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The Alamo Drafthouse serves popcorn in big silver bowls.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Deborah Martin\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n
It is possible to go to the movies without eating anything.<\/p>\n
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Snacks weren’t even a sanctioned\u00a0part of the movie experience at first. Folks who wanted something to munch on while silent films\u00a0unspooled in front of them would buy treats from street vendors and then smuggle them inside to eat clandestinely, according to the\u00a0Theatre Historical Society of America.<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Santikos’ entree options include a grilled chicken club sandwich.<\/p>\n Deborah Martin\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n Theater owners started selling candy and then popcorn during the Depression to lure in patrons. In the 1940s, the Majestic Theatre,<\/a> which was built as a movie palace, sold popcorn for 20 cents along with hot nuts, an array of candies and Dr Pepper and Pepsi.<\/p>\n More than 80 years later, San Antonio\u00a0moviegoers have many more choices to make at concession counters or the menu apps. Which theaters have the tastiest fare? I snacked my way across the city to find out, giving the taste test to popcorn and other goodies at both dine-in spots and more traditional theaters.<\/p>\n Related: Alamo Drafthouse upset some patrons with shift to mobile ordering<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Visitors to EVO Entertainment can serve themselves popcorn and soda.<\/p>\n Deborah Martin\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n Dine-in theaters<\/p>\n 3)\u00a0EVO Entertainment: The sleek look of the\u00a0Schertz location set up an expectation for the food that was mostly not met when I popped in to catch \u201cThe Invite.\u201d Folks can place their orders at an old-school concession stand or via URL in the theater. I did the in-person thing, chatting about the plot of the movie while ordering a pepperoni pizza, green chile queso, a soda and a regular popcorn. The taste test got off to a great start with the popcorn and soda, both of which were top-flight. The popcorn was fresh and the Coke was well-carbonated \u2014 not always the case in a serve-it-yourself situation. The other fare, delivered swiftly to my seat, was more mixed. The\u00a0queso was yummy, but some of the chips tasted stale. The pizza brought to mind what might be served at a kid\u2019s birthday party. Since I had not just turned 7, it didn\u2019t work for me.\u00a0EVO Entertainment, 18658 Interstate 35 North,\u00a0Schertz. Info, evo.co.<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Flix Brewhouse’s menu includes mushroom truffle pizza, popcorn and Hatch chile queso.<\/p>\n Deborah Martin\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n 2) Flix Brewhouse: Before I visited a few months ago to catch “The Bride!,”\u00a0 I poked around online for food recommendations and was pointed toward the mushroom truffle pizza. The internet did not lie. The pizza is billed as hand-tossed, and it did seem to be. It had a good cheese pull \u2014 a rarity in movie theater fare \u2014 and it was hot and delicious. I asked for green chiles as an add-on, and a generous amount was tossed on top. The Hatch chile\u00a0queso was just as good and came with a hefty pile of fresh chips. The iced tea was fresh, too, and served in an enormous cup. If you want a bit of popcorn with your entr\u00e9e, you can add it for $2, a great option, though the popcorn was wanting. If you\u2019re principally looking for a popcorn-and-soda nosh, the\u00a0Drafthouse is the better choice. Flix Brewhouse, 845 Loop 1604. Info, flixbrewhouse.com.<\/a><\/p>\n Among the snacks at the Alamo Drafthouse are mozzarella sticks served with marinara sauce.<\/p>\n Deborah Martin\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n 1) Alamo\u00a0Drafthouse: The Drafthouse has the best popcorn in town. It\u2019s consistently fresh, served in silver bowls with a good balance of salt and butter. The beverages are consistent, too \u2014 the soda well-carbonated, the iced tea freshly brewed. The food beyond the basics isn\u2019t quite as good as it once was. But it still offers a lot of yumminess. For a screening of the very dark and strangely funny film \u201cPillion” a few months back, I ordered two new-to-me menu items \u2014 the Alamo dog and the chips and\u00a0queso. The hot dog was tasty, if a little heavy on the relish, and the toasted bun was a nice touch. But the star of the plate was the fries, which were perfect. The\u00a0queso was great, too, tangy with just a hint of heat, but the chips were mostly broken, making for a less-than-ideal dipping experience. On a more recent visit for \u201cMaddie\u2019s Secret,\u201d I tried the mozzarella sticks, which were really good.\u00a0Park North Alamo Drafthouse, 618 NW Loop 410, Suite 307. Info, drafthouse.com\/san-antonio.<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Among the snacks at AMC Rivercenter 11 are pizza, popcorn and movie theater nachos.<\/p>\n Deborah Martin\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n Traditional theaters<\/p>\n 5)\u00a0AMC: Maybe there\u2019s a reason that Nicole Kidman didn\u2019t so much as hold a bucket of popcorn in the ad that played before \u201cBackrooms.