I'm not here to tell you about all of the AMC or Harkins Phoenix movie theaters, no, I'm sure you've already found those near you on your own. I'm here to tell you about a different kind of Phoenix cinema experience, dine-in movie theaters in Phoenix. I must "warn" you, though, once you enjoy this dine in cinema experience, you might not want to go back to a "regular" movie theater.
We here at Phoenix Go To (PhxGo2) have a couple of favorite dine in cinema theaters in the Pheonix area. RoadHouse Cinemas Dine-In Theater in Scottsdale was the one that ruined all normal theaters for me, and then Majestic Theaters was able to match the experience. Both are dine-in movie theaters in Pheonix (and the surrounding areas) with full bar service and restaurant quality food that gets served to you right at your chair.
Really both are great dine-in movie theaters in Pheonix. You'll enjoy your experience at either, with location and movie selection and times will likely play a big role, and each has a little something different to offer than the other in some instances.
So, let's start where I started with my Phoenix dine-in cinema experiences...
RoadHouse Cinemas Scottsdale in the first full dine-in cinema experience I really had, thanks to my friend Roger introducing me to the experience and ruining all other theaters for me. Now I'd been to ones with a bar and pub food that you could order at concessions. But this, this was different! I just went straight to my seat (all of which recling), and you select yours before going into the theater. Then, just like a restaurant, a server appeared at my seat to go over how things are done at RoadHouse, asking if I'm ready to order anything (you're not required to order anything, by the way), and then instructing me to hit the "call" button on the seat, similiar to the attendant button on an airplane.
Now, I'm not a huge beer fan, I actually enjoy a nice bourbon or cocktail if I'm going to enjoy an adult beverage while watching a movie. RoadHouse has a full bar with a pretty good selection of spirits, and they'll sometimes do a specialty themed cocktail to go along with a popular movie of the time.
But, RoadHouse is Family Friendly as well, with really, really good food (with movie-themed names, of course), including kids menus and some delicious popcorn. Our now teenage boys have always loved their pizzas. My favorite is the Ghostbuster Burger. I love a little heat for some flavor in my food, and this has a good amount of heat with flavor, but not so much heat that you can't taste anything anymore. Heck, the food is good enough that I've gone to the movies really just to eat dinner and not really for the movie.
I think one of the things that could set RoadHouse apart vs. Majestic could be the popcorn and the desserts. They have many flavors of gourmet popcorn. Like I said, I like a little heat, and they even have a Jalapeno popcorn that delivers just that! Beside the variety of gourmet popcorn, RoadHouse also has many flavors of Italian gelato.
RoadHouse Cinemas isn't just about the food, even though I've been talking a lot about it, that's just one of the things that helps set it apart as more enjoyable theater experience for me. It's a really great Phoenix theater giving you a really enjoyable cinematic experience, especially for those action movies and the horror movies that I do prefer to go to in the theater rather than watch at home.
Now, one of the things I was going to say a prefer Majestic for over RoadHouse was their special retro horror movie events, but as I'm writing this it looks like RoadHouse has just added Horror Fest Nights, bringing back classic horror movies and movie-related events. I'll be checking out soon to provide updates!
Finally, one thing that does set RoadHouse Cinemas apart from my other favorite theaters in Phoenix, is that ALL of their seats recline. Oh, and if you don't mind waiting just a little bit after a movie first comes out, you can actually go to a smaller screening theater that has fewer seats (I believe 8). You'll still get the same great service, though.
Anyways, if you want a whole new full experience (and to save some time having dinner AND a movie instead of dinner, THEN a movie, RoadHouse should be on your list of Phoenix movie theaters to visit.