It’s no surprise that the movie theater business has gotten slammed in the last few years, with people heading to the “couch” to watch movies instead of heading to their local cinema. And after three years of pandemic streaming, the habit is firmly entrenched.

So companies have been getting creative to lure people off of their couches and into stylized cinemas with food and drink services. Not a new concept, but one that is growing and improving for sure. The competition is heating up, so brands are getting more and more clever and more and more service oriented.

Enter Look Dine-In Cinemas which is run by one of the founders of the concept, opening restaurant/movie cinemas for a few years now. But now the brand is aiming a new neighborhood in Manhattan that has recently significantly increased its residential population … West 57th Street if you know the area. I happen to near in an adjoining neighborhood so am through there all of the time!

Look Dine-In Cinemas is taking the experience to the next level with high-end restaurant style food and service, with “slide-away” tables that clear away as soon as the dining is done. And the complex has eight auditoriums to serve up a variety of movie selections.

Next level for sure. Is it enough to get people off the couch or out of their favorite neighborhood restaurant? Maybe. It’s working in other places, and there are actually other types of these venues in other Manhattan neighborhoods as well. Presumably working … just not at this height. I’m going to be watching for sure, and maybe even “watching” on an upcoming Friday night!

Would you partake? What’s your experience? JIM