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Movie Theater Food

The popcorn story on Req. Eating got me wondering - do you buy any snacks or drinks at the concession stand? Popcorn, candy, hotdogs, other? Does movie popcorn taste better than what you make at home? Do you ever sneak in your own food? What might you hide? How do you hide it?

46 Comments:

I stopped going to the movies......

I always sneak in Peanut M&Ms.

I always sneak in a diet tea and sometimes a snack...nothing too loud though, I get annoyed at the crackling of bags and stuff. It's usually raisinettes. Mmmmm

we always try to sneak in natural cheese puffs... or homemade cookies or yogurt covered pretzels... they just don;t sell any of that stuff at the theater...

I'll occasionally buy the nachos or mini-pizzas if I need something more substantial and didn't have time to get real food - but that's very rare. More often, though, I'll sneak food in - the advantage of carrying a small backpack as a "purse" and preferring voluminous coats in the winter. I've snuck everything in from fresh popcorn (it smelled so good I thought I was going to get caught) to good chocolate and drinks from Whole Foods. I've yet to figure out how to sneak in an entire meal, but give me time.

Popcorn with no "butter." I generally get a drink but nothing "vat" sized.

I think people should sneak in healthier foods if they like because until theatres start carrying crudite trays like they do nachos, healthier eaters have nothing on which to nosh at the show.

To quantify - I think I attend two first-run movies per year these days. Cable all but killed my movie attendance.

I usually bring in something small I have at home like a little baggie with a half cup of semi-sweet chips for my husband and I to share. I don't really like soda so I bring in water.

I always sneak something into a movie. My favorite movie snacks are raisinettes and milk duds (childhood nostalgia). Often I bring a drink too. Sometimes I get popcorn, but a small tub costs $5, and my homemade is so much better.

Once I snuck in a slice of cheesecake, and I have friends that managed to bring an entire pizza into the theatre using a gym bag.

I will get something to drink there, but that's it. That said, the last movie I saw in the theatre was Spiderman 2, or it may have been 3. I like to bring my own in-like trail mix or peanuts.

A small group of friends and I once successfully snuck Chinese takeout into the movies with chopsticks and bottled drinks. Out ticket-taker smirked as we were wearing long coats and reeked of garlic shrimp and general tso's, but he didn't call us out on it and we managed not to spill anything!

I'll generally make a cocktail at home and put it into a plastic bottle (though one time we brought in a bottle of wine). I find that a really good sandwich with cured meats is always nice, or even some nice bread with some hummus or a good soft cheese on it. you can bring in anything you want as long as its in a bag.

I always have a bottle of water with me, but mostly because I always have a bottle of water with me when I leave the house, no matter where I go. I haven't gone to the cinema in what seems like ages (if I'm not mistaken, the last time I went was to see Million Dollar Baby. Yep, that long ago). Confession time - I don't like eating popcorn at the cinema because my hands get dirty and it's not like I can wash them right away (all right, so perhaps I need to work on that OCD I might have). So I guess I may have a small chocolate bar or some bonbons with me, both very easily "baggable".

I guess I'm a traditionalist but for me it's only popcorn! The most humongous tub they sell with that stuff they now call "topping". The kind that leaves a grease spot on everything you touch! MANY years ago I worked in a movie theatre at the concession stand. I'd come in early just to take the Land o' Lakes butter out of the freezer and heat it for the popcorn. God only knows what's in that stuff now!!

My parisian experience : pop corn and coke !

We typically take out a loan and get the barrel of popcorn with lots of butter and the keg of soda. I don't know how my husband packs it all in, but by the end of the movie, the popcorn is gone and the soda is almost all gone.

I'll sometimes order sushi and my husband will order beer.

When I was in high school, 4-5 of us bought lunch at Burger King. Most of us had done some shopping at a department store several blocks away, so we all had paper bags with department store logos. The person at the door asked us all if we had any outside food, of course, we all said no...even though we had mysterious seeping grease stains showing through and, I'm sure, an engulfing cloud that screamed, "Burger King burgers here!" as well as the sloshing of the soda and ice as we shuffled through. I don't remember which movie we went to see.

The art house theater near my house sells air-popped corn with REAL butter, and yummy baked goods. They have a nice selection of hot teas as well, and a few old school candies. I generally skip dinner when I go to the movies there!

