What kinds of food would you like to have served at your local movie theater?

none. in fact, they should ban eating and drinking at the cinema.
I hate the slurping, and i hate the crunching coming from all directions.
And the bastards that walk in front of the projector in the middle of the movie, because they have to take a piss from all the coke they pumped down their esophagus.

Deep fried Mars bars.

I agree with @ragingloli. I would prefer to go to the movies and not have to listen to slurping and lip smacking during the movie.

I’m thinking that I’d like to see some stuff that is easy to eat, not super messy, and relatively quiet.

I’d like to see some stuff that is packaged in recyclable containers that are easy to open without making a bunch of noise. Have you ever listened to someone taking five minutes to open a crackling package of candy? Ugggg!

I’d like to see an individual artisan cheese plate, slices or individual-sized gourmet pizzas, quesadillas, burritos (carefully crafted so as not to explode or leak) gourmet chocolates like Sees Candy or Godiva, and hummus with pita bread, and Indian samosas.

Brisket.

Ha. Cheese curds was my first thought, @Kardamom.

But honestly, I’m happy with my Mentos Sugar Free Breath Mints, Wintergreen. I’ll even dump out ½ a dozen so as not to distract @ragingloli with the rattle of the tin.

If they serve food, I like it better when the people eat the food in an actual dining area. Some theaters have tables while you watch the movie, or restaurants in the complex, and the whole evening can be a nice 3–4 hour date all in one location. But, that’s few and far between.

I actually like the occasional hot dog, or box of candy, but I’m not going to buy either for the prices at the cinema.

I’ve never heard food chewing or soda slurping that bothered me in a theatre like mentioned above. I am disgusted how in some theaters people leave all their trash behind for the employees to pick up. It really seems to vary from cinema to cinema.

I don’t like to feel like the seat and floors are sticky. Gross.

I would say it would be nice if there were healthy options like fruit salad and veggie crudités, but I bet it wouldn’t sell well. Especially, if the prices are ridiculous.

One thing I think would sell is frozen drinks. Those “healthy” fruit or protein drinks. Those are a fortune anyway, I assume they have good margins. I still wouldn’t probably buy it, but I think it’s a good idea.

None. I don’t go to theaters that serve food. I go to theaters to see movies and restaurants to eat meals.

I think @JLeslie‘s frozen drinks idea has real merit.

Gourmet donut holes served fresh in a popcorn bin would be a great idea. I still wouldn’t probably buy them, but I think it’s a good idea.

It depends on the type of performance you go to here. If you go to a bog standard cinema performance, you can take in lollies (sweets), soft drink, ice creams and the like. You can also take coffee or tea in.

If you go to some cinemas you can get cake and coffee or cheese platters to take in (if that’s what you want!).

If you go to Gold Class, you can order a three-course meal and they’ll bring it out to you course by course and have cocktails with your meal. Here is the menu

It costs (I think) $40 for a Gold Class seat and the food and drinks are extra. The seats recline and are set up in pairs or threes.

So about $100 each for a movie, with food and drink, @Earthbound_Misfit?
Gold class?

3 reasons I don’t go to theaters that serve food:

* There’s enough talking in any theater audience without adding waiters who walk around audience members ordering food
* Attention needs to be paid to the screen, not to a a menu illuminated by a distracting little light
* And last but not least, food is lousy and expensive

Obviously, this question pushed one of my buttons. ;-)

@ibstubro, depending on how much food and drink you want, yes. Gold Class is quite popular here. When I’ve been there haven’t been any seats free. If you’re going to see a film and then have dinner anyway, if you were going to go to a reasonable restaurant (not fine dining but not fast food), you’d spend more. However, the food isn’t the sort of stuff I’d want to eat regularly. I’d rather go to the cinema and then visit a fine dining restaurant.

We do go to Gold Class very occasionally. Usually as a Christmas treat or something like that. And we’re picky about the films we see. We’d only do it for a film we know we really want to see.

Popcorn. Good & Plenty.

Nothing else.

@Kardamom “I’d like to see an individual artisan cheese plate, slices or individual-sized gourmet pizzas, quesadillas, burritos (carefully crafted so as not to explode or leak) gourmet chocolates like Sees Candy or Godiva, and hummus with pita bread, and Indian samosas.”

I’m sorry but this really made me laugh. I cannot imagine that. I worked at a movie theater for 4 years while in college. I’m happy with the usual fare, although I find hot dogs and nachos cumbersome and messy.

The usual candy and whatnot is fine. I go to the movie theater to watch a movie. If I want to dine I’ll go to a restaurant.

First off, I find that the sound system in most theaters is good enough that you can’t hear someone eating popcorn at arm’s length. Considering that I can tell a Ford from most other cars from a block away by the way the power steering pump whines, that not hearing others in the theater eating and drinking isn’t because I’m deaf. And if you manage to down enough soda to make slurping noises, then odds are that you drink no less than 15 liters of soda a day (probably closer to 25) in the first place and are probably not healthy enough to be unhooked from a dialysis machine for more than a few minutes at a time let alone in a theater anyways.

That said, I don’t go to theaters for the food. If I wanted nachos, I’d go to Gorditos and get some real nachos rather than a smear of yellow petrochemicals splorted on a pile of Tostido’s. My wife and I generally just get a couple small (22 ounce) drink and some popcorn with extra butter and call it good.

We do have Cinebarre where you can order full meals (burgers, 10” pizzas, cocktails… yes, they serve hard liquor too, and also have a wine list!), and the floors are sloped enough that the waitstaff can walk between rows without blocking views.

