The Avenue Cinema Belfast — Local services in Belfast

I think it’s important to leave an honest review here, with constructive advice. If you are going here to watch and enjoy a movie, be warned it is not an uninterrupted experience.

On arrival it is very confusing to know how the venue works. I arrived early with a friend excited to go into what looks like a luxury venue from the 1920’s. Arrival was 50 minutes prior to the movie starting as we wanted to have a coffee beforehand for a chat, then get our meal in the movie. The man who greeted us at the door told us we were very early and we asked could we order coffee to which he said we could, and to take a seat which we did. We waited 10 minutes and no one came near us, as we were sat at the bar the bar woman told us we had to go to the other side of the bar to order, I walked round and asked for two coffees and was told I had to go back to where I came in to order them. Already feeling like a nuisance I went over to the man on the door and asked could I order and was told they would send someone over to us. Someone came in about 5minutes to take the order and we paid. We then waited 35 minutes, feeling like it was busy and giving them benefit of the doubt, however as we started to watch as others came in and received their orders before us we started to get a bit annoyed. A server came up with an incorrect order during this time and we asked again for our coffees with only 15 minutes left now until the movie started. After another 5 minutes another server came to tell us our screen was ready and to go in. We explained we had been waiting on our drinks for a long time and she said she would sort them to be brought into the screen to our seats. Maybe a clear instruction on how ordering works on each table might be useful for patrons.

We went into the screen and trailers were on. With no sign of anyone there to take orders for the meal we decided to go back out and order as the wait was long and we were already hungry. We did this then went back in. Another 5 minutes and our coffees arrived and the movie started.

A server then came in and proceeded to take everyones order while the dialogue of the movie had started. It was very hard to concentrate on this as he moved along every row having loud conversations with each customer, taking orders and with his walkie talkie going off and beeping quite loudly. This was really annoying and made it difficult at times to concentrate on the quiet dialogue. I think it may be better to address this ordering system by either extending trailers or having a phone app to order food similar to those when u order via a QR code on a restaurant table. This would be much less distracting. People who sat further back would have had this man blocking the movie at times as he moved along each row. As the theatre was full this process took some time.

Considering it was 32 pound for 2 tickets and over 40 pound for 2 cokes, 2 burgers and 2 coffees (over 70 for the whole experience) you have to ask yourself if this an experience that is worth it? This is a cinema after-all, a place you expect to watch a film in peace and enjoy it, but at the moment this is not the priority of The Avenue, and the ambiance of the decor is not extended to the actual experience of watching a movie.

I understand once orders are taken they have to be delivered, so be prepared for servers to come in whilst the movie is on, and if you are not in the middle of the row, you will be moving your legs quite a bit, back and forth. Food arrived about 20 minutes into the film starting. Food was nice but basic and not really worth the price. You eat it on ur lap as the side tables don’t move so be prepared as you might lose a jumper to some ketchup.

You have to wonder with places nearby, with reclining seats, at a fraction of the price, and no disruptions to the experience, what is The Avenue actually offering that is worth the price? It is a pretty place to sit in for an insta selfie, but as I have now got mine I probably wont be back, unless they change how things are run to something more accommodating to avid...

Went today to see Oppenheimer and went to the bar area to order popcorn, vegetarian nachos, coke and a latte and woman asked for seat which I CLEARLY said screen 3 row c seat 8. One of the servers came during trailers with nachos and asked if we'd ordered more which told him we had and he said was put in row behind. 20 mins later I went out and asked a server where rest of order was and he said he'd be in with it shortly. We'll ANOTHER 25 mins later a different server came in but went to back rows with popcorn and coke(no latte) and when the people in those seats said wasn't theirs he went out. I followed out and spoke to woman at front desk not sure if her name was Holly or not (blonde haired smallish height woman) said she put order down as row E but my receipt clearly said row c seat 8, so she said she'd have it brought in immediately. Again NO show so I again went out 15 mins later and approached this blonde haired woman and explained this was now the 4th time I was enquiring where my food order was....she turned her eyes up at me as if I was annoying her standing doing nothing ...and she asked was my movie still on and I said oh course it was its a 3hr movie. Instead of rectifying a simple order there and then she just huffed and said I could be refunded at end of movie. However 40 mins later a young server came in to my seat with 2 plates of what looker like potato skins..which i said id not ordered. After watching rest of movie without my popcorn, drink or latte for other person in our party of 4 I went to front desk for refund...again greeted with an eye turn so I asked to speak to the manager. Blondie tried to say it was a miscommunication but I had my docket and showed him this and that it wasn't miscommunication it was utter incompetence. To which I was told 30% staff had called in sick and they were slammed. Well sorry but that is simply not an excuse to consistently not get an order delivered 4 times! It is your business to offer food and table service in your screens so if you can't fulfill this when your busy then it just goes to show this "service" is COMPLETELY UNSUSTAINABLE. You can't just be able to fulfil orders when you're not as busy. Absolutely disgusting customer service and disdain shown to a paying customer is not acceptable especially after paying such a high price for a ticket. 1st experience here and left sour taste in my mouth ill not be back. Get better looked after in...

We went to the cinema yesterday, I knew there was no hot food in advance but I was disappointed the only savoury option available was popcorn. Our customer service experience was bordering on terrible. No one actually checked to see if we had tickets when we arrived, so anyone could walk in. We wanted a drink for the show so went to the bar, we were told we were at the wrong side so we went to the other side. We were then told it was waiter service. As it was only 10 minutes before the film was due to start I asked if we could order in the cinema we were told yes. So we went down to our cinema which despite the film not starting yet was so dark it was hard to find seat numbers. This was doubly difficult as the tickets I bought online were cream and the seat numbers are written in white so it was difficult to read. After we arrived a number of other groups and couples entered the cinema all of whom encountered the same problem finding their seats. Having taken our seats we waited patiently for someone to take our drink order, they never arrived. My partner had to leave the cinema to find a member of staff who eventually tootled in. They took our order first and then orders from the other 4 or 5 groups in the room. We waited again only to have every other group receive their order whist we were left waiting. My partner left the cinema again to chase it up. When the order eventually arrived we received and had been charged for an extra bag of sweets. By this stage we were just grateful to be served and the film was starting. The cinema wasn’t busy and there were lots of staff so I dread to think what the service would have been like had there been more customers. The cinema is lonely, the decor is beautiful but it’s suppose to be a premium experience and the price reflects this, the service does not. I’m not sure I would go back again unless they sort out the service, have improved food options and turn on the lights before the show so customers can see where they are going! Over all a...