440822 Wed Sep 12 23:53:25 -0700 2007 23 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 2936877 Finally made it to the Cerrito Speakeasy Theatre tonight for the 2 for 1 Wednesday deal. Two admissions for $6. That makes it easy to pop for food & drinks. Pizza, beer, sandwiches, snacks, etc.... The popcorn comes in a large metal bowl - they are very generous with the butter - be warned: the bottom of the bowl has a good coating of melted butter. With the generous counter in front of each seat I felt compelled to order something even though we had just had dinner at home .... a nice blondie bar/coconut, soft drink, popcorn and a beer. A word of caution: those big drinks and beers can be a challenge for those long movies :~ ) Any word on the pizza or other food items? Sandwiches, etc ... ? The theatre is in El Cerrito on San Pablo Avenue & Central Aves. Wed Sep 12 23:53:25 -0700 2007 10429 gordon wing 1 2936902 The Cerrito is a great venue...and a deal. Didn't know about the 2-for-1 Weds. My god, $3 bucks for a first run movie? Any way, agree that the popcorn, beer and baked items are good. Way better then the average movie house. I heard the pizza is pretty good but nothing special but that's second hand. One thing I can say is avoid the nachos and buffalo wings. The nachos were predictable and what you'd get at a sports arena (although they use real cheese instead of pumpable cheez-whiz like goop). The wings...non-crispy/on the greasy side (probably frozen from a bag). I had a taste of a quesadilla...bland...but aiming towards the healthy side. That said, they're still way ahead of a mainstream theater's offerings and the overall charm and feel of the place gets a huge benefit of the doubt in my book. After all you can get a decent beer. I'd too an interested in opinions about the sandwiches, burgers and pizza. Thu Sep 13 00:17:58 -0700 2007 2936877 27275 ML8000 2 2936924 ML8000, thanks for saving me from the nachos & wings. One thing I remembered about the popcorn - they don't salt it so that you can add it yourself at the condiment table (pretty sure I heard someone say that to another customer and it sounds about right judging from my not very salty popcorn ). I did notice that most everybody there had a little smile going on - like they were happy to be there in this very nice new theatre with tons of leg room and some decent grub/drinks. When was the last time that you chatted with your neighbors at the movies? or even said Hello? Thu Sep 13 00:49:24 -0700 2007 2936902 10429 gordon wing 3 2938281 You're right about it being friendlier then a mainstream theater. Part of it is the staff...seems like they enjoy being there instead of the usual teenage angst and beat upon management. I think El Cerrito made a good choice with it as a redevelopment project. Re: the condiment table has seasoned salts, garlic, etc. I was sort of skeptical about it but it's a nice touch. Thu Sep 13 11:19:42 -0700 2007 2936924 27275 ML8000 1 2937277 Biggest upside over the Parkway is no sofas redolent of stale beer. Love the Parkway, but it's getting a little gross in spots. Thu Sep 13 06:58:11 -0700 2007 2936877 17723 lexdevil 1 2937620 This is a very timely thread, thanks! We're going to the TV Hootenanny there tonight and had been wondering if we needed to eat before or bring in snack and eat afterwards. Thu Sep 13 08:36:15 -0700 2007 2936877 10252 larochelle 2 2938985 Shhh... Don't say it to loud or everyone will go. Thu Sep 13 13:59:41 -0700 2007 2937620 10784 Scrapironchef 3 2939435 My post will not make a difference. Its a well known event. The line will be at least 3x longer than the available remaining tickets. Thu Sep 13 16:11:16 -0700 2007 2938985 10252 larochelle 4 2941819 Surprisingly, it wasn't full. I lucked out and got the King of the Hill BBQ sauce. Fri Sep 14 11:20:28 -0700 2007 2939435 10784 Scrapironchef 5 2942015 Saw you. I got the k-ville sweatshirt. We had popcorn, a slice and a lot of beer. The slice was edible. The beer cold. The popcorn....I don't get the setup - you get an overflowing metal bowl of unsalted popcorn and access to a bunch of different flavored salts but its impossible to property salt the whole bowl. Really annoying. Fri Sep 14 12:04:50 -0700 2007 2941819 10252 larochelle 6 2943204 Lightly salt the top and take some extra salt in one of the little paper cups to add later. Gotta love the real butter. We had the ham & cheese foccia and the veggie/hummus/pita platter. The sandwich was good, veggie platter acceptable, the beer was cold but went empty too quickly. They really need to add strolling beer vendors. Kville? Nobody calls it Kville. Fri Sep 14 18:57:06 -0700 2007 2942015 10784 Scrapironchef 7 2943531 yes, that was the work-around that we came up with at the time. It worked okay last night because there were so many breaks but if I had