Yesterday, February 26th, was the first day that the new AMC 9 Dine In theater at the Southgate Mall was open, so Lily and I went to check it out.

When you first walk in, the place seems massive, there's a huge bar and fireplace on the left and box office on the right. There are no concessions, so even if you just want popcorn, you get it delivered to your seat. Speaking of popcorn, your AMC bucket that you may have purchased at the new year does work for refills at this theater.

All seats are reserved, we had tickets for Black Panther in the 2D theater. Seats are numbered and easy to find and there is a ton of space between rows for the wait staff. We had some friends sitting directly in front of us and we couldn't even see the tops of their heads, so seating is separated in a way that you can see the entire screen no matter where you are located. The seats themselves recline to kick your feet up, it's pretty comfy. I will warn you that seats could be a squeeze for larger people.

When you take your seat, they take your order and you can hit the call button if you need a refill or dessert during the movie. I was concerned that we would be able to hear loud chewers during the show, but the sound is so outstanding and pairs of seats are separated enough, that we couldn't hear anybody's chewing or utensils clicking against bowls and plates.

Wait staff coming in and out and walking by was a very minimal distraction, the only thing that really threw me off was when they dropped off the check. I let it sit there as I figured they wouldn't want it signed until the end of the movie, but somebody did come by and have customers attempt to read their totals and tip and sign in the dark, which was an annoying distraction from the film.

As for the food, it's really good, it's not bar food like we were expecting. It's restaurant quality with options like flatbread pizza, brisket fries, Asian bowls, burgers, fish & chips and even appetizers, milk shakes and desserts. Entrees ranged from about $13 to $17. The food really is great, the only issue I had was no butter on my popcorn and drinks are in an actual cup with loads of ice, so drinks don't last long. OH! And they were totally pushing the Brussels sprouts, I guess that's a 'thing', they looked deep fried and people seemed to be enjoying the hell out of them.

The temperature in the theater was cool, I recommend taking a beanie if you go, I ended up putting my hat on and using my jacket as a blanket. And heads up, the bar isn't open yet, they are still waiting on their liquor license, so no wine, beer or cocktails just yet. And since it's the first week, not every item on the menu is currently available.

It's a helluva good time though, the actual movie tickets are the same price as any theater, we paid $9.99 each, and food prices are comparable to going out for a nice dinner. And Black Panther? EXCELLENT flick, after seeing it, I totally get why is killing at the box office.

 

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