Showplace Icon Chicago-- Dinner & a Movie in the same place

Just in from the VIP treatment at this movie theatre. Funny, I was all excited that they had Coke Zero ( yes I called them & asked if they had Coke Zero, I knew better than to ask if they had Mexican Coke) & anticipated standard fare popcorn, I didn't even ask if real butter was available.

Since we decided to do the VIP movie treatment ( no one under 21 permitted) we got to sit in the lounge & take in the views before the movie. Instead of having popcorn we were given menus & actual service. There were meat & cheese plates, assorted olives, pizzas, panini, cup cake flights, red velvet cake, & something on the menu called bacon popcorn. I thought salad offerings were missing, but it's a movie joint right?

Wow! We all got panini (they offered mushroom, chicken, italian, & prosciutto) & since the show was about to start they whisked our food (it was on actual plates w/ flatware & cloth napkins) to our seats. There's enough space on the little console table to rest your plate.

I watched movie trailers while slicing w/ fork & knife into mushrooms. Oh yeah, they came w/ nicely browned chips. I thought the food could use a bit more salt, but what a pleasant surprise instead of the usual movie popcorn & a half cherry half coke Icee.

This environment was a real hit for us. I hope they run most of the Oscar contenders here, we will be back. Unfortunately we already purchased reserved seats for Avatar 3D at Navy Pier Imax.

Showplace Icon
150 W. Roosevelt Road
Chicago, Il 60605
312.564.2104

I went to the preview night on Thursday. Living in the South Loop, I've been wishing for years that something like this would find its way in to provide direct competition to AMC River East. It's a beautiful space, and this is the first theater I've seen that conjures up memories of the Arclight in Hollywood for me.

I got to sit in the VIP section as well (those seats are HUGE), and while I didn't order food, I'll certainly make that a priority next time. Assigned seating, reasonably priced beer (though I do wish they had some on tap), normal admission is slightly cheaper than River East, AND I can walk there in under 15 minutes. Sign me up.

I was slightly disappointed with their opening weekend selection, though, especially because they've said that they plan to cater to more select tastes going forward to provide an alternative to Landmark Century Center. Hopefully that will eventually be the case.

We went there on Friday. Neat idea. I did indeed order the bacon popcorn. Believe it or not, it works. Fresh bacon crumbles on top of your popcorn. We also got the chips and dip, which my wife found to be ordinary.

It was really amazingly cool to be able to bring a vodka tonic into the auditorium. And the seats are large, comfortable, and pre-assigned.

Bringing food in there wasn't that great, though. I didn't find it as easy to balance a plate on that little side table. Next time, I'd arrive earlier, have a snack at the bar before the movie. Or perhaps step downstairs for a normal snack before walking up to the VIP area.

I went to the Showplace Icon last night. Overall, it's a nice theater and the VIP area was comfortable. Parking is free for now, although I found it odd that you're forced to take the elevator from the parking garage; there are no stairs. That makes for quite a bottleneck, at least after the movie lets out.

I wasn't so crazy about the food experience. First of all, you have to order it at the bar, which was quite crowded and understaffed on a Saturday night. We ordered 5-10 minutes before the movie, and the pager device they gave us didn't go off until about 45 minutes later. At that point, you have to leave the theater to go back to the bar to get the food. (There was a claim that you could give your seat number and they would bring it to you, but that wasn't offered to us as an option.)

As for the food itself, I got a panini with chips and the bacon popcorn. The panini was overly greasy and salty. The chips were a mixed bag--some were crisp, but others were soggy with grease. The bacon popcorn had an interesting flavor, although I doubt I'll have it again.

Next time, I'll just get food at the regular concession stand downstairs and avoid the hassle. Despite the title of this thread, I wouldn't see this place as a real dinner and a movie option--certainly not in the way the Village Roadshow Gold Class theater in Barrington is.

We went on opening weekend and were very impressed by the helpful staff. Could have been opening weekend glitz but I was asked by no less than three employees between the concession stand and my seat if I would like them to carry my purchases to my seat. My partner and I arrived well before show time and had a snack at the bar. The meat/cheese platter was good quality and a good deal. We ordered the three choice option (3 meats/3 cheeses) which was $8 and came with small portions of accompaniments (quince paste, hazelnuts, grapes, date nut bread, bread.) Although we chose tallegio we received gorgonzola so I had to return it. Bartender had to confirm with chef that it was indeed the wrong cheese but left the incorrect one and brought a generous serving of the tallegio. Another minus was that the red wine was very chilled. The bartender said that all wines are stored at 54 degrees. Not to my liking, I wonder if this will change. We had a nice chat with the bartender who said they really hope to become a neighborhood bar (not just movie theater bar) for this area.