IPIC Theaters — Attraction in Redmond

Not to be the arrogant Texan, but this theater was a disappointment relative to other dine in theaters. If you happen to visit Austin or DFW, stop by a Studio Movie Grill or Alamo Drafthouse and you'll see that iPic should take a couple of pointers.

First off, the ticket prices. Other reviews say they are "a little more than average"... Try at least 150% more. Drafthouse and Studio Movie Grill tickets cost $8-$12 for full service, not tiered service where you pay a premium for movie time food service. Even other premium Seattle area theaters charge $18, but they have massive screens and excellent sound systems. At iPic, you are paying $27 per seat for an experience that is not the best movie experience nor eating experience. You'd expect better for a 2 person, 2.5 hour outing that costs over $125.

We then arrive 30 minutes early as recommended. We are then bombarded with iPic's self promotion. Pretty much every theater does that right? Well the Drafthouse plays material relevant to the movie, and it's actually pretty cool. 21 Jump Street played funny cuts from the original show. Seabiscuit had clips of the original races and owner interviews. Stuff like that. Instead of trying to sell themselves as some cool place, they should show cool content that proves they are a cool place with service that justifies the cost. I'm honestly am not docking any stars for this. Maybe some shot caller reads this and decides to spend the money doing something similar.

The server seemed to be working multiple auditoriums with little help. He took the initial order before the movie started and took my credit card. The food took nearly 45 minutes from ordering to delivery and the complimentary popcorn came out 10 minutes after the food did. Not too big a deal, but once our drinks were gone, that was it. The server only came back to return my card. I think the idea was to keep a tab running, but it just worked out to my card being held on to for nearly two hours since nobody came in between to provide refills or add to the order. Maybe the service can be written off by it being the day after Christmas, but who knows. I don't blame the server entirely, but service was definitely lacking. In the Texas theaters, auditoriums 3-5x larger than the iPics are efficiently served. Methods range from using a piece of paper at the Drafthouse or a call button at Studio Movie Grill. I'd never wait more than a couple of minutes to get service, even on premier nights.

The food was good, but the slow service left its mark. I ordered the biscuit appetizer and fried chicken. My wife ordered the angus trio and man-mosa drink. The fried chicken and biscuits had cooled a bit and they were tougher than what it would have been if it was fresh. The burgers and man-mosa were delivered room temperature as well. That ran us almost $70.

We also didn't get our check; nobody in the auditorium did. We had to catch someone at the front to ask for it.

What kept this at a two star review is the atmosphere. The seats were comfortable and the theater was quiet. Those aren't priority to me for a movie, but it's a promise iPic made and...

WARNING - You should absolutely pay attention to the fact that this place has so many TERRIBLE reviews. I am usually not one to believe reviews, until I experience something for myself. Well, I did just that when I went and saw Barbie, on 7/25/23, at 7pm. I obviously can't speak for all of the bad reviews, but my experience shows there is some amount of truth to them. It is a shame that you can't leave a 0 star review.

Initially, IPIC seems promising. The place promotes a "luxury" movie and dining experience. If you were actually going to get that, this place sounds like a fun opportunity to drop some money and have an enjoyable night out. Well, now that I am home after the experience, I feel quite fooled.

Literally from the moment we got seated in the theater(20min before showtime), I could tell it was not going to be a good experience. My date and I were the third couple in the EMPTY theater. After about 15 minutes, no one came to greet, acknowledge, or tell us how ordering worked...even though there were obviously at least 2 assigned servers in the theater. After waiting some time, I walked over to the 2 servers, who were literally standing against a wall, casually chatting. I approached them and said, sorry to bother, but we have never been here before, and I wasn't sure do we need to order online or if there was a system to ordering. The person who would soon be our server, very abruptly told me that he and the other server were taking care of the theater and would eventually get to us.

After waiting quite a while, at least 30min after the movie start, and being the next to last couple to even get approached by the server, he finally came by. He immediately had a very apparent attitude and was obviously even more agitated when we ordered items that weren't available from the menu(even though we were not told this before). We quickly placed an order.

An HOUR AND A HALF into Barbie, the server stopped by and asked if we needed anything...as though we had eaten already. He was surprised when we said, yeah, we would love to have food, but haven't got anything yet. He grumpily said he would check on it. 10 minutes later, I flagged the server down and said don't worry about the food, we don't want it anymore. The movie was almost over. With no kind of care or sympathy whatsoever, he just passive aggressively smiled, gave a thumbs up, and kept on walking. No apology, explanation, nothing. At this point I wasn't even surprised by his reaction and just found it comical.

It is a wonder that this place is still even in business, with as many bad reviews and experiences as there are on here. There is nothing luxury about this experience. It's unfortunate, because honestly, the actual theater space, overall ambiance, screen, and sound are fantastic. But the service is pathetic and nothing that you would expect from such a seemingly upscale place. Save the cost and headache of an overpriced ticket, terrible service, a menu filled with items that aren't available, and just go to a...

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Last Friday night was my first time at iPic, and I had an anazing time. The bar inside was crowded, but nice, and the bartenders were friendly. The cinema was clean, and we were greeted as soon as we rounded the corner by our server, who introduced herself as Lee, and helped us find our seats. They were comfortable reclining chairs with tables attached, and Lee was awesome! She helped us get comfy with our soft pillows and blankets, and showed us how to operate our chairs. She was very knowledgeable and personable, and had many wonderful food and beverage suggestions. She explained what we could expect during the movie, and came back to check on us every 15-20 minutes, as promised. I was worried that the service, though awesome, would be distracting during the film, but Lee seemed to come in at good times, and never interrupted the more action/intense parts. We are going back this Friday night, and I am asking for her. We also got free popcorn, and I dont remember what my drink was called, but it was great, and I tried it with a lime and liquor float on top, per my servers suggestion, and it rocked. My new favorite date spot!

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I went back as I said I would, but NEVER AGAIN!!! I asked for Lee, they said she was no longer working there, and that was a shame. The theater was packed, looked like there were three servers or so, and they all sucked! I heard a sea of complaints on service from other custoners around me. I dont remember his name, but my server was terrible as compared to the last one, Lee. He barely greeted us, just asked what we wanted, not friendly at all. No drink suggestions, and when I asked if he had a favorite, he just told me they were all good. Our drinks took 30 minutes, and we got our food 15 minutes before our drinks. Whereas Lee brought us water right away without us asking, we NEVER got water though we asked all three times we saw our server. The first was about 5-7 minutes after we sat down, then 30 minutes later when he finally brought my drink, then when he gave us our check, a whole 45 minutes before the movie ended. I would have had a few more, but my server sucked. They should find Lee, ask her to come back, and teach a class to the rest of them. I felt robbed when I left. I would give it another chance, but the other servers in my theater seemed just as bad. No sense of quality service as before....