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Rialto Cinema's Cerrito
Rating Details »
- Hours:
Mon-Sun. 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
28 reviews for Rialto Cinema's Cerrito
I love this theatre, but I loved it more when it was the Cerrito Speakeasy.
Yesterday, my popcorn was stale. But, my diet coke was delicious. More importantly, I was able to see an Oscar nominated film no longer playing in other theatres.
As an added bonus, Nation's is across the street ... who doesn't love to discuss a movie plot over a piece of banana cream pie?
OMG how cute is this!
I saw Sherlock Holmes here on Christmas and the theater made my Robert Downey Jr. fantasies all the much more enjoyable. First off, when you walk in, it is far from a standard theater. There are EFFING COUCHES. Oh yes. I wanted a date to cuddle with, but instead got a gigantic puffy chair all to myself. Then, there are waiters who run from couch to couch taking orders for fries, pizza, and fun fun fun stuff.
Now, rumor has it that there used to be a full bar here, and sadly those days are not upon us anymore However, the idea of having a bar in a theater would greatly change my outlook on the movie going experience.
With that said, the wait staff here is still a great improvement on any AMC theater, as is the food selection. And the effing couches.
Had I a main squeeze, I would surely drag him here for some cupcaking and movie watching. (Ahem)
I soooo will be back to cuddle up and watch something exciting (especially if it has Robert Downey Jr with his shirt off again!)
Comment from Melissa H. of
Rialto Cinema's Cerrito
1/13/2010
Our wine and beer license is pending before the ABC - we'll…
More »
We just saw "Sherlock Holmes" which hubby and I enjoyed even though I kept nodding into Dreamland and hubby had to jab me many times.
Yes the popcorn is fresh! They do pop it right there.
H had the large plain and I had a medium buttered all to myself.....
heh heh.
I love supporting our local theater and will see as many movies as we can.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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11/3/2009
I'm so happy that the Cerrito has reopened!
Our family went to see "Where the Wild Things Are" last… Read more »
They serve beer now! And supposedly wine soon. No pitchers yet. Pizza was yummyy and the nachos were just as gigantic as they used to be (before they got shut down and reopened).
I have to agree with Andrea. I went to the Cerrito for the first time on Christmas with my sons and their friends. No booze available (they are well over 21) so they had to smuggle some in. (Oh, like that hasn't been done before.) I was just glad to get a decent cup of coffee. Comfortable seats and nice little tables to put beverage or food on. Shelock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law? Something for everyone. (Robert Downey Jr. could do a documentary on making soap and I would watch!) My only complaint would be that the nice little tables put too much distance between us so I had to pretty much sit alone and didn't get to dish with them during the movie. I would definitely go again. This is a jewel.
(P.S. I say it is not good for kids because I don't like little unruly children who are not being attended to by their parents that in turn make everyone else have to put up with them in the movies when I go - hey that's just me.)
The Rialto Cerrito's owners were kind enough to write me and say they updated their nacho recipe and sent me a coupon to try them again.
I am thrilled to report back that these are now a heaping wholesome helping of nachos that match the desciption on the menu. Lots of real cheese, black beans, guac, sour cream and salsa! The chips and cheese are nicely toasted. My parents had them too and were just as pleased with theirs.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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11/16/2009
Love, love, love the Cerrito!
HOWEVER: Tried the nachos and they were hands down one of the worst… Read more »
Comment from Melissa H. of
Rialto Cinema's Cerrito
12/14/2009
Our new nachos are baked in the oven and topped with black…
More »
Must have avoided the Rialto since reopening as a way to avoid my feelings of anxiety that it would suck after the loss of the Speakeasy folks. Luckily my fears are not really based in fact. The place is still as good as before on pretty much every level. Decent movie selection, good couple of beers on tap, good food menu and tastes pretty decent too. Same great location, new people but still as enjoyable as before, so let's support it so we don't lose it again.