I don't go to the movies much and when I do I generally don't eat or drink anything.

Except, we have movie grills here with waiters/waitresses that serve a menu kind of like Chili's, Bennigans etc. and you can eat a meal while watching the movie.

i don't really sneak the foodstuffs...i have no shame. i usually bring in a bar of dark chocolate, but have also brought bottles of wine and truffles, too. there is one theater in my home town that allows you to bring in ice cream from the neighborhood parlor.

I haven't been to the movies in years!

jeez where do you guys live? sneaking in a bottle of WINE? unbelievable. we live in the bible belt and one of them right wingers would turn us in fer sure, yes ma'm you can count on it. but, i may try it anyway.....
you remind me of when my girlfriend and i would leave the babies at home and sneak in a couple Michelob Lites and on three, one would cough and the other would pop the top. worked great until i kicked an empty i had slyly placed under my seat and it rolled ALL THE WAY DOWN to the front and there is no mistaking that sound!!! thanks for the laugh...i hadn't remembered that in....well, just leave it at that. LOL

we usually sneak our own snacks in or we don't have anything at all. I carry a big purse and I've never had my bag checked. We don't buy anything mainly b/c it's a ripoff.

Cucumber spring rolls from the prepared foods section of Whole Foods.

NY SE readers will understand - Union Sq Whole Foods is all of twenty yards away from the Regal Cinemas on Broadway.

pretty much always bring in a sixpack or two of tallboys, have snuck in sandwiches and sushi before. although last time we went, my friend convinced me of the deliciousness of muddy bears - gummy bears dipped in milk chocolate. so good, and when you consider the amount of debt i'm already in (thanks, school loans!), the price was...well, not as much as my school loans. but seriously - gummy bears dipped in chocolate! pretty tasty, even though you only get like two per box.

i've pretty much snuck in everything from sandwiches to popcorn to burgers to cocktails and wine. one because movie theater food isnt that good except for the one by my parents which carries ben and jerrys, nathans, sbarro and this place that sells fried dough oh and art theaters because they always have things like gelato and homemaked baked goods

but for the new sex and the city movie we plan to sneak in some cosmos and magnolia cupcakes yum!

i can't resist the sour patch kids, it's not even worth trying!

We usually buy (hot) tea at the counter and eat some Lindt 70% that fits nicely in my purse. In my wild and crazy youth we used to sneak in beers or a flask of rhum to top off cokes from the counter. Once I even brought lime wedges in a baggie to garnish our Cuba Libres!

@sustarz - have you tried magnolia's cupcakes before? i always thought they were overhyped. also, i thought it had closed, maybe it reopened?

While I occasionally buy something at the theater, more often than not, I sneak drink and food in. We stop by a drugstore before hand and buy 99-cent candy and drinks (ice tea for me). In the past I've smuggled popcorn into the theater in a 2-gallon zip-lock bag. They don't notice; the whole place smells like popcorn and people are crunch-munching left and right.

I almost always bring in beers.. one of my favorite beer stores is right across the street from my favorite afternoon theater, so it's hard to resist. A few bottles and an iced coffee up my sleeve, and I'm golden. I have also brought in meals.. dumplings once, but my best was a cheese smothered turkey burger with fries. A little messy, but no problems at all.

this thread has made me completely rethink my movie snacks: wine! beer! sushi! grilled steak!

usually i opt for the jumbo popcorn, jumbo coke "VALUE" combo ($20) and then take about $19 worth of free napkins to "get my money's worth."

My movie snack of choice is usually Junior Mints, in a box from the drug store. I usually bring my own drink too.

There are days when I cave and splurge on the popcorn with no butter, but somehow it's never as good as what I remember as a child. And sometimes it tastes old. That's always depressing to me, and next time I go right back to my Junior Mints!

A box of Good & Plenty, which I have to bring in from the outside because no theater I've ever patronized sells it.

I am soooo glad I'm not the only delinquent smuggling in cocktails in water bottles...gin and tonic and blueberry vodka w/soda water look just like water, and no one questions a lime slice in one's water bottle. I also tend to smuggle in homemade baked goods, because I want something sweet but not a vat o'candy. When I can't resist the concessions, it's always popcorn...the smell, ohmigod, the smell...lays the best intentions to waste. However, since having darling daughter three years ago, I've been to two movies in the theater. Although...I've already lined up a sitter for the new Indiana Jones...yeah, I'm a Lucasfilm dork.

