This place is so cute!! It reminds me of an old opera house- the staff are always in uniforms that are clean and serving old school usher vibes. The prices are the lowest around and you can find lots of places to eat then catch a movie. Do recliner chairs, but that's part of the environment. read more

My 2nd review after my review on the old seats. I said old because since that review ALL seats have been installed and it's fabulous. Thanks for the upgrade....now what's the cost of the beer.... read more

Today / august 2,2023 - cinema 10. smells bad and very dirty. you should have spray atleast something for the smell. disgustinf

It took me nearly 7 months of living right next door to the Lake Street Theater before I actually came here to see a show. I should've come sooner. Way sooner. I don't know what normal admission is, but when I went last night, I paid $10 TOTAL for myself and my date, which pleasantly surprised the hell out of me. I'm used to paying more than that for ONE person, so you can bet your ass I'll be coming here on $5 Tuesdays from now on. The interior is quaint and classic, unchanged by time. I don't typically bother with concessions because I sneak in my own Twinkies, Kit Kats, Fritos, Diet Coke, Jimmy John's, reheated pizza, leftover Panda Express.....but I did buy a small popcorn for $4.50. Free refills on the popcorn and fountain drinks, and there's a popcorn seasoning 'bar' with butter, salt, ranch, cheddar, white cheddar, and caramel powder. It was the first time I've seen such an array at a movie theater, and it's just awesome. The theater seating was pretty standard, seats were comfy enough, however they weren't tiered like your typical movie joint. The room was longer and at a shallower pitch than what I anticipated, as opposed to the 'stadium seating' arrangement with stairs like in most places. This reduced-slope room style didn't bother me too much though. Oh, I saw 22 Jump Street and it was pee-your-pants hilarious. I haven't laughed/smiled that much in a long, long time. Channing Tatum sitting in a kiddie Lamborghini might be the best thing committed to film in 2014. An excellent experience here, and one I hope to come back to many times. I'll probably never go to another AMC/Loews again, because why? Lake Street is where it's at. read more

Free refills on popcorn, fountain drinks and icees. This is my neighborhood theatre but I am just getting around to visiting. I often drive to the theatres which are larger and offer parking but did not have time to make the trek this week. This time dilemma proved to be a welcomed change of scenery. I walked over to Lake Theatre less than ten minutes before the movie started. There were a few people in the concession line so I encouraged my BF to grab the seats so we would not be forced to sit too close. He walked in the showing room and returned with a huge grin. He assured me we would have little trouble finding a seat. I was surprised to see a 7p empty on the opening day. But it left more options for us. The theatre seating is comfortable but I found it odd that the center aisle is straight up the middle of the room. It means you have to sit to the left or right of the screen absent grabbing an end seat. But when you have the ability to space out like we did, this was a nonissue. read more

I wasn't expecting much from a small, old-school movie theater, so imagine my surprise when we walked into our theater room! The leather seats looked modern and were super comfortable. The decor on both sides of the wall was elegant (each side had a big 3-D wall art of an archer, I believe). The theater room was pretty clean. Even though it's not a stadium seating set-up, you can still see the movie screen just fine since it's elevated. Concession stand items seemed cheap compared to AMC or other big theaters. The nice thing about this theater is that you can get free popcorn and drink refill on any size (I remember the popcorn was $4.50). You can either park in the street or in a nearby parking lot. We parked in the parking garage off of Forest Avenue coming from Lake Street (pass the theater on the left side on Lake Street and make a left turn on Forest Avenue, parking garage on the right). Parking will be under $4.00 if you stay less than 4.5 hours. I definitely recommend going to this movie theater. read more

I worked here in high school. (I still say it was my best job ever). The ticket prices have always been cheap, the theater has a lot of 1920's character, it is clean, seats are comfortable, the movies are first-run, the clientele knows how to turn off their cell phones before the movie starts, there are 7 screens to choose from, and all movies are in digital HPS 4000 sound. This theater has been running in Oak Park for over 60 years. And no, there isn't stadium seating, you stadium seating snobs. (Side note on dining after the movie: I must disagree with Ingrid G. on saying that there is an "average" Indian restaurant across the street. The Chicago Tribune gave Khyber Pass 4 'Forks' -- the only Indian restaurant in Chicago to receive the Tribune's highest rating.) read more

Classic Cinemas Lake XQ - The good ol' days of the Lake. - Cinema Near Me - Oak Park, Illinois

This theater is great, has the classic cinema feel to it. Small screens but the prices are worth it. The crowd isn't always too big, and without the seat reservation here, you're more likely to get a seat where you'd like. Of course as long as you get there a tad early. read more

Classic Cinemas Lake XQ - Cinema Near Me - Oak Park, Illinois

Love this neighborhood theatre. It's a classic cinema, but the seats, screen, and sound system are all top notch. It's listed online (Google showtimes, etc.) so you'll know exactly what's showing when. Tickets are $8 adults. Matinee is $5.50, and students $6.50. Smuggle in your Raisinets and enjoy the next two hours of your life. Gotta love the ceiling fans! read more

Classic Cinemas Lake XQ - Ceiling fans + red glow = cool - Cinema Near Me - Oak Park, Illinois

This is a great theater with a lot of history. Forget the standard, bland theater clone. This is a old fashioned theater with beautiful decoration and unique theaters. But the sound and video is state-of-the-art. The snacks are typically over priced, but you do get free refills of popcorn and soda - you just have to be okay getting up during your movie to get more. The staff is great - super friendly and helpful. Easy parking garage around the corner as well. Good stuff! read more

Love the cozy neighborhood feel in a cool, classic yet modern enough older space- this isn't a giant mall multiplex and that's a good thing. The popcorn tastes great. Sound and picture both excellent. Chairs are comfortable enough. Easy parking in structure around the corner as street parking is rare. There are tons of great places to eat all around before or after a show. Ticket taker Shawn is always so pleasant and welcoming. I appreciate too that the Lake often shows lesser known art house films in addition to the blockbuster types. There is always a good variety of films to choose from. read more

As bad as a three star rating may be, I have to admit, this is the best movie theater in the area. I grew up in the Oak Park and River Forest area, and lived in it for most of my life, so I have been here, and to their competition (Melrose Park Cinemark) many times. The service here tends to vary a lot depending on who you are dealing with - I have had incredibly friendly staff, and at other times, rather standoffish service. The theater rooms tend to be messy, despite their staff promptly cleaning them after every show. Their prices are pretty standard, unless you go there during their weekday off hours, where tickets are discounted. As a lover of classic movie theaters, I wish I could be giving this theater a better review, but it's become very generic as a whole, and at times standoffish service separates them from other classic cinemas. This is a good theater to go to if you are in the area, but definitely not worth a hike. If you are closer to a AMC, go there. It's better than any of the options in the Oak Park/River Forest area. read more