Restaurant Review: Falmouth Cinema Pub

My wife likes to go to the movie theater, but I don't. The tickets are expensive, and you either have to eat late or watch a late movie (either way, you're out late). For that matter, eating out can get expensive. Then there are the teenagers sneaking from movie to movie, or the screaming kids (I can say this because I have teenagers who were once screaming kids).

None of those negatives apply to the Falmouth Cinema Pub, which just opened in the old theater at the Falmouth Mall.

The concept of the place - to eat dinner while watching a movie - has been done elsewhere, but it's a first for the Cape. Eating while watching a movie would seem to be a distraction, but the concept actually works.

For starters, the tickets are $1 cheaper than those at the other local theaters.

Then there's the food. Not only is it good and reasonably priced, it actually fixes every other shortcoming one finds in movie theaters. For example, you can do dinner and a movie and still be home by 9pm, the kids aren't screaming because they're too busy eating, and the teenagers have to stay put because the wait staff will catch them sneaking around.

Speaking of wait staff, they know their stuff. Handheld computers are used instead of pads (easier to see in the low light), and they quietly go about their business, ducking when necessary.

The utensils are paper and plastic, so background noise is non-existent. The screen is large, and while high enough to see over the heads of the next table up, it's not so high that you're craning your neck to see it.

The menu is essentially pub fare - no 4-star meals here - but the pizza and burgers are excellent, and you can even enjoy an adult beverage with dinner. The hot chocolate (a favorite with my girls) is hot, and if you're not up for dinner, you can still get the usual assortment of popcorn, soda and candy (and at much more reasonable prices than those other places). Indeed, the food is so good that the movie is icing on the cake.

My wife and I have been back to the Cinema Pub several times, including a movie with all three of our kids (ages 9 to 17), and we can find nothing to criticize. It's highly recommended.