Tylerette, the Union Square Multiplex is one of my favorite theatres in town precisely because you can buy tke-out food at Whole Foods and then pig out during the movie. I also like, when I'm in town, to get a 'wichcraft sandwich and a drink and sneak them in. Of course i never see "gross-out" or horror movies.

At home in the Hudson Valley with my daughter, she has serious eyes-bigger-than-stomach problems so I pack a gallon ZipLoc bag with Smartfood, take some cookies as well, and two different beverages (daughter loves beverages). This keeps her quiet as we walk (swiftly) past the concession counter.

The husband loves movies (though we rarely go because we can't agree on what to see!) and popcorn is a must. He claims it feels unnatural to watch one without the vat of popcorn balanced in his lap.

Once in high school I went to a movie with a gaggle of friends and we loaded up on the bulk Brach's candy and took it in with us. I'm sure the wrappers infuriated the other patrons but we didn't get busted.

usually sneak in some M&Ms or twizzlers, but we do buy a soda once there (husband prefers fountain drinks to cans/bottles).

The most brazen food-sneaking I ever experienced wasn't me, but in a tiny, now-defunct arthouse theater in Dupont Circle. The guy behind me brought in takeout curry -- there was no hiding the smell. But, there were only a dozen or so people in the theater, and no one complained. (And I felt less guilty for having a sandwich with me that time.)

We only go to the movies 3 or 4 times a year...we never go there hungry so that we won't be tempted.

I would never bring food with a strong smell into a theater, it is extremely rude to the other people watching the movies.

Generally I avoid theaters that attract young people because they tend to be the most inconsiderate.

If I am sitting next to you and smell chinese, both you and your food will be leaving the theater STAT.

Thanks Serious Eats, for seriously inspiring me to bring cocktails to the movies...I'm contemplating theme drinks.

Have you noticed that theaters are nearly empty most of the time? I usually bring some hard candy or cough drops for dry mouth, but the smell of popcorn can really tempt me. On occasion, I'll grab a sandwich or fast food and a drink. A big purse or coat over the arm come in handy.

I hadn't thought to bring cocktails or beer or wine, but why not? We usually go out to dinner afterward, but a pre-dinner drink during the movie would be perfect! I can get a wonderful meal for what a hot dog, soda and popcorn would cost.

Just for nostalgia, I may get some buttered popcorn one of these days. Personally, I'd rather watch a movie on my own TV and be comfy, but a friend gets house bound/stir crazy, so we go to the movies and dinner often.

As I mentioned elsewhere, I really miss drive-in movies, and I'm afraid the low attendance at theaters may mean their demise as well. But in the meantime, might as well make the best of it! I'm real curious about theaters that are also offering meals - that may save them in the long run as long as they don't outprice the average theater-goer.


Wow. Now I know why theatres have to raise their prices so much - it's all of you sneaking in your own food! :P

I eat popcorn to drown out the sound of other people eating popcorn (lucky for me I love the taste as well) - I am so not kidding, I hate chewing noises. It's almost enough to keep me away entirely.

I definitely sneak in food. I think the most odd ball was cheese, crackers & wine. There are wonderful little portable "juice box" wines called Bandits that work perfectly for hiding. Although, I wouldn't recommend a good purse for the cheese, my bag was never the same...stinky.

Popcorn and blue Icees!!! Sometimes just the latter. My mom always gets Junior Mints and my best friend always gets Snowcaps, but I am totally an Icee girl.

I once saw a group of "kids" actually wheel a cooler into the theater for a late movie, (they thought they "snuck" in the side exit door.) I still have a hard time believing they didn't get caught.

I can't eat and watch a movie! Snacks ok, but I always miss something on the screen if i'm actually eating a meal.

Last year I saw 45 movies at the cinema. Love that 40 foot screen. Twice I bought pretty good coffee in the lobby. A few more times I snuck in some M&Ms. That's why I can afford to go 45 times. That and no kids.

How do you keep the tall boys cold? And doesn't a Cuba Libré get a twist of lemon? There are two cinemas in Madison that sell beer in the lobby. They probably cost too much for me.

Thanks PerkyMac for a great post!

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