September 14, 2005
Dismember the Alamo
Posted by pete at September 14, 2005 3:49 PMWe may be moving to the suburbs sooner than I thought:
Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas, the Austin-based theater chain that combines dinner and a movie, plans to open a Katy site on Dec. 1.
Alamo Mason Park will be in the Mason Park Shopping Center at 531 S. Mason Road near Kingsland Boulevard. The 29,000-square-foot facility will seat 900 and employ 150 full-and part-time staff members, said Terrell Braly, Alamo Drafthouse's CEO.
"Katy is growing tremendously, and its demographic fits our company's target audience," Braly said. "Most of our customers are hip and cool, and while you think the suburbs wouldn't be like that, we know people are just dying for something like this out there."
Oh no you didn't just diss Baytown.
Alamo Drafthouse has six theaters, including four in Austin and one in San Antonio. The chain's only Houston theater is at West Oaks Mall.
What a crock of shit. They've already got "something like this out there." West Oaks is 15 minutes from Katy, anyone living closer to town than, oh, Memorial City Mall has a longer drive, and that's 80% of the population.
Maybe I'm overreacting, but this hardly seems like ideal placement:
Though I'm sure all the "hip and cool" B-movie fans in Fulshear and San Felipe are happy as clams.
Inside an Alamo Drafthouse theater, customers sit at tables and order from a menu that includes pizza, sandwiches and 30 brands of draft beer, which are served during the films.
"Our concessions earn four times what a typical theater makes on its concession stands," Braly said.
He expects to serve 2,000 customers in Katy each weekend night.
Houston proper supports three limited release movie houses in addition to the glut of monstro-plexes sprinkled around the metro area. Plop one of these babies in Rice Village, or West U, or the Galleria, and you'll haul in more than 2000 a night.
Or is the argument here that Katy's hipsters don't have enough to do out in the sticks to distract them from their placid, joyless lifestyle? It wasn't bad enough you're screwing up the freeways because you don't want to spend more than 30 minutes to drive 30 miles, now you're depriving us of another Alamo Drafthouse.
At the very least, think of your city's beleaugered movie reviewers. If I have to sit through the latest heap of offal starring Reese Witherspoon, at least let me order a bucket of beer to ease the pain.
Besides, do you know how much a cab ride to my house from West Oaks Mall costs?
Heads-up... In my experience, you're not missing much. The Austin Alamo Drafthouse is terrific. The one here in San Antonio, however, plays first-run, typical Hollywood stuff -- nothing unique or quirky.
And I'm crabby because the Alamo that was supposed to open up on the north side is no more. I guess the financing fell through.
Would've been nice, too--it was gonna be, like, 1 mile from my abode.
Stupid, stupid Drafthouse.
Well, most of the non-Downtown ALamo Drafthouses in Austin just show first-run movies; generally a better selection than your average Cineplex, but not as independent or international-minded as the Dobie or the Arbor. There are special screenings every once in a while, but not that often.
AND WHERE'S THE DICKINSON DRAFT HOUSE? THE SOUTHEAST SHALL RISE AGAIN!!!
ALL RIGHT! I'm moving to KATY! Now I can tell my doctor I won't be needing that lobotomy.
Hahahaha! I apparently win, living on the west side. I have ALL the Alamo Drafthouses!
Join ussssss....
Did you hear that, everybody? Slumber party at Josh's place!!!
I grew up in the west an I am still amazed at what passes for a "short driving distance" in Colorado, California and Texas.
You're welcome to crash at our place, Pete. (Well, not literally, you drunkard!)
-- the Edridge Office
I was lucky enough to live a half-mile from one of the first movie theatres in the country to serve beer. Granted, it was a small old theatre, but admission was cheap, beer was reasonable, and the movies were a mix of new releases and cult classics.
Man, I love the idea of Alamo Drafthouse, but, like you, I live to far in town and have (mostly) outgrown my days of driving home blotto. (The wife just mocked me over my shoulder.) The one time I went there (a midnight showing of "AC/DC at Donington"), I realized it would be a heck of a long time before I went back solely because it's so far west of town. When I heard the new one was going to be even further out, I was stunned. I live west of downtown, and still those two theaters are half the distance apart that I am from the closest one. (And thanks for not talking shit about my shitty car again in your response to my last post.)