City Base Cinemas Cincinnati — Local services in Sycamore Township

I regularly attended Envision Cinemas prior to the pandemic, but then they went out of business, sold this location, and it became City Base Cinemas. The layout, color scheme, seats, website, etc remained the same, except for the name, service, and food.

I enjoyed Envision's food choices, even going so far as to dine-in on occasion. First time I saw City Base's menu, I was let down. It was quite basic - a short appetizers list. The food came out and tasted...alright. Nowhere near as good as Envision's food, yet was decent enough to get by for my first visit. More menu items have been added since, but quality has gotten considerably worse. Some of it even tasting stale.

The ticket system has gone backwards from the Envision days. You still get a QR code, but the box office can't scan it. Every single time I've gone, they have to enter the letter code UNDER the QR code. Why even have a scanning tool at the box office? Why still publish a QR code on the website and email? And speaking of the box office, oftentimes no one is standing behind it. More often, I see people conversing by the bar counter/kitchen door. So when you walk in, you're standing around waiting for someone to walk over to the box office to validate your online ticket. Add in the fact they have to manually enter the letter code under your QR code, and you've now made me wait over 5 minutes before I can start walking to my showtime. With a line, 10+ minutes. How is this considered effective service? Other theaters already implement an scan tool for online tickets or purchasing tickets without a box office.

Envision would let you into the room at least 20-30 minutes before showtime, but City Base can't clean the theater fast enough and makes you wait 10 minutes before showtime. I know food takes time to prep, cook, and deliver to the seat, and not everyone wants to see a bunch of waitstaff hustling in front of them well after the credits have rolled. Here and there is fine, but these rooms are smaller than the rooms in your typical theater. It really shouldn't take long to clean between showtimes, but seems like it does. Maybe due to a lack of staff?

Once you make it inside and want to order, it's time to see the menu - a crumbled piece of paper with a QR code that's sometimes a pita to scan. Why this can't be thinly laminated and adhered to the food tray, I do not know. And that's if you even have a QR code on your tray. Sometimes it's missing, so you have to grab one off another seat. When City Base waitstaff finally brings the order, they're standing upright in front of you while trying to figure out how to set plates down. Envision waitstaff would at least kneel down and stay off to the side of the seats while taking/giving your order. I typically order two items to eat myself, and almost every time, City Base waitstaff has sat the second item on the seat tray beside me...even so much as 'giving' my food to strangers. Plenty of room to sit both on a single tray. So even though I order for a single seat, still deliver my meal to the seat next to me? Doesn't make any sense. Also, why are we not at a point where receipts are texted? Menu is a QR code, so we use our phone. But receipts are paper only? I remember Envision waitstaff used to sit receipt pads on the trays/plates while crouched down, having consideration for guests watching the movie. City Base waitstaff goes right in front of the seat, standing upright, and sticks it out in front of me so I have to grab it. Why can this not be sat on the tray? Does waitstaff notice we're in the middle of watching a movie, eyes glued to the screen? Or do they want to interrupt us 30 minutes before it's over?

And that's if I can even hear the movie. Recently saw Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse and I could barely hear the dialogue. I wasn't the only one. Fast X at times was hard to hear too. I've asked staff to adjust audio, but no one cares. I can't see the matinee pricing and reclining seats saving this place. If this keeps up, I hope it gets...

As frequent movie-goers, my family and I have always appreciated this local theater for its cleanliness and efficient service. However, our recent visit on New Year's Day was disappointingly subpar.

We arrived for a 3 PM show, expecting the usual high standards. To our surprise, the theater had drastically deteriorated. The movie started with the lights still glaringly on, completely disregarding the ambiance essential for an immersive experience. Despite requesting food service 20 minutes prior, not a single staff member had approached us, raising concerns about interruptions during the movie.

The cleanliness, once a point of pride for this theater, was nowhere to be seen. The floors were littered with popcorn, and the seats and surfaces clearly hadn't been wiped down. This level of uncleanliness was not only unappealing but also detracted significantly from our experience.

What was more striking was the underwhelming staff presence for a theater with only eight patrons. While the young staff can't be entirely blamed as they reflect the management's training and leadership, it was evident that there was a severe lack of direction and professionalism.

It's disheartening to see a once well-managed establishment decline so steeply. This experience suggests a need for a complete overhaul in management and staff. Hiring individuals with expertise in hospitality who understand the importance of cleanliness and customer service seems crucial at this point.

In conclusion, our latest experience was far from the standard we had come to expect from this theater. It's a stark reminder of how crucial good leadership and trained staff are to the success of a service-oriented business. We hope to see improvements, but until then, we will be considering other venues for our...

Similar situation to other bad reviews. Went with 8, most found the seats comfortable, I thought they were OK. The normal seated position still felt... reclined?

Some of the volume of the previews were wildly different. Some were at just above whisper levels.

It all fell apart with the ordering and food/drink delivery though. Our group was 8 people in two rows and had 3 orders based on families. All ordered early, during the previews.

One order - delivered right away.

Second order - not delivered. Someone in that group pressed the call button mid way through the feature and were told they forgot to scan their credit card so they'd have to wait. Never scanned it, nothing happened.

Our order - scanned the card, and waited... Nothing arrived. Things slowly seemed to trickle out of the kitchen to other seats for about 45 minutes, so we waited to press the server call button until about an hour after the feature began. Someone arrived saying they'd look into it. Next thing, they are delivering checks to seats, nothing for us.

Figured it was just missed and nothing would be billed but to verify I checked my card. $23.17 billed to it. Directed towards the bar up front, and they couldn't find the transaction. Took some notes down so we will see if it drops off in a few days. (Update - it is now 4 days later and the transaction went from Pending to Posted, and I visited the theater last night and they said they are still working on the credit)

All in all, nice concept. Not as well executed as Envision was. Friends I went with claimed it normally is great, but reading other reviews on here, it doesn't seem so far...