Revamped food menus coming soon to theaters near you
Fresh pizzas, chicken-and-waffle sandwiches, and beef sliders are taking a spot next to popcorn and licorice at Central Florida’s movie theaters.
From small theaters to mega chains, many more cinemas are improving their food game and putting in reclining seats with food and drink tables. AMC Theaters announced last week it was introducing a revamped food menu with charcuterie plates, stone-fire flatbread pizzas and gluten-free snacks, such as chocolate-covered pretzel crisps.
Now a national trend, the upgrades started with boutique and specialty theaters, such as the Enzian Theater in Maitland and the AMC Disney Springs. Now, entire chains of neighborhood cineplexes are replacing seats to accommodate choosier customers. Theater operators say food
brings in higher profits than tickets alone, while there is increased competition from home entertainment.
“Theaters are competing with mobile devices and streaming movies at home, so it makes sense that they would have to do something to bring in viewers,” said Anne Russell, director of Full Sail University’s film production MFA program.
The bigger seats and tray tables are a risk for theaters. One Central Florida theater dropped 40 percent of its seats, even though it kept a few nonreclining chairs.
Orlando moviegoer Onix Forestier said the upgraded offerings at Southchase 7 theater near Hunters Creek make the theater experience more appealing.
“Now, this is one of my top three theaters to go to,” said Forestier, who works in the hospitality industry and was seeing “The Fate of the Furious” on Thursday.
Operators say the new offerings are needed to attract customers.
“There really isn’t a downside to the customer, only an added benefit,” said Elizabeth Mukherjee, executive vice president of Maitland’s Enzian, a boutique theater that has had expanded food service for more than a decade. “Plus it takes the rush out of trying to finish your meal in time to make the movie.”
Mukherjee doesn’t worry about competition from national chains, since her theaters show mostly independent and classic films.
Meanwhile, all four of AMC’s Central Florida cineplexes will get the new food treatment this summer, a spokesman for the company said.
Movie theaters have been moving toward the cushy, recliner-style seats for the last few years. Cobb Plaza Cinema Cafe in downtown Orlando and Cinemark Theaters at Artegon Marketplace have installed premium seating.
Regal Pointe Orlando Stadium 20 even added “4-D” seating recently that bounces, shakes and blows mist at movie patrons in conjunction with action on the screen. Regal has upgraded seats at its four other local theaters and added beer and wine at the the Winter Park Village theater in 2016.
Stadium and recliner seating has been among the most popular upgrades though. As it becomes more common, so does the ability to add tray tables for food.
Dallas-based Cinéopolis announced last year that it was putting a “luxury theater” at the Hamlin Town Center development south of Winter Garden.
The menu for the Cinéopolis theater in Polk County includes traditional nachos and hot dogs, but also serves up mango pork sliders, spinach artichoke dip and cosmopolitan cocktails.
Customers will be able to order food from their seats, and waiters will bring dishes to the fully reclining chairs.
Cinéopolis has not announced an opening date for that theater.
Last month, Orlandobased Touchstar Cinemas finished putting recliner seating with tray tables in Southchase 7. That enabled the theater to buy new cooking equipment for pizzas and mac and cheese bites. Southchase also recently received its liquor license and is buying a machine to serve cocktails to guests, said owner Bimal Dattani.
“Don’t get me wrong, most of our profit still comes from popcorn; that barely costs anything to make,” said Dattani, who also operates theaters in Huntsville, Ala., and Spring Hill. “On weekends, we have two or three people in here dedicated to cooking.”
To make room for the bigger chairs, Dattani downgraded capacity at Southchase by about 40 percent and slanted the floor for stadium-style views. Prices did go up by about a dollar a ticket, he said, but the theater is selling more tickets than before.
As for food, the theater is starting with basics, such as pizzas, mozzarella sticks and chicken tenders.
“I think finger food is probably easier at this point than pasta or something like that,” Dattani said. “We might expand it in the future, but now we want to keep it simple.”