Best Movie Theaters for Food Lovers

There’s only one screen featuring 12 showings per week at this former World War II-era theater listed on Virginia’s historic register, but tickets—which are only available for purchase the day of—sometimes sell out several hours in advance of the actual showing. The Commodore retains most of its original art deco design work, which includes midcentury details like a functioning 1940s pay phone in the lounge, and cabaret-style seating in the main theater, where guests are arranged at round tables in front of the screen. Patrons come back for an oddball mix of delicious comfort foods like hot cinnamon loaves, baked in-house daily and topped with white cake icing, and a gooey nacho platter smothered in ground beef, cheddar cheese, lettuce and diced tomatoes. commodoretheatre.com

Founded by Mexican filmmaker Ernesto Rimoch and his son Diego, Living Room keeps prices low (under $10 for adults) and features movies sourced directly from independent directors in addition to first-run indies and some mainstream offerings. The menu leans Mediterranean with dishes like the Spanish tortilla with aged Manchego cheese and the Caprese panini, while drinks include cocktails and microbrews from Oregon’s Widmer and Hopworks breweries. Even traditional snacks are upgraded: here popcorn is topped with real butter or house-made caramel. livingroomtheaters.com

With more than 50 agave tequilas and mezcals on hand, and a cocktail program created by consulting mixologist Adam Seger of Chicago’s Nacional 27, iPic takes its drinks as seriously as its movies. Try the Bloody Margarita, which uses volcanic salt and celery bitters. Luxurious theater seating is another major draw at iPic: Most screening rooms feature full-body reclining chairs with pillows, blankets and armrests with inset call buttons for food orders. ipictheaters.com

Founder Matthew Viragh’s passion for the dinner-at-the-movies concept led him to hire a lawyer and a lobbyist to overturn a decades-old New York law barring alcohol in cinemas before opening the cinema in 2011. Now, Williamsburg locals stop by the bi-level space for cocktails even when they’re not coming to catch one of a handful of indie, mainstream and old-school films (think Woody Allen’s To Rome With Love vs. Smokey and the Bandit). Theaters are filled with pairs of seats clustered around small tables, so it’s easy to eat fish tacos with cabbage slaw, Cotija cheese-tossed popcorn and other menu offerings conceived by Michelin-starred chef Saul Bolton. Cup holders are for pints of local Sixpoint beers or movie-geek drinks like the Hunger Games-inspired Girl on Fire, a spicy-tart mix of tequila and grapefruit juice. nitehawkcinema.com

Husband-and-wife Tim and Karrie League opened the first single-screen Alamo Drafthouse in a former 7,000-square-foot downtown Austin parking garage. In addition to good food, they’re serious about keeping in-movie distractions to a minimum. To order favorites like the made-from-scratch Porky’s Pepperoni pizza and the Pulp Fiction-inspired Royale With Cheese Burger, guests write selections on slips of paper to be picked up before and during the movie. A hilarious no-talking PSA airs before films, using sound bites from ejected guests’ angry voicemails. The quirky theater also hosts prix fixe “Feasts,” the most popular being a nearly 12-hour-long marathon centered around the Lord of the Rings trilogy, during which patrons are served every meal featured on screen. drafthouse.com

Mike and Brian McMenamin are known across the Pacific Northwest for transforming historic buildings into everything from music venues, cinemas and hotels to microbreweries and distilleries. This theater-pub in the city’s Alphabet District is no exception: Once a Swedish evangelical mission, the building is now a single-screen theater showing second-run movies and NFL games. Craft beers, like the McMenamins’ Ruby Ale—a red-tinted, raspberry-infused creation developed at the brothers’ first brewery in 1986—are the stars here alongside wines from the brothers’ Edgefield Winery. Burgers made with locally sourced beef, Tillamook cheddar cheese and buns from nearby Portland French Bakery round out the standard pub menu. mcmenamins.com

The Japantown location of this national cinema chain operated by actor Robert Redford’s Sundance Group gets its name from The Kabuki, a midcentury Japanese restaurant-turned-cultural-events-center that once inhabited the space. Today, the building houses eight screens and two bars offering cocktails based on popular movie concessions, like the Junior Mint (dark chocolate liqueur, vodka and crème de menthe). Also available are easy-to-eat dishes like the house-made hummus and baba ghanouj, which can be taken into screening rooms for in-film noshing. sundancecinemas.com