Alamo Drafthouse

 

6

20

Georges S.

San Antonio, TX

've been going to start off by saying that I have had friends who worked/still work at the Drafthouse and I've been going there since it first opened in San Antonio.  I'm going to try to be as objective as possible in writing this.  

In case you're not familiar with the format, the Alamo Drafthouse shows films, both mainstream and independent, and they offer theme nights fairly often, where they will have have special events like live music, promotions, etc.  You can order meals for a pretty extensive menu before and during the movie and they had a nice variety of beer at a reasonable price.

When I first started going there, the place was pretty good about service...orders were executed fairly quickly...

Unfortunately, for the past 9 months or so, it has gone terribly down hill.  I have been there no less than 6 times during this period and each time has been a disappointment.  Often my orders are misplaced, I don't get what I ordered, the food is cold, and often not appetizing at all (the pizza used to be pretty good, now I say STAY AWAY.).  

The last 3 times I've gone, they totally screwed up the bill.  The worst time,  we didn't get the check untl the closing credits, didn't get our credit cards back until 35 minutes AFTER the film was completely over... and then after that, my friend was given the bill for someone else, and then when he took his receipt and card to get fixed, they double billed him for his order.  He didn't realize it until he got home and checked his statement a few days later.  He lives across town, and they couldn't get it fixed over the phone, so he had to drive over to get it fixed only for them to say that the manager isn't in to fix it.  So the next time he called to get it fixed and they refused to give him back his money unless he came back with the receipt and his bank statements.  It wasn't until he threatened to chargeback the order did they even began to help him.

I had hoped that was an isolated incident, but the next time I was there, I ordered a "special" meal -- a full course meal that was themed for the movie we were watching and half the stuff never got to me.  I complained and they said they would take it off the bill.  Again, the bill wasn't given to me until the film was already over, and then they wanted to charge me full price of the meal.  I had to argue with them that I didn't get half the meal (I was missing a side and a dessert).  

This last time we went, yesterday, I took a friend out of state whom heard me raving about it a year ago...at this point, I was reluctant to take her...but I was optimistic.  I didn't order anything but appetizers and beer this time.  Sure enough, the bill came to us during closing credits, and of course,  we didn't get our receipts back until the film was already over... then they tried to stiff my friend on her cash back.  She had bought 1 pint of beer on a pint night special at $2.50 with a $10 bill.   When they finally gave her change, they gave her only $7 in change.  I mean, okay $.50 is little to complain about, and by this time we just wanted to get out of here, but this sort of thing is just embarrassing.  

All in all, I love the concept of the drafthouse, but I don't think I will be going there again...the first 10 or so times I went there were great experiences, but the last 6 have been outright horrible.

If you do go, I would recommend the following:  Don't buy any large meals, stick to appetizers that they can't screw up (their potato skins and jalepeno poppers are still pretty good) and their beer is still reasonably priced and pretty damned good.  Bring cash and use exact change; do not use credit cards.

Personally, If I were in charge of the business, I think they should just get rid of the server idea and have you get the meals and pay for it yourself.  Perhaps give you a little vibrating pager to let you know when it's done because the server system just seems so horribly disorganized and they get in the way of watching the film...there is no reason why one should have to wait 15+ minutes for a receipt and then worry about being charged correctly.

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14

179

Liz M.

Echo Park, CA

I've only been here a couple of times, and I wasn't very impressed.
You walk in and it looks like a fun place. It really does, the walls are painted beautifully, the bar is the first thing you see. you look to your right and you see a pool table, arcade games (ithink) and a few tables to chill at.
but...once you walk into the theatres OH DANG! they reek...badly.
the seats are way uncomfy, i'm thinking they should have been replaced before reopening?! but nope, they sure weren't.
the food is in my opinion is pretty pricey and not very good.
both times i got my food halfway into the movie, and we pretty much made it a point to go in and order 15 minutes before.

the staff was really cool though, dont get me wrong.
so i'm thinking either they need to get more cooks or get more staff overall.

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8

31

allison h.

San Antonio, TX

the best concept - food and beer/wine/margarita service at your seat in the movie theater - executed pretty well but not without its flaws. there are more than 30 beers to choose from and a big menu, plus the movie prices are a little lower than the brand new, gigantic cinemas.

i have been several times over the past 6 months and while overall the experience is fun, the food can sometimes leave a bit to be desired for the price, and the service is questionable. more than once our bill has come to us with errors, and another time we had to wait for our credit card to be run until AFTER the movie was over.

however you can't beat refilling your 2L beer growler ($20 for initial purchase) with the house brew, which is tasty, for $13!

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