I was a devout fan of Speakeasy when they occupied this spot and completely heartbroken when they closed their doors. When Rialto took over, just like any other change in my life, I welcomed it with a suspicious eye.
I thought they reeked of Mainstream when they opened with Harry Potter along with the other big-wig, first-roll studios and i didn't like that at first, but now i'm just happy because it means i don't have to give my money away to AMC or UA when i happen to have a lady boner for a mainstream big-studio flick [*cough* Sherlock Holmes *cough*].
They just finally recently (and by recent i mean in the last couple months or so) opened their full kitchen, and even though i can't for the life of me remember what i ordered that one time, i can tell you confidently that I was happy with my meal or i'd be ranting about it right now. Unfortunately I don't drink so i can't really comment on their wine/beer selection - Are they even licensed yet to serve alcohol??
I'm also very happy to report that they continued the Speakeasy tradition of supplying a full selection of condiments (parmesan, garlic salt, dried chilli, etc.) although they did take away the paper boxes that i used to use to split my popcorn into two containers. Popcorn was warm and fresh, and a sprinkle of salt and parmesan cheese on top makes for a wonderful face stuffer.
The rates have gone up from the good ole' Speakeasy days (i think it's about $9.25 now) but to my delight they now offer $2 student discount, and $7 matinee showing.
Staff is friendly and pleasant; nothing to complain about here.
I do hope they stick around. I try to go to my local businesses when i can but apparently it wasn't enough to keep Speakeasy in business... :-(
The old Cerrito Speak Easy. This place is fun. They serve their yummy white popcorn on a real bowl and offer tons of toppings including nutritional yeast which is my fav. They also serve lots of other food I haven't yet tried. The people who work there have a great sense of humor. Did I mention that they have couches you can sit on if you get their early. 21+ as they serve alcohol (at least once they get their license).
Watched New Moon last night. Loved how there was no crowd. Couches, chairs, tables, as well as tradtional theater seats w/ cup holders tripped me the hell out! Oh and they have a menu! First time I ever had a gourmet pizza in a movie. Popcorn sucked FYI.
Couches up front were comfy as can be but you have to sacrafice sitting so close and having your neck cranked for an entire show!
Plan to go back again soon and bring the kids along this time around.
RIP Speakeasy, you left before your time had come. But hello there Rialto Cinema, you remind me of someone I once knew.
Plush couches, a visually interesting theater interior, and non-high fructose corn syrup-based food options. Also, the spacey floor layout mitigates a lot of the awkward shuffling that takes place with stadium type seating.
To go anywhere else would be laughable (unless its a drama, in which case it would be unconsolable).
They serve very reasonably priced food now...Pizza, sandwiches, etc. It all tastes delicious and is not overpriced like most movie theaters. I think the real markup is in candy/sodas/popcorn which is to be expected. Still no alcohol but that is expected to come soon!
For Rosie C.: first time back we saw 500 Days of Summer (tried too hard to be artsy and indie), second time we saw Extract (fail, Mike Judge, fail). But! The overall experience was 5-stars.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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8/26/2009
Back in business!
Useful information:
*They are still waiting on a liquor license but are looking into… Read more »
OK, its a movie theater... and it serves hot food..
But the real advantage to this place is the scale of the theater itself. Nothing gripes me as fast as coughing up bucks to see a film only to find myself shunted off into some claustrophobic two-car garage with a home video screen in front of me -- "oh, your tickets are for the UPSTAIRS screen... yesss... well, BlahBlah is playing on the BIG screen downstairs."
Tell me the bad news first, buddy. Save us both some heartache.
The El Cerrito theater DOES have an upstairs screen and its probably dinky too. But the reason to go here is the downstairs screen because the combination of the number of seats, size of the screen, size of the room, and HEIGHT of the room makes it almost a perfect place to actually *see* a movie. Comfortable seats, good screen the proper distance/height away, very good sound system that isn't turned up too loud... all in all, its a heck of a package. To tell you the truth I never would have thought all those ambience factors like height of the room make a difference in the movie viewing experience but they do. It must be like what Darryl Zanuck had in his private screening room.
