The Springs Cinema & Taphouse — Attraction in Sandy Springs

Love this Movie theatre. I love it so much that I came back two days in a row!! The chairs are the most comfortable seats I've ever been in at a theatre. They have heat AND cooling options on the seats, which made for the perfect comfort for me and my plus one since he was hot and I was cold. The movie screens are the perfect size as well. The establishment is small but super cute and family friendly! On the contrary, the manager Alexi left a lot to be desired on my second visit.. My friend and I arrived a little early for our movie so we sat in two empty seats at the bar.. We saw that the bartender was a little busy so we patiently waited... after 8-10 minutes or more to even be greeted, Alexi (who was not the bartender) came out the kitchen and realized their lobby was starting to get filled. Let's keep in mind that the theatre wasn't super packed beyond capacity or anything out of control. There was an influx of people there , but the majority of them were in the CONCESSION line to buy pop corn and candy.. NOT sitting at the bar. Alexi immediately asked the TWO different small groups seated next to us (who had drinks and had clearly been already serviced..) if they had been helped and they told him "yes". After passing us by, making direct eye contact and completely ignoring us.. we said politely "excuse me, we haven't been helped".. which is what anybody would do, given the fact that he LITERALLY asked the guests next to us if they had been helped. To our surprise, he replied "well I'm going to prioritize my concession line, if you'd to like to hop in line then I'll get to you when I can..." My friend and I were both BAFFLED and felt so embarrassed as other people who were dining at the bar looked at us in shock and confusion as well. It was awkward, mean & humiliating. Alexi, if you're prioritizing your concession stand line, then WHY on earth did you come ask the TWO small groups of two.. equaling 4 people total, sitting AT THE BAR directly next to us if they needed your service?? Though we understand, being that I am a bartender at a very popular bar in Sandy springs and my plus one is a manager at a different, well established restaurant also in Sandy springs... we were a little taken aback by his response. He had so much attitude & sass in his tone... I immediately said "we are so sorry for inconveniencing you. We didn't mean any harm". He eventually "apologized" for being rude... but it definitely wasn’t genuine. & STILL went straight to the concession stand instead of helping us.. Thanks for the apology dude.. but there is a proper way to handle guests, given that you're in the service industry and this is your JOB. Alexi was definitely the lowlight of our night. Finally, the actual bartender came to greet us and helped us, after our now 15 min wait! He was very nice and prompt once he greeted us!

Aside from our experience at the bar, everything else was superb! The comfort, the ambiance, and the freshest popcorn and Sandy is the only thing that saved out experience. We considered just ditching the movie all together but since we paid in advanced we decided to say. 10/10 would recommend this movie theater but be advised AVOID ALEXI, he's very unprofessional and will do a great job of making you feel like you don't belong and are a nuisance to the establishment that come to find out, he MANAGES at. He has absolutely no people/customer service skills and lacks professionalism. I would love to give this place 5 stars but I simply won't because of how I was treated and embarrassed for absolutely no reason. I'm not telling you guys not to come here. They 100% deserve all the business in the world. But I don't think such an amazing establishment deserves an employee like the one I encountered tonight. If I spoke to or treated the guest at bar in any fashion that Alexi spoke to me and my friend tonight, then I would 100% expect this kind of review on my behavior as well. From service industry worker to another, do better and be more kind as you never know who...

Update on my review (changed from a 1 to 4): the business owner himself reached out to me regarding the situation and has gone above and beyond to rectify the situation. He explained, without making excuses, and arranged for us to come back another time. Thank you for taking the time to do so. Looking forward to giving them another shot and leaving nothing but great, positive reviews from here on out.

I took my fiancée and her mother to see a movie here. Was greeted by a kind gentleman who took our order. When our order came out the loaded tots were missing the “loaded” portion. No big deal… kindly asked the young lady if we could get the loaded tots we ordered. Instead of just loading them up and moving on she insisted on pulling up our order to see if that’s what we had paid for… okay? Still not a big deal… Stay with me here… during this time the young man who took our order said “yes they should be loaded can we just load them up for them?” She rudely INSISTED we pull up the order and prove we had paid for them. After pulling it up the young man admitted he messed up and didn’t charge us the extra $2 for the loaded option but admitted it was his fault and we should just get them loaded and go to our movie. For whatever reason this is a hill she insisted on dying on and caught attitude when we asked if we could get them loaded. By this point about 5 minutes had passed and I agreed they could go ahead and charge me the extra $2 even though it was their mistake… not to mention between movie tickets and snacks I just spent $90+. Since time had passed I said “I’ll go ahead and pay the extra amount it’s fine but could we please just get some fresh new ones since these have been sitting out for a while now”. She snaps at us and says “are you kidding me. These are new. They just came out.” I was shocked. Nothing but calm and collected words and negating had been occurring on my end. Meanwhile the young man is on our side trying his best to help but she insists on taking authority and dying on this hill of not only making us pay for the employees mistake but also taking the now cold food that we do not want. Finally a “shift lead” comes over to defuse the situation and she then turns sarcastic and snarky stating “Fine sir. insert eye roll We will get you new ones.” Ultimately, I realize this is a complaint over loaded tots but I wanted to voice the incredible rudeness of an employee for absolutely no reason. Everyone was kind and willing to help fix a very minor problem besides her. Sad representation of an overall great movie theatre. Willing to change my review for sure and give this place another shot but would love to speak with someone in charge.

Evening of 1/20

Thanks greatly. (PS great movie and the loaded tots were yummy when we finally...

Sara (Guest Experience Director) reached out and resolved all issues, apologizing for all of the below. Thank you! — Please take this top portion as an edit to the initial review below. (5-Stars)

When we entered for our movie, we walked up to the register to the right of the bar, that did not say, Closed. The other one showed Closed on the screen. We walk up to purchase only a bottle of water, and the young girl, come to find out later, she was the Front Desk Manager said, that register was closed, because she was closing it out. Interesting, it was only 9:45pm, to close both registers they had in the regular lines. She directs us to the bar, to wait in line for a bottle of water that was almost $6. Then, when we get ready to check in for our movie, we see another couple walk up to the register that was marked, Closed earlier, where we were turned away 5 minutes prior, and get waited on to purchase something. I approached the Manager and she said, her Manager that was wherever said, “Wait on them, that is my cousin.” I approached the Manager that was up front and told her, that is exactly the issue across the United States right now, how people are treated based off who we know and more. She agreed and apologized several times. Definitely not her fault, but she should know better. HOWEVER, the Manager that gave her this direction is a terrible leader and knows nothing about Customer Service, but is providing an unequal service to paying customers and training his employees to do the same. (Cilas)

Additionally, while we were watching the movie in Studio 8, we heard all of the staff, 5+ of them being very loud, interrupting the movie several times over 2 hours. Sounds like they needed some more work.

So, yes, not having any registers open during working hours is not ok, and turning around and providing service based off of favoritism is not ok either. I live right down the road and watch movies here often, but I will most likely go to the AMC competition down the road from now on. Just a bunch of young kids not knowing how to manage a business, and a poor Upper Manager that needs training. I expect my money back,...