Moviehouse & Eatery by Cinépolis SW Austin — Restaurant in Austin

Went out to watch A Quiet Place last night with my family at the 8:10 PM showing. I spent $87+ on tickets and about $45 on food. Spent a grand total of about $130 for a 1 hour and 30 min movie, which I really did not mind at all. When I come to Moviehouse, I understand that the tickets are pricier because I KNOW that the customer experience is fantastic. So I was willing to pay the price because I knew what to expect from the service and the great food that is offered. When we arrived, we were kindly greeted by a staff member at the front door directing us to our auditorium. Fantastic customer service so far! We sat down and looked at the delicious menu that Moviehouse has to offer, excited for the movie to start. A waiter arrived at our seats right away, in less than 5 minutes! Fantastic customer service so far! It wasn't until the movie started when a group of 3-4 audience members in the row behind us started laughing and making jokes VERY loudly. That's okay, the movie just started, I cant imagine this will continue much later. Boy was I wrong. The disruptive group in the row behind us kept yelling and talking out loud throughout the WHOLE film. Bear in mind, I spent $130+ for a movie that's an hour and a half. That's not a lot of time. For a good 40 mins of the film, audience members throughout the theatre kept shushing the disruptive group asking them to keep silent and be civil. Throughout the film, I caught my ENTIRE row looking back at the disruptive row behind us when our faces should be looking at the screen enjoying this "lovely" experience at Moviehouse. Eventually, already 40 minutes into the movie, a woman in our row waved at a waiter to catch their attention and complain about the behavior. The staff member assured us that they were going to give a warning to the row behind us so we can enjoy our "lovely" experience at Moviehouse and eatery, but he never returned. This is where the customer service begins to fall off. An hour into the film, I decided to get up and ask for help with the disruptive row behind us. I walked into the entry that leads you into the auditorium and overheard the waiters talking about hearing one of the disruptive group members belching during the movie and BARELY assessing the situation and asking themselves what to do. (there's only 30 mins left in the film and the situation is BARELY being assessed) The customer service has officially reached a low point. One of the waiters apologized and assured me that they will go up there and issue the group a warning and sure enough they did, thank you. Yes, they calmed themselves down after the warning however its too late at this point. The movie ended, and as we were walking out, I noticed that the lady who complained earlier was speaking to the manager and one of the waiters, upset about her experience. I overheard what she was saying and decided to tag along and stood beside the woman so I could also speak to the manager myself. I'm not upset with the staff; I know they could only do so much when it comes to rude audience members. But I want at least something to be done, since I paid $130 for the experience at Moviehouse. The woman beside me expressed her dissatisfaction to the manager on duty and received an apology from the manager along with free passes for their next visit. Lovely. Only free passes mean that you would have to return to more than likely receive the same experience. The woman then left. I was right in front of the manager, I asked to speak to the manager directly to her face, and she turned her back and started walking away. I caught her attention for a second, and the only thing she said was "I apologize for your experience" and proceeded to walk away. Safe to say, we left the theatre very unhappy that night. I understand just how annoying and painful customer service is; I deal with it every day. But NOTHING was done until 1 hour into the film, and NOTHING was done for myself when I asked for the staff's attention. I expect a refund. The customer service experience is...

We are occasional Alamo Drafthouse goers and decided to give this place a try for something different. Our date night here made me realize that I've been taking the Alamo ambiance and experience for granted, and I will not make that mistake again. Here are the mental notes I took through our date:

We show up 30 minutes early as instructed in our email, and only waited a couple minutes before they opened the theatre doors. We sit down in our seats, which are comfortable, but you can't recline until your legs are completely out in front of you, which was a little awkward because I just wanted a slight recline with my legs down. You get used to it. We look at the menu and notice that the pricing seems higher here. I think the cheapest beer was a $6 Dos Equis. I wanted to try the brussels sprouts but they were $9.50, so I went straight to ordering the main dinner (lobster tacos were good, I think about $15). Service was fine. I used the call button once when we realized we didn't have water and they were prompt.

The most negative part of the experience for us was having to eat dinner through a barrage of loud, obnoxious advertisements before the movie. It felt like a punishment for coming early. They were really pushing the vanity treatments for their slightly more upscale clientele, like Botox injections. That and constant "Noovie" ads urging you to take out your phone and download their trivia app or their arcade app, etc etc. A cute actress would come out and pretend to interact with you as if you were playing the game. (What a weird contrast to Alamo where they play fun videos and ask you to put away your phone for once). I very actively avoid commercials and ads because I find them stressful, so I did not enjoy having to be a captive audience for that. Finally after half an hour the actual previews started and my nerves started to calm.

I'd also ordered a Mexican Martini, expecting that a reasonably sized tequila-based drink would help me survive the pre-movie ads, but it showed up as pictured (I promise I hadn't taken a sip yet); a glorified shot glass, maybe 2/3 full, that was not even cold. Really, the taste was fine, but it was barely cooler than room temperature. This was $10. You know, the same as non-happy hour at Trudy's where they give you a whole shaker. I think we ended up paying about $80 plus tip, which did not feel like a good value at the end of it. Two adult tickets, two meals, two drinks. No appetizers, no extras. The actual movie starting was...

This was the worst movie theatre experience I've ever had. Starting from the beginning:

We arrived 30 minutes before the start of our show (The Northman, awesome movie btw) as is customary so that we could order food in time for the movie to start. We ask the server if we can order a soda and a tea. He lets us know to let him know if we'd like to order anything else. A few minutes later we order popcorn.

The previews begin and neither drink has arrived. People that got there after us are receiving food and drinks. No big deal.

The movie begins and we still haven't received our drinks. I press the button and ask the server when he arrives if there's any update on the drinks or the popcorn. At this point he realizes we haven't received them, so I think "maybe we'll get them now?"

At this point we're about 30 minutes into the movie itself and the soda arrives. Cool! Maybe the tea is on the way. 15 more minutes go by and I press the button to ask if there's any update on the tea and I'm told "they're backed up." No problem, I get it, I've worked in the service industry. But it's two drinks and popcorn. After this server leaves the tea arrives finally. Still no popcorn though.

Now we're halfway through the movie and finally the popcorn arrives! But it's cold. And it's not just cold. It's cold AND stale. The movie continues and we're nearing the end when I think they're supposed to bring the checks. The movie ends and the credits begin and only then do they bring the checks. The server drops ours off and lets us know to come find him if anything is wrong with it.

And there is. We were double charged for soda and popcorn. We inform the server and he lets us know he'll have to get his manager. I wait in the lobby to sign the check. The server brings the check out and I sign it but before I look up the server disappears. I'm not going to wait around to track this guy down to hand him his check so I ask the girl at the front if I can leave it at the counter and she says yes to just leave it there.

Cold popcorn and drinks that arrive nearly halfway through the movie? This is inexcusable, especially for the prices they charge. You can't charge more than drafthouse and offer poorer service. I see from some other reviews that apparently the place is under new management but maybe this place should be under...