All the "ooh" and "ahh" things about the theater like the hot food, booze (maybe), swivel chairs, baby night etc wouldn't work if the *room* itself didn't work. Personally, I don't think the booze idea is that great... but I'm an old fart and generally intolerant of drunk jerks acting out.
Anyway, pick a good movie, try it, skip the food the first time out, concentrate on the viewing experience. I think you'll like it. Zanuck did.
And -- for the record -- the last time I had been in the El Cerrito theater was as a kid when I saw a couple Three Stooges movies back to back for a quarter. Sat in the balcony and threw popcorn on the heads of the other kids down below. Had a HELL of a good time!
I loved the Speakeasy, but I only went once...I felt guilty when they closed. When it opened under new management, I vowed to support my local movie place. It's nice, clean, and not crowded (although I guess they probably wish it was).
However, the popcorn sucks! I used to be one of those cheap people who snuck in my own snacks, but I've learned that these smaller theaters really make their money in the concessions. Again, trying to support local business, I chalked it up as a one time bad experience with the cold popcorn, so I tried it again the next time I went-still sucks! Crew was not happy with me saying something either...I still want to support this theater but no more popcorn there for me! Hopefully if I'm not an unhappy popcorn eater then the staff behind the counter will live up to their friendly reputation.
Already saw District 9 + Inglorious Basterds here!
I'm glad they're back even though they're under new ownership. Much cheaper than chain theaters esp. with your student id! Can't wait until they serve food, beer & wine again =)
I'm worried for the Rialto Cinemas Cerrito. Just as with the Speakeasy, these new owners are not bringing in enough first run movies. They promise first run movies as coming attractions but are obviously not able to deliver. It's also unacceptable to run the same two movies week in and week out. How are people going to frequent the theater enough to support the business when there often is nothing new to see? The same two movies for over two weeks?
I've frequented the Rialto Cinemas in Santa Rosa, and they didn't seem to have this problem.
Please, Rialto, get your act together at the Cerrito! I won't be visiting your theater this weekend because you have nothing new on offer.
Being a new parent I was so happy that Rialto theatre resurrected movie night for parents and babies under one year. They also have family night. They show all the newest movies which is awesome. EC Rialto also serves food: pizzas, burgers and salads with a wine bar in the lobby. Comfy seating selection of family sofas with cocktail tables or theatre style seating. As mentioned by another reviewer the popcorn was pretty bad. They have 2 other locations in Berkeley and Elmwood but El Cerrito is the only location that has "Bringing up Baby" night.
Nice to see a smaller chain instead of the megaplexes you normally see these days, but the prices here aren't competitive at all, particularly since they generally show second-run films.
$9/show is only $1 less than what I'd pay at Shattuck Cinema, and they have the same movies in better seats with better screens and better sound systems.
Sorry Rialto.
I know you're trying, but you aren't trying hard enough.
It's baaaaaaack! Sadly, it's not the Speakeasy with the beer and pizza that we all know and love. Sadly, it's all ages now. (However, in these tough economic times, we need to broaden our paying audience). BUT, it's still the old theatre that we also know and love and it still has the speakeasy comfy furniture. (And because Cerrito was a newer speakeasy than the Parkway, the furniture doesn't look nappy and like it's infested with scabies.)
Save the old and awesome theatres!
Let's hope Parkway has a similar fate soon.
We just went here for the first time. We missed it as a Speakeasy, but found it quite lovely under Rialto's management. Nice love seats (that may be a tad too close to the screen for our taste), and big stadium seats with TONS of leg room and very little chance of getting an unwitting seat kicker behind you. (And intentional seat kickers would really have to stretch to reach you.)
Super nice and friendly staffers. Not that I've ever thought that to be particularly important, but it was still nice to experience. Highly recommended.
