A friend of mine used to write a regular blog about things amok in Knoxville.. places to go, things to try, good and bad. (I loved that blog). Today my blog is in that vein.. though I know mine won”t begin to compare to hers.
Today I’m going to tell you about Cinnebarre. Not all bad, but not all good either.
What IS Cinnebarre?! Is that the burning question most of you have on your mind? As my friend Tiffany so expertly questioned… is it Cinnabon? It is a barre class? Do you EAT a human-head sized cinnamon roll and then take a barre class? (that is not an awful concept.. am I right?)
Well no, it’s a multi-screen movie theater with a full restaurant and bar. Get it? “Cinne” – I presume – is a reference to Cinema. And “barre” – I presume- is a reference to a bar with wine and beer, not a barre that ballerinas and fitness gurus lean on while looking in a mirror. Cinnebarre is a concept owned and operated by Regal Cinemas. There are, I think, currently nine Cinebarres in the United States. It should be noted that Regal Cinemas was founded and is headquartered right here in good ol’ Knoxvegas. It is currently the 2nd largest theater operation in the States. It should also be noted that the chain was bought by a European entity late in 2017 (and that’s ALL I will say about any company coming along and buying another).
The Cinnebarre here opened in May, so roughly 10 weeks ago? The Knoxville location is not the first one – so one would assume kinks have been worked out in the other already-operating theaters. The idea is that you go to a movie and have dinner at the same time in super comfy chairs with waiter/waitress service. Well, they got the chairs right.
I’ll start at the beginning.
The venue itself is rockstar. It is MASSIVE. Full BIG bar, loads of flat screen tvs. Plenty of high top tables and traditional seating. Big billiards area, and a huge, open second floor arcade. We didn’t go up there, but I immediately sighted one of those human-sized Pac-Man games. Eileen spotted the giant Galaga and immediately stated it was a much better game. (sidenote: she’s *almost* TWELVE. how does she know anything about this game that I barely remember?!) My immediate prediction is this place will be packed once lake season is over. Wives out shopping (oh – Cinnebarre is in a mall) and dads killing time with a beer, football and reliving their teenage years. So, our first impression was a good one.
The instructional video on their website (yes, there is one, and yes, I watched it) indicated to arrive 20-30 minutes prior to your movie start time, in order to get settled and order food. Thus, we didn’t spend much time in the bar/billiards/arcade area. The previously mentioned instructional video indicates that patrons can place orders throughout the movie, yet the menu – also found on the site – instructs “Please visit our service bar if you wish to order items during the feature.” So, umm.. whats the point of going to a restaurant movie theater if I have to get up anyway? I can do that at any other regular theater. Right? And don’t post a video on your site that doesn’t match the experience. That is plain pathetic and lazy.
So we get seated (seats are reserved when you purchase your tickets). The chairs are Ah-MAY-zing. Plenty big, full on recliner. Eileen suggested they could add “heat-seaters” (Dottie & Croft- that is specifically for you) I mean I could have fallen asleep it. Good size “table” top attached to each chair, and it swivels to be in front of you or to the side.
We waited a few minutes for a server to arrive, and she was beyond pleasant. Super helpful, explained things to us. She placed our order on a tablet-like device, so one would assume a fairly fast turnaround, at least for our drinks. So here’s where it got a smidge strange. We placed our order – three burgers, one wine, one Sprite, and one beer. Burgers are not made to order, which is kind of annoying when you’re paying $13 a burger. But we had to pay up front. Wait what? Pay -and tip – at what is basically to a “sit down restaurant” – before food has arrived and/or level of service has been evaluated? That was a bit off-putting, especially when our pre-tip total was over SIXTY DOLLARS. Really? That didn’t include the cost of the tickets.
So we sat back to people watch and wait. There was a flurry of patrons arriving, servers in and out. The man next to Bill, who ordered just before us, received his drink about 10 minutes after ordering. We kept waiting. And waiting. Then the previews started. Still no food, no drinks. About two previews in, our food came. Still no drinks. I asked the server who brought our food (not the same one who took our order) if she knew about our drinks. She said she wasn’t sure because the food and drinks went to different windows. K, I kind of knew that part, but oh well. Then our original server appeared, and I requested a knife (which was brought to me immediately), we asked again about our drinks, and I ordered a 2nd wine (this was to avoid having to leave the movie to get a second one).
So at this point the previews are wrapping up. We had not paid attention at all to them as we were rabidly looking for our food and then our drinks. Eileen’s Sprite appeared as the lights were dimming. So we start eating – at which point we realized that eating in the dark is quite awkward – and our food was ice cold. Not even slightly warm. So cold, expensive, burgers not cooked to order, and only one of three drinks has arrived. At this point we were pretty frustrated. Bill ran out to the bar and ordered a beer for him and a wine for me. He missed the first minute or two of the movie, which was highly irritating. A good 10 minutes into the movie, his beer and one of my wines finally arrive. You guys (Michele Morgan, that’s for you), we were in our seats a full 30 minutes before the previews started. It is beyond me why it took 45 minutes for a beer and wine to arrive. It is not like these are hand-crafted complicated drinks to make.
After eating in the dark, no one comes for your plate. We watched the whole movie with our dirty plates in front of us. Yes, I likely sound petty – but after forking out all that money and a good tip – sitting with a dirty plate in front of you for 2 hours is well, annoying as shit. I never did get that glass of wine that I’d paid for – I didn’t need, or at that point even want, the drink. But I had paid, with tip, $15 for a mediocre glass of wine, that never came. So yeah, I kind of want that money back. Had that been a regular sit-down restaurant, I would not have been charged nor would there have been a tip involved.
Oh- also a bit of a design fail – the table tops have glass holders. Good idea – a way to prevent spills. But Bill’s beer DID NOT FIT IN THE CUP HOLDER. Really? This is a brand new venue. Who ordered the glasses too big for the tabletops? That kind of drove me over the edge.
To be fair, we have not yet reached out to management to request a refund and/or voucher or something to make right the items paid for but not received, the cold food and the ridiculous turn around time for two drinks. Trust me, if we’re not accommodated you will certainly hear about it. To be fair, everyone we encountered was exceptionally pleasant and helpful. There is hope.
I think Regal needs to sort some things out though:
- don’t ask patrons to pay before they get their food, this isn’t McDonald’s
- figure out a way to continue service through out the movie; the theater is MASSIVE and patrons will be able to see around servers working during the movie
- OR – figure out a system that allows a patron to order from their seat (app, tablet, etc) and be notified when a server is at the theater entrance with their order – at least then someone isn’t missing the movie they’ve paid a small fortune to see
- figure out a way to ensure the food is at least warm when brought to the patron, dish covers maybe? similar to what is used for room service?
- don’t offer drinks too big for the drink holders – honestly – that is just stupid
We decided at some point, perhaps after winning the lottery, we’d give it a second go. However, we learned some lessons.
My tips if you decide to try this place out:
- order the popcorn (it comes in a metal bowl, presentation is adorable) or the meat and cheese tray; more affordable and food temp is not a concern
- order your drinks (alcoholic or not) at the bar and bring in with you; and if you’re getting a beer on tap. don’t get the massive one because it doesn’t fit in your cup holder
- don’t expect this to be a cheap date; movies are stupidly over-priced and now so is the barely mediocre food – I’d recommend reserving Cinnebarre for special occasions
And now, Adventures in Activewear will return to its normally scheduled programming of weird animal encounters and general candid-camera like life.
Adventures In Active Wear 