Star Cinema Grill — Local services in Katy

3 stars. I went here on a Sunday night at 9:15 PM with my family and well, it wasn’t what I expected. I usually go to iPic or SMG due to me living about 45 minutes away to come here and I was super hype about this place even before they opened since I been following their Facebook page even when construction was still going on. I had booked 4 seats (2 Premium Pods) to make sure I get the full experience since it listed priority service.

Environment: 5/5 the place is gorgeous. The exterior is neat and you could tell it’s a new spot. FYI, parking is in the back. The interior had great lightening, very upscale because of the design and structure. The pods were comfy. You receive a blanket and nice enclosed menu inside the table (I didn’t know you can move the table closer or away. Ha) also there’s button for a small light in case you need. You also can adjust the middle arm rest to move closer to your loved one. That’s my favorite part of the pods.

Service: 2/5 Our orders were.. just everywhere. First, nobody informed us on what to do so we kinda figured it out ourselves on where the menu was and get situated in the seats. The first server didn’t get our order correct about three separate times. It seemed like I had to repeat myself like 5 times. Maybe he was just stressed. So another guy came and corrected it. But the servers had forgotten our drinks and some of the food items. In total, i had two or three servers come to me because we had to keep pressing the service button for them to just to confirm my order, see where they missed and forgotten, the long wait time, and apologize which delayed our movie time. We didn’t fully enjoy movie, because the commotion just kept repeating through out. I figured they were short of staff and some of them were not trained on the menu fully and i did feel bad for them. Overall my family was excited at first, but not so much afterwards.

Food: 4/5 Here’s what we ordered: -Buffalo Chicken Wings 4.5 stars (which supposed to come with ranch but we got that half way they our meal) -Meat Pizza 4.5 stars (you have ask for your sauce. Again, ours was ranch but it came later..) -Freshest Margarita 5 stars (I loved this. Must try) -How do you like them apples drink 2 stars (I didn’t like this. It tasted like just cherry syrup honestly. Supposed to be crown royal and something else. Not for me I guess. They forgot about this drink until I asked again) -White Cranberry Cookie 5 stars. (Yes. Love it. Big size and can share. Had to ask about two times after my meal for this since they forgot) -Appetizer mixed you can share 5 stars (I liked the variety! If you need anything, you have to tell them because I needed napkins and they served went back twice and remembered.) -Sprite 2 stars (check with the server if it’s just water with carbonated juice or something. Not good. Had to replace with Root Beer. Still wasn’t interested.)

I paid a total of $79 just for tickets for Premium Pods (not including food) and the theatre is nice, but not for the service...

Update 8/2: Saw Deadpool. The seats are becoming worse for wear. Very uncomfortable with no cushion, and a large uncomfortable spring right in the middle. Had to ask for a blanket to sit on to help cushion which helped slightly. Good service and food.

Update 7/2023 2-star review: saw "Barbie". Service was not great. Slow, and it took an hour and multiple requests before we got the two drinks we'd ordered. The worst it's been, and not worth the cost at this point. We never got the refill we'd requested either. Theater #10 we were in also had a speaker issue. Anything loud and bassy caused a terrible crackling sound. And they're still pushing those expensive parking spots that don't get used.

Update 08/2022 3-star review: Saw "Nope" this past weekend, and while the experience was still good, it's not as exceptional as it used to be. During the showing the movie seemed shrunk, not filling the movie screen fully either vertically or horizontally. I asked an associate and they said that's how it's supposed to be, but looking up some images from other theatres it should've filled up more of the screen than it did. There was a computer memory error that popped up on screen during the pre-show that may have been a clue that something wasn't right. They've also changed the way some of the food is prepared. The pretzels were overcooked, and you no longer got a full silver bowl of fries when ordering the slider entree. Star Cinema has also decided to mark off about 10 or so parking spots for "VIP" parking, charging guests another $2 an hour. That's another $4-$8 they're trying to charge people for an already pricy experience. One spot already looked broken because the device was beeping for no apparent reason. I'd avoid these if I were you because both the hardware and app seem buggy. Overall the experience was fine, but they need better QA because "good" and "fine" are not worth the over $100 I spent for a date at this movie house.

2021 5-star review: Saw "Nobody" recently on Star Cinema's Onyx screen (great movie if you liked John Wick), and was not impressed with the visuals. They tout high quality visuals, but the movie itself was just as grainy as it would be on a standard projection movie screen. The pre-show has a fantastic preview of the capabilities of the Onyx screen, so I know it can look amazing (and the preview looked REALLY good), but the movie itself did not have the same high quality visuals. And there may be movies that are truly ultra HD that look amazing on this screen, but I WOULD NOT recommend paying extra for the Onyx theater when it's unknown whether the movie will meet the high quality standards the screen offers.

I still love Star Cinema Grill and have a great experience every time. The foods delicious and it's a great place for a...

I came here Friday night with my boyfriend to go see Hunger Games and it was our first time. Based on all the good reviews, we were both excited to come and it was our date night. Mannnn were we disappointed.. We first sat at the bar before our movie so I can get a drink, and that was great. Bartender was superb. When we got to our showing in one of the pods, we had ordered with a waitress a St Arnolds rootbeer, my margarita with grand marnier floater and sugar rim, and the spinach dip, popcorn, and a pizza. I asked what tequila was in their house margaritas... she said Tito's. Lol at this point I was skeptical. When drinks arrived, I got a plain margarita, no grand marnier and no sugar rim, and they brought my boyfriend a beer, and he's nonalcoholic... Awkward. Another waitress came by and we had told her and she said she was actually our waitress and the first lady was helping her. She couldn't find our tab so instead of taking the drinks back to correct them, she said she has to go figure out what happened so we sat there with 2 unwanted drinks in front of us for about 10-15 mins. She came back to take the drinks away and then brought us a rootbeer and my drink still had no sugar rim.. I was like well that's fine I guess. So overall it was 30 mins into the movie until we got our drinks.. Then two different waiters came to drop off rootbeer again within five mins of each other? We don't need three rootbeers. My bf and I were like what is going on ? Popcorn arrived cold, definitely not even lukewarm. It seemed old. Mine had minimal seasoning, my bf's had some but even then the popcorn was very mid. The spinach dip had a weird taste to it ? So we barely touched that. We finished the pizza but it was kinda bland. I ordered another drink or two and some fries. Fries were hot-- that was the best thing we had from all the food. Then nearing the end of the movie the waitress tells us that the first lady accidentally closed me out and she needs my card again... It was mainly an upsetting experience given we spent a decent amount of money just for the seats, only to be interrupted multiple times during our movie because no one knew what was going on. We missed a lot during our movie from how many interruptions we had due to disorganization or server errors. Not the place for food-- just drinks only. Very disorganized and disappointing.. My bf and I went to the bar after so I can have a dessert cocktail which was great. Overall, I'd love to come back but I am super skeptical. I don't know if we just had bad luck when my bf and I went, cause the reviews are great. So we'll see what the future holds, this was just my experience and I hope Star Cinema can do something to minimize the discomfort for future guest experiences. I see the vision, the...