I miss the frat boy charm of the Cerrito Speakeasy ... and now I must go through their growing pains again. Tonight was my first visit under new Rialto management and although not much has changed (still friendly staff, the same couches / chairs) they are back to square one with their menu. Typical movie theater food and drinks (and prices). At present, no hot food and no alcohol - which was disappointing since I was planning on having dinner there. It's in the works though.
Prices are the same as any other theater ... but this is the price you pay for more current movies.
WOW! A beautiful designed, clean theater, with comfortable seating, both theatre style with a shelf in front or a small table beside your seat to hold your snackage OR couch seating up front. We didn't order food this time, but the menu looked intriguing enough to give it a try next time. The popcorn was terrible which was a real disappointment, since it's one of my guilty pleasures especially if they have real butter. So I'll be back to enjoy this nice clean theater, but I'll bring my own popcorn.
Support the Cerrito! I was so excited to see it back in business, and hopefully once it brings back the food, wine and beer I can give it 5 stars. Went to see Harry Potter and the staff seemed really excited to be there and thanked everyone for coming. (As in, every staff member I saw thanked me for coming. It was kind of nuts, but in a nice way.)
I do agree with the popcorn comment- bring back the real air-popped! They do get points for having Dagoba chocolate...mmm, Dagoba.
Now that we have a baby, life gets more complicated, but the Rialto has something called a "Baby Brigade" where you can bring your infant to the movies every third Tuesday at a specified time for a specified movie - that part I'd like to expand.
We went tonight and really enjoyed the movie. We sat our baby in his carseat in front of us and relaxed in a really soft, comfortable couch. Even when I needed to nurse our son, I felt protected and secure with the high backs and sides of the couch, knowing no one could see me and I could relax and watch the movie.
There were two other babies and even when a baby cried for a bit, no one seemed to notice. I took ours out for a quick quiet down and diaper change, but a couple near us said they never even heard him cry!
Also, I noticed the sound was turned a little down (or, I think it was), which was nice because I was worried about hurting my son's hearing - maybe that's mom's paranoia.
They offered drinks, popcorn, ice cream bars, and vegan cookies. The staff was really nice and helpful.
We'll be going to every baby brigade from now on! :)
Call me biased, but I loved this place [which coincidentally is also the spot of a very fantastic first date with a special someone]. Beer, couches and a cozy though not very slick yawn to put the arm around me move made for a very lovely combination. We were sad that it shut down for awhile, but hopefully we'll find our way back once again [and hopefully their liquor license will be in effect too!]
The Cerrito Theatre is reopening July 15th at 12:01am w/ "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince". It will be run by the folks who run the Elmwood Theatre. While I don't particularly like that Rialto Cinema puts their name before the Cerrito, I'm thrilled that the theatre is reopening so soon. It's a beautiful theatre that deserves to be enjoyed. Ticket prices will be slightly higher than they were but still lower than the big chain theatres. No matter. It's an enterprise worth supporting. The plan is to serve popcorn, candy and sodas at first, then roll out their food service and eventually their beer and wine service once they get their liquor license. It will be wonderful to have our theatre back and I'm sure the nearby business will be celebrating the return of the foot traffic the theatre brings.
I am so glad that this Theater is open again. Just saw the live production of "Phedre". It was absolutely phenomenal. But the popcorn sucked. I don't care to ever have it again. It is ok to serve the kiddies old popcorn from a mass produced bag, but I am a bay area adult foodie and won't waste 6 bucks again.
We ordered a $9.00 cheese quesadilla that showed up cold an hour later. The server took the cold quesadilla back to the kitchen to nuke it. Twenty minutes later the quesadilla was returned with most of the cheese in a lump stuck to the plate next to a brittle tortilla. The staff didn't appear concerned with the mess they were serving. Oh, yeah, it also smelled horrible! On top of their abysmal food and service, many of the chairs are really uncomfortable! Sadly, I can't see this theatre making it without a drastic change.