@Kardamom We have a couple theaters here in Seattle that do Samosas, and a drive-in near where I was back East did spinach pies that were almost-but-not-quite Spanekopeta (less flaky crust).

@ragingloli It sounds to me like you have a bunch of crappy theaters near you, what with the flat floors and speakers weaker than an iPhone. The way you make it sound, my living room is probably a better theater than anything you’ve been to even with the volume on my sound system turned only halfway up!

I also like @JLeslie‘s idea of frozen drinks.

Everything that @jerv said, except for not wanting food. I love to eat yummy food while watching a good movie.

I think every place that offers food should sell some selection of whole foods like:
– apples
– bananas
– carrot sticks
– nuts
– mixed greens
– small (cherry, plum) tomatoes
– rice
– beans
– baked potato (preferably yam)
– single serve packets of olive oil, vinegar and peanut/almond butter.

No sauces, no salt, no “ingredients”.

I would love the option to buy air-popped organic corn without toppings. Maybe people could buy single serve packets of butter, oil, salt or cheese to top themselves.

I would also love a place with some tables for eating a meal. I would prefer to break my tradition of snacking during a movie.

My husband and I have switched to eating only whole foods and haven’t been to a movie since… because the pull to have popcorn (which, in itself would be fine, but not doused with processed oil and salt), twizzlers and junior mints would be too strong.

OMG. Please, no apples in the movie theater!

In your case, @Cupcake, I’d simply take a bag of my own food and tell the manager that you’re on a special diet. I can’t imagine anyone refunding your ticket and throwing you out.

@Cupcake Seriously? Is that a serious list? It’s a movie theater not veganfest.

@Cupcake

Honestly, I quite imagine most of that stuff at a movie theater would go bad before it’s sold. People don’t really go to the movie theater to eat healthy.

How about a self administered IV drop?

@Darth_Algar How do you know? Movie theaters don’t sell healthy food and we have been conditioned to eat unhealthy snacks throughout movies. And if McDonalds can make the change to serve apple slices that don’t go bad… I’m pretty sure the movie theaters won’t have as big a problem as you think.

@ibstubro I said that a food-eating area would be great. I wouldn’t expect people to eat real food right in the theater.

@anniereborn Yes, it’s a serious list. You snack your way and I snack mine.

Amazingly, @Cupcake, it appears I was wrong about BYOF. No refund is total BS.

@Cupcake If you are talking a regular movie theater (as opposed to some fancy cinema), no, it ain’t gonna happen. I worked at a movie theater for four years. I know what goes on in concessions. The hot dogs that aren’t sold are put in water in a tupperware container overnight and put on the heater rack the next day. Also popcorn from the night before goes into the bin. I don’t think fresh food is viable financially or conveniently.

@Cupcake

Sure, McDonald’s can serve apple slices that don’t go bad, but is McDonald’s really a good example to hold up? Nothing they sell there can really be considered “whole” or “organic”.

“apple slices that don’t go bad”
You know, you should be suspicious about those.

@ragingloli I was thinking the same thing.

@Darth_Algar That’s exactly why I used them as an example. They sell crap junk food. And now they give kids the option of apple slices instead of fries. How is that so different from a movie theater that could transition to offering some healthy (or at least healthier) options?

I didn’t say that I feed those apple slices to my kid… but we don’t go to McDonalds at all. Did you know their fries contain dairy? Their fries actually contain over a dozen ingredients. WTF?

It wouldn’t be so hard to keep apples in a cooler and some microwavable rice.

@anniereborn I get your point. I don’t think they are lazy and gross about their food because of money… greed, perhaps. But, either way, charge me $5 for an apple. It would be on par with the markup on the rest of their “food” offerings. So no field greens. I get that. But peanut/almond butter packets last for a long time.

Well, you never know, @Cupcake. I once asked a question about why fast food couldn’t offer grilled fish and it was treated with derision or ‘pigs fly’ skepticism. Well, Hardees tried it last year and it was delicious, but apparently not popular enough to stay on the menu. Maybe it’ll be a Lenten special.

I was amazed at how expensive fast food has gotten! As high as some sit-down joints but with cafeteria quality and consistency. Cold greasy fries for $3, anyone? I’ll stick to my one fast food place, Taco Bell.

having heard tons of taco bell diarrhoea jokes, is that place not one of the worst?

@Cupcake

Sure. I guess apple slices so stuffed with preservatives that they don’t spoil or freezer-burn are maybe slightly healthier than french fries.

No, it’s one of the few that serve refried beans, @ragingloli.

McDonald’s apple slices ingredients:
Apples, Calcium Ascorbate (a blend of Calcium and Vitamin C to maintain freshness and color).

@ibstubro and @ragingloli I love Taco Bell and Del Taco. They’re pretty much the only fast food places that serve any kind of vegetarian food, and it’s quite tasty. The hot sauce is da bomb!

I always get the bean burrito and spicy potato soft taco at Taco Bell, and the bean burrito and salsa verde nachos with beans and jalapenos at Del Taco, with an iced coffee. All of that is on their dollar menu, and if you fill out one of their surveys on the receipt, which I enjoy doing, you get a dollar off on your next visit. I also joined their club that gives you other coupons and discounts and gets you in on doing taste tests of new products. I can’t wait to try that!

Yes, Kardamom, I love Taco Bell too. Had a Fresco Bean burrito today.
I was telling @ragingloli that the diarrhea jokes are likely potty humor based on the fact that Taco Bell serves refried beans.