Cinema pubs drawing crowds with movies, food, drink

WESTERLY, R.I. -- When Emily Steffian and Daniel Kamil moved from California with thoughts of opening their own movie theater, they wanted to show films that were off the beaten path, but they didn't expect to land there themselves.\nThey envisioned setting up shop in Providence, near the colleges and the capital city's arts community. But the business climate seemed daunting, and a search for an appropriate and affordable property brought them to the seaside community of Westerly.\nSomewhat to their surprise, the combination of a small town and an independent film-screening art house has worked.\nThe Revival House, Westerly's 1 1/2-year-old cinema pub, is one of a growing number of movie theaters nationwide that serve food and alcohol, allowing patrons to combine their viewing and dining. They're a concept that industry experts say is particularly popular in areas like the Pacific Northwest and Dallas-Fort Worth, but they only recently have begun to take off in other places.\nJim Kozak, spokesman for the National Association of Theater Owners, said theaters that serve food and alcohol have been around for years. But they mostly have shown second-run films, movies that run weeks or months after their initial theatrical release.\nThese theaters are becoming more popular, however, and many are showing newer films. As of 1997, only 14 first-run theaters in the country served alcohol. Today that figure is up to 270, said Kozak, whose organization counts among its members the owners of more than 29,000 of the roughly 36,000 to 37,000 screens in the nation.\nHe traces the trend to a theater-owner in Dallas who ran a second-run cinema pub and convinced a studio to include him in the initial release of the 1998 movie "The Waterboy."\nThe experiment was a success, and the film, a national hit, did well at the alcohol and food-serving venue.\n"That opened the floodgate," Kozak said.\nThe earliest first-run cinema pubs tended to be outside of major cities, in part because distributors wouldn't include theaters that served alcohol in initial film releases if they had competition. That's been changing, Kozak said. But in New England, most cinema pubs are located outside of urban centers.\nIn California, where Kozak is based, few venues follow the theater pub model, and just one of those that do is a first-run theater. However, Kozak said, Arclight Cinemas, located in Hollywood, seems to do tremendous business. There, a movie and a dinner entree with a glass of wine or a beer runs about $31.\n"There's a lot of consumer interest in being able to enjoy a cocktail while watching a movie," Kozak said.\nThe Revival House features a cafe with a view of Westerly's downtown and a patio that overlooks the Pawcatuck River. The walls, painted in red and gold tones, as well as a large mural, help set the single-screen theater apart from the atmosphere of large multiplexes.\nThe movie part of the dinner-and-a-movie deal has included nontraditional film offerings in addition to food and beverage service in a cafe-style theater. Movie tickets sell for $6, whereas entrees run between $6.95 and $11.95, and a beer costs between $3.50 and $7. The food also differs from the fast-food style offerings of some other cinema pubs, with a meat, olive and cheese platter replacing the cheese fries. The theater also offers lunch, minus the movies.\n"What we're doing is sort of an urban thing in a small town," Kamil said.\nSteffian and Kamil now feel comfortably established, staging showings that often sell out even though they're not wider box office hits.\nPointing to a poster in the window for "Derrida," a documentary about the deconstructionist Jacques Derrida, Kamil said screening a film about a French philosopher is part of an approach that's "risky, but it's working."\nKamil and Steffian have cut a niche with classic and short films they solicit directly from independent filmmakers, films the couple screens before the main feature.\nBut the cinema pub concept takes a variety of forms.\nAt venues in Pelham, N.H., and Haverhill, Mass., Chunky's Cinema Pubs cater to families.\nThe Pelham location has operated as a first-run cinema pub for about eight years, whereas the Haverhill location, open for about nine years, has shown first-run films for the last four years, said Al Coburn, chief executive of Chunky's.\nMany patrons arrive with time before the movie and order their food, which is brought to their restaurant-style seats inside the theater. The theater also does a brisk business in children's birthday parties, he said.\n"It's a great family atmosphere, obviously for the right movies," Coburn said. "It can be a great date atmosphere."\nTheater owners try to keep the noise down by serving meals before the movie begins, but many say they don't get many complaints about noise.\nBut the model hasn't worked for all who have tried it.\nIn 2000, Larry and Anthony Gemma transformed Providence's Castle Cinema into a cinema cafe and bar, offering "dinner in the movies." In 2004, saddled with debts, the cinema closed its doors. The owners cited a deal that allowed the theater to run movies only after they had shown at a large multiplex nearby, as well as parking problems and other issues.\nFrancisco and Adriana Sandoval, of Providence, drove to North Attleboro one recent evening to catch Nicholas Cage in "National Treasure" at the Route One Cinema Pub in North Attleboro, Mass. The second-run theater, with a menu of appetizers, entrees, beer and wine, was the right spot for a weeknight out, they said.\n"You get a chance to go to a movie, have dinner and be home by nine o'clock," Francisco said.\n"The chairs are comfortable, there's food and you can have a beer," Sharon Sullivan, of Cumberland, said after an evening showing at Route One. "I'm surprised it's not more popular"