\u201d (There was a cup in the cup holder, but she didn\u2019t carry it in with her and didn\u2019t touch it. Maybe it was left there by a previous patron.) Nearly everything was pretty mid, including the pepperoni pizza, the over-salted popcorn and the flat soda. The so-so movie theater nachos combo is served in a little tray bearing a small package of round tortilla chips and a little cup of thin cheese sauce. There was a bright spot: The combo also comes with candy, which you choose yourself from a pretty good selection of shareable bags. I can wholeheartedly recommend the peanut butter\u00a0M&Ms. AMC Rivercenter 11, Shops at Rivercenter,\u00a0846 E. Commerce. Info, amctheatres.com.<\/a><\/p>\n MORE ON MOVIES: Oscar-nominated actor’s dream role is Gregg Popovich\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Regal Cinemas’ concessions include pepperoni pizza and popcorn.<\/p>\n Deborah Martin\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n 4) Regal Cinemas: Right before a lunchtime screening of the moving coming-of-age story \u201cGirls Like Girls,” I ordered the pizza combo \u2014 small pepperoni pizza served in a cardboard box with an almost comically enormous soda. I also got a small buttered popcorn, which was pretty good, as was the Mug Root Beer. The pizza started out fine. There was a teensy bit of a kick to it, and the crust was thin and crackery at the edges. Pro tip: If you order it, wolf it down while it\u2019s warm. It loses flavor as it cools. Regal Huebner Oaks, 11075 I-10, Suite 1H. Info, regmovies.com.<\/a><\/p>\n Pepperoni pizza is among the concessions available at Santikos theaters.<\/p>\n Deborah Martin\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n 3) Santikos Entertainment: I visited two theaters in the local chain. I hit the Embassy for \u201cThe Christophers,\u201d a really good small film about art. Santikos\u2019 popcorn is solid, though I skipped it this time around in favor of a slice of pepperoni pizza and a soda. The sauce was tasty and the crust was thin and a little\u00a0dough-y. On other visits, the crust has been crisper. It\u2019s always fine. And the popcorn dispenser is fun to use.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n I veered from the devils I know at the Palladium for \u201cGood Luck Have Fun Don\u2019t Die.\u201d On the advice of the guy behind the counter, I ordered the chicken club. Shortly afterward, I got a text alerting me that it was ready. I picked it up in a little food locker near the bar in the lobby. The Styrofoam clamshell was warm in my hand. And the sandwich was fine \u2014 not amazing, not bad. The chicken itself was tasty, and it came with a good-sized piece of crispy lettuce and a tomato slice as well as a few pickles. The fries were limp and disappointing. Santikos Embassy, 13707 Embassy Row; Santikos Palladium, 17703 W. I-10 Frontage Road. Info, santikos.com.<\/a><\/p>\n City Base Cinemas’ San \u00a0Antonio-centric snacks include a Big Red and barbacoa combo.<\/p>\n Deborah Martin\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n 2) City Base Cinemas: The South Side theater has a welcoming hometown vibe. In addition to the usual movie treats, the vast menu it has a bunch of\u00a0puro San Antonio goodies, including corn in a cup and chicken or sausage on a stick. I went to a roughly brunch-time screening of \u201cSupergirl\u201d on a Saturday morning, so the\u00a0barbacoa and Big Red combo was impossible to resist. I got the tacos on flour, then waited for them to be served up at a window to the right of the concession counter. The tacos came with a little cup of chopped white onion, providing a bit of brightness. Served on top of foil instead of wrapped in it, they were tasty and not too greasy. Not the best barbacoa tacos I\u2019ve had, but decent. Unlike the other sodas on offer, Big Red is served by the counter person, and it was excellent \u2014 well-carbonated, just the right amount of ice. The popcorn was really good, too. And the recliners were comfy, perfect for the nap I took during the so-so movie. City Base Cinemas, 2623 S.W. Military. Info, citybasecinema.com.<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Cinemark’s pizza comes from Pizza Hut. The chain offers pepperoni and pepperoni and jalapeno options.<\/p>\n Deborah Martin\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n 1) Cinemark Theatres: Cinemark served the best food of the traditional theaters in town. It also brought me back to the era before so much of\u00a0moviegoing got\u00a0app-ified. The popcorn \u2014 poured into a little red bag by a staffer behind the counter \u2014 tasted fresh and had a good balance of salt and butter. Alas, I cannot vouch for the soda, which also is served by the crew, because I opted for a bottled water. I also ordered the mini corn dogs, which were trumpeted by the menu screen as a new addition. They came in a little yellow box decorated with Minions, and they were as fun to eat as the weird little guys are to watch. The batter was a little bit sweet, the hot dogs were tasty and it came with two good-sized containers of dipping sauce. I also had pepperoni pizza, which comes courtesy of Pizza Hut. It was hot and tasty and evoked the personal pan pizzas of the \u201880s, minus the little skillet in which they were served. It all made for a nostalgic, deeply satisfying experience. And the movie \u2014 the very funny \u201cMinions & Monsters\u201d \u2014 was pretty darn good, too. Cinemark San Antonio 16, 5063 NW Loop 410. Info,\u00a0cinemark.com.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Alamo Drafthouse serves popcorn in big silver bowls.\u00a0 Deborah Martin\/San Antonio Express-News It is possible to go…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374374,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[82,84,83],"class_list":["post-374373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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