On May 7, a new dinner-and-a-movie purveyor will enter the fray when Gold Class Cinemas officially opens in The Domain. Here’s the inside scoop from the Gold Class Cinemas soft opening, which includes free movies and food through May 4.
The Gold Class Cinemas experience was pretty amazing. We checked in at the reservations desk, and they brought us to a “pre-seating” table in this bar/lounge area where we ordered our meal and they brought us drinks. My husband got their beer on draft, and I got a white wine, which was good. We ordered an entrée and a dessert, which was a good decision because we easily shared the entrée. We got BBQ chicken pizza, which was yummy, and then some strawberry shortbread-ish thing.
Once the movie was ready for seating, our waiter came by our table and showed us where to go. When we reached the entrance of the theater, some usher showed us to our seats, which were reserved. This place is almost the size of a full theater (think like one of the smaller rooms at the Alamo Drafthouse or something), but there is SO MUCH room to move about. Only 28 or so seats, and they are these huge plush suede seats that nearly fully recline. There is a call button for your waiter and an opening in one of the arms to put your shopping, etc., if you want. I didn’t need that because there was so much room between you and the next row I could have put all my stuff there no problem.
The screens and sound quality were top-notch during the movie but there were some annoyances. For instance, they let a poor little 2-year-old child into the theater for a 9:30 p.m. showing of a three-hour movie. BAD idea. He was fussy the whole time. I told them no children after 9 p.m. on my comment card. They kept coming by and asking if we were done with a plate, needed anything else, etc., which would be annoying if you’re really focusing on the movie, which we were. There is no really good place to put your food when you want to eat and watch. There is a middle table between seats, but the Drafthouse set-up of having the table right in front of you is much more conducive to movie watching. I ended up eating my pizza over my lap, and thank goodness I had a napkin because it dripped grease and BBQ sauce. Plus leaning over to the table I totally dripped on the seat. Oops.
Those were my main concerns when I wrote the feedback form. Also, I randomly said that they installed the toilet paper dispensers way too low in the bathroom stalls. I almost had to lean over to get paper out, and if that’s annoying for me I think an elderly person or handicapped person would be really annoyed. Otherwise the bathrooms were really nice. It was all quite expensive looking.
All in all it was really cool. Can’t say I would pay $22 (with a membership) to watch movies there all the time. If you want to feel like a rockstar at the movie theater and there is a special occasion or movie you want to see, I might splurge for it.
Gold Class Cinemas is holding an open house from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on April 30 with food sampling and guided tours. Find out more by clicking here.
After reading your review I am not sure if you liked it or not. Maybe a letter grade or a number of stars out of 5 or something?
Good suggestion, Michelle, and thanks for the post Barbara!
Thanks for the review, Barbara! I can’t wait to check it out!
I’m looking forward to giving the theater a try with S&C 2 coming out May 27th! http://www.goldclasscinemas.com/Offers/Sex-and-the-City-2-Special-Cocktail-Menu.htm
Hmm, so for a star rating out of 5, I would probably give it a 3. I could take it or leave it really. I think it depends on what type of movie-watching experience you’re looking for. If it’s solely about the movie, this is not the place for you. If it’s about feeling like you are in an exclusive group of people for an event (maybe more like a movie premier?) then you should check it out at least once.
I’m eager to check it out but I’m sure it could never replace the Alamo for me. And as for SATC2, I think the specialty cocktails at the Alamo (last time they named a drink after each of the ladies) will be cheaper too
Finally got to check out Gold Class last night. It was an interesting experience for sure, but when they bring that check total at the end (which doesn’t even include the $29 a pop movie tickets), I’m pretty sure we would have to take out a loan to go again. The chocolate cake was awesome, but I thought the artisan pizza tasted like it had Bacos on it instead of pepperoni.
I went to the one in Allen on Monday. If had actually been paying for it I would have been pretty upset. The service was remarkably bad. It took forever for them to bring our drinks. Then the waitress spilled an entire glass of white wine on me. The seats were very comfortable and they brought me a blanket (which i really needed because it was freezing and still damp from the wine incident). The food was okay, but the $19 price for 2 tiny burgers and a few chips is just absurd. I ordered a second drink which I never received. I would say skip it and make two or three trips to the Alamo for the same money.
Thanks for the review on the Allen one, Jamie! I can’t believe they spilled an entire glass of wine on you! I actually went again for mock service and really, I think the whole experience is just kind of awkward. I thought it was really distracting that you actually have to talk to your server, which keeps interrupting the movie. The Alamo’s system is so much better.
Definitely not worth the money unless you’re bored and rich and have nothing better to spend your money on. The chocolate cake was definitely good, but for the price I would much rather have 2 servings of the cookies with ice cream at the old Alamo. Long live Drafthouse!
And Edge of Darkness was surprisingly cool. I wish Mel Gibson was in more movies. “Can you please remove your glasses, sir?” *PUNCH-IN-FACE!!!*
I think you mean Edge of Darkness was unsurprisingly awful.
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