I was driving home one day and I heard about the Movie Tavern. There are two locations in the Houston area and what they do is make one of my dreams a reality. Well, sorta. I’ve always disliked the food options at movie theaters. Five-dollar hot dogs and six-dollar popcorn isn’t what I call a bargain or even remotely filling. The Movie Tavern aimed to solve this problem by offering a full dinner menu that could be eaten while watching a movie. Doesn’t that sound fantastic?!

We headed up north to catch the latest James Bond flick: Quantum of Solace (OK movie, but still worth watching if you like Bond). We arrived a little bit early and chilled in the lobby. It didn’t smell fantastic. I thought it was a little gross; Diane thought it smelled like yeast, which she happened to like for some reason. Eventually, we got in and were able to pick out seats. We opted for the typical movie-style seats rather than the leather office chairs. In front of us was a table and a menu.

The menu actually wasn’t bad. There was enough variety between the appetizers, salads, entrees, and desserts. Our problem was that we ordered too much food. An appetizer and an entree (per person) was way more food that we actually wanted to eat during the movie (even though this was our initial intention). One other problem is they brought all of our food at the same time. The third “problem” was that we were kinda absorbed into the action of the film that we found it difficult to eat. My eyes were glued to the screen and I didn’t want to look down to make sure the food wasn’t falling on my lap.

Lessons Learned

• Eat only an appetizer and dessert
• Order one item at a time; when you’re ready for more food, place your menu (upright position) on the table and the waiter will take your next order (course)
• Food was moderately priced (yay!) — $35-$40 (including tip) for an appetizer, two entrees and two desserts

Overall, we still enjoyed the experience and plan to go back some day when we find another movie worth watching.