to do that during a nonstop movie, I'd be really annoyed. If the real butter had been properly mixed in it would have been nice but it wasn't - some kernals were completely dry, others were soaked. And yes, K-Vile is an unfortunate title. The fact that the producers saw some ironic graffiti and extrapolated it into a name change for an entire historic city is silly at the least and offensive at the maximum. Fri Sep 14 22:08:12 -0700 2007 2943204 10252 larochelle 1 2937633 The pizza at the Oakland branch is edible. Thu Sep 13 08:39:09 -0700 2007 2936877 11369 Robert Lauriston 1 2938548 Thanks for the tip about Wednesdays. I went to the Simpson movie matinee. Lots of jolly dads drinking beer, lots of squirmy little kids. Fun, though. I had pretty bad pizza that had been sitting out too long. Fresher might be better. The popcorn is unsalted, but you can put some in a little paper cup if you want to take it with you to your seat. The portion is huge and, as you said, very buttery. Thu Sep 13 12:22:28 -0700 2007 2936877 11231 Glencora 1 2938622 http://www.cerritospeakeasy.com/ They have a menu on their website and post their movies about two weeks out. Thu Sep 13 12:42:26 -0700 2007 2936877 102410 AntarcticWidow 1 2938758 The thing I enjoy about the Cerrito is being able to have food that isn't candy or popcorn during the showing. The pizza is okay (at the Parkway, they actually *mean* garlic as opposed to that "afterhtought" of garlic at most pizza places) Thu Sep 13 13:16:28 -0700 2007 2936877 117743 Luthien 1 2938828 This Digest report had a link with a few reports about the food, but so far no mention of the pizza at that particular location. Cerrito Speakeasy Theater http://www.chow.com/digest/2153 Thu Sep 13 13:29:09 -0700 2007 2936877 10264 rworange 1 2939105 I agree with all, I love the concept. And I love the Parkway but have to say that I'd be there more if the food were better. I haven't been to the Cerrito. I just went to the Pkwy and was dreading the couch situation but lo and behold, there were new couches upstairs! That isn't saying they'll be clean long but go while you can! As for food, I usually eat at home and stick to the popcorn, light butter please. It seems so sad b/c the women who talk about the menu on the opening trailer seem so excited about it. My dream would be that they bought Cheeseboard half-bakes and sold those. Yumm. Thu Sep 13 14:27:30 -0700 2007 2936877 11393 sarvey 1 2943671 Pizza by the slice is not the greatest here, as to be expected of anything that sits around under a heating lamp. The made-to-order pies are likely better, but I haven't tried those yet. I did recently have the Mummy's Tummy, a lavosh wrap filled with grilled veggies and babaganoush, and thought it was very good. Fresh, tasty, and a decent value for the price. My husband had the Sheik, a lavosh wrap with grilled chicken, hummus, roasted peppers, feta, and spinach, and likewise enjoyed it. Sat Sep 15 01:52:33 -0700 2007 2936877 49703 SpaceCoyote 2 3420665 Thought I'd follow up since we went again the other night, basically not much has changed, beer's still cold, popcorn is still good, food is otherwise unremarkable. Wifey had the chicken wings, a definite never again, lukewarm and mealy as opposed to crisp. If I wasn't watching a movie I would have taken them back. I had the Sheik, the filling was okay bit the lavosh was dry and stale tasting, I only finished half of it. It seemed like it was made earlier in the day and left out. $28 with two beers and popcorn, a bit steep for bad food. I want to like this place more, movies, popcorn and cold beer, what's not to like? I'll probably go back but stick to that. Would it kill them to make a deal with Ba Le up the street? THey also need to let me buy a second round of beers for delivery halfway through the film. Thu Feb 21 09:50:55 -0800 2008 2943671 10784 Scrapironchef 1 3945032 I wanted to mention a new-ish deal. For $35 you get two admissions, beer or wine, a 10 inch pizza with three toppings and a bowl of popcorn. I wish they'd throw in coffee or a cookie or something other than the popcorn, but it's still a good deal. The pizza made to order is much better than the slices that have been sitting around. We had grilled chicken, mushrooms and Kalamata olives. Sun Aug 10 11:43:55 -0700 2008 2936877 11231 Glencora 1 4731421 Closed due to finances - http://www.cerritospeakeasy.com/ Sun May 31 21:01:51 -0700 2009 2936877 10784 Scrapironchef 2 4731442 Looks like a group is trying to save the Parkway, perhaps they can do the same for the Cerrito http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/28/BUNH17S6C3.DTL Sun May 31 21:12:24 -0700 2009 4731421 17116 kc72 2 4734719 I heard last week they were trying to run it for a few more weeks - guess that didn't pan out. Mon Jun 01 23:20:48 -0700 2009 4731421 54804 bbulkow