Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Cedars — Restaurant in Dallas

Summary: Kevin and Brianna Bell at Alamo Drafthouse 1005 S. Lamar Street told me their theater "isn't for everyone" and refused to sell me a ticket today😑 wanted to share my Google review and experience to warn anyone else.

I drove 30 minutes to see Life of Chuck and ended up parking across the street. I'm a mom and recently had surgery so outings alone like this are rare and I was excited to go (this was the closet theater playing the movie). I entered through the back door and was shown very nicely where to go up front for my ticket. Kevin at the ticket counter of Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar took a look at me and then refused to sell me a movie ticket saying the movie started 3 (three) minutes ago! I told him I didn't mind the 3 minutes as I'd driven 30 minutes to get there, and honestly thought he was joking around with me. But he flat out refused my entry and said I should come back in 3 hours for the next showing. I was in disbelief and asked for a supervisor; Brianna Bell arrived. They both doubled down saying this was a corporate policy and they told me and I quote that "their theater isn't for everyone". Brianna Bell said I should go to their competitor across the street. When I asked what the information was for corporate they both said they didn't have it but handed me a card for their general manager, Eric Hawkins, who they said was not available. I have never been treated this way. I thought it was a joke but they were serious. I also am offended by the statement "our theater is not for everyone". I am AA woman in the South, and saying that, even it's not the intention, has strong and hurtful implications.

Both Brianna Bell and Kevin were vaguely polite but absolutely and completely uncaring and lacked any empathy . I asked why they would hurt tickets sales and future business and customers with the way the movie industry has struggled recently. I will never be a patron of this company again.

Update: I called the number on the cards but no one answered, no voicemail option. I emailed the GM; waiting to hopefully hear back. I looked it up online and although I had never heard of this before, ever from any movie theater, Alamo Drafthouse actually really does have a policy to decline patrons if late. I genuinely did not know this. They want you to be 30 minutes early for movies or you can be declined and they generally don't allow any children under 6 except certain circumstances. I still think the way it was stated should have had more awareness and empathy, the statement "our theater is not for everyone" is still...

This was my first visit in over a year. The place has fallen apart. When I arrived, I went straight to the men's room. Only 1 our of three urinals was working properly. The one on the left had a black trash bag over it, which tells me it is already know to staff and management, the second was stopped up and completely full of yellow piss. I went to wash my hands and only 1 soap dispenser was actually working. I went to dry my hands and guess what, only 1 napkin dispenser was working! I was glad the be the only person in the restroom at the time because a feeling of disgust came over me at the thought of returning to a packed restroom after nearly 3 hours when my movie let out. After using the restroom, I stepped out into to hallway and met my wife who had gone to the Women's room and she expressed a similar experience in that restroom. When we found our seats in auditorium 1, I felt shame. The leather on both our seats was completely pilled and was clearly LONG over due for replacing. It made for a disgusting feeling against the skin. Neither seat had working reclining back, they were stuck in the fully back position. I turned my attention to the screen and saw a sploch in the low center of the screen as if someone had thrown something at the screen and no one bothered to clean it off. This caught my eye throughout the entire screening Dune 2. I felt ASHAMED that I had told so many friends and family in the past that they NEEDED to try the Alamo Draft House. I felt downright EMBARRASSED at the thought of any of my family or friends visiting the Cedars location on my recommendation and seeing the state she is in. I am ANGERED at the management who allowed the location to get to such a low disgusting level and still keeps the doors open on this place. The amount of money I spent to go out with my wife to have and have a $1 MOVIE THEATER experience at the ALAMO DRAFT HOUSE CEDARS location is embarrassing. I loved this theater when it was running in good shape. It is not what it once was. The only thing you can do to make this right is fire the management, shut the doors and fix everything! Continuing to take money from customers and allowing them to pay your prices for the experience you are offering should be illegal. Thank you for reaching out and asking me how my experience went. I will be making this...

I have many childhood memories going to the alamo drafthouse with my dad, as he is a movie fanatic. It was instill into me from a very young age to never talk or be disruptive during a movie, especially, not at the alamo drafthouse since the rules are very cut and dry. I hadn’t visited an alamo drafthouse since before covid but decided to attend a viewing of the conjuring at the cedars location while on a business trip (I mention this because I have never visited this location). Upon arrival, my friend and I visited the balcony bar where we received great service from the bartender. He was very friendly, checked on us while we were hanging out on the balcony, let my friend borrow his charger, and invited us to come back a different day after I closed my tab. We made our way to the theater and found our spots next to a couple. When the no talking ad came on, my friend noticed the couple next to her were talking and she told me that if they continued talking when the movie actually begun, that she’d notify our server. There were no note cards left on our table, so she had to step out of the movie for about five minutes to find our server and notify him. 15mins passed by and no one came to address the situation. I went all the way to the front desk and explained the situation to the employee there. He pulled the seating chart up and let me know he’d sent someone in. 15mins passed by and the couple continued talking. In desperation, I used a napkin as a note card to remind our server that the couple next to us was still talking. 15 more mins passed by with no action. My friend and I could not concentrate on the movie as the talking was pretty distracting so we decided to leave and ask for a refund. The employee at the desk issued us a refund and brought a manager up for us to talk to. When the manager came up, she was very apologetic and gave us extra rain checks and snack passes, and informed us that she hadn’t been notified. We raised this concern three times to two different people and no one took care or even bothered to get a manager involved. My friend actually has a movie pass and was trying to convince me to get one but after this experience...