Come and Watch It An Exclusive on The Alamo Drafthouse

By Elizabeth Bircher

TThe Alamo Drafthouse

Cinema is a staple in local film and film viewing. At one point, it was just a onescreen operation, now they have over 250.

The Alamo Drafthouse was founded in 1997 by Tim and Karrie League. The original location was 409 Colorado Street in Austin. It was a place to enjoy food and beer while simultaneously watching movies. There are five locations in Austin: Lakeline, Mueller, Slaughter Lane, South Lamar, and Village. Currently, the company has over 40 locations and it’s still expanding. The theaters started in Texas but are now spreading throughout the United States.

Inside a theater at the Alamo Drafthouse Mueller location. Courtesy of creative commons

The Alamo Drafthouse’s name is distinctive. The first word in it, “Alamo”, was chosen due to multiple reasons. The first factor is that while they were naming the company, the yellow pages were still used. The yellow pages were telephone directories with the phone numbers of companies listed in alphabetical order. The company decided to start its name with an A to take advantage of this. As the Senior Film Programmer John Smith explained, “It was to your advantage back then to have your business start with the letter A because you’d be at the top of the yellow pages”. Consequently, this helped them gain more business. When they were opening the original location, the owners had gotten a large neon sign that only had room for about five letters on it. They chose the word Alamo because the original location’s building had a facade that looked like the Alamo. The second word in the name, “Drafthouse”, which means a place where beer is served, came from the purpose of the theater, enjoying beer and food while watching movies.

As more and more theaters start to serve food and drink, the Alamo Drafthouse is trying to set itself apart from them. They are “having a lot more variety and trying to have high quality,” Smith said. They have to keep the standard for their food above other cinemas. Serving food to this many people is a challenge with the limited space available. With an average restaurant sized kitchen, sometimes they have to serve up to 1000 people at a time. Very busy nights at the theater have to be planned carefully to ensure that the kitchen does not get overloaded with orders. There are many different reasons why someone would decide to visit the theater. One attendee said that they “live in the neighborhood so just walking here is pretty convenient”. The Mueller location is surrounded by many residential areas which brings a lot of business from people that live close by. Another Alamo Drafthouse attendee, Bre, appreciated the theater for many different reasons. “I think there’s a sense of community at the Alamo Drafthouse that other theaters don’t have, comfy chairs like I said, and obviously being able to eat and drink during the movie is a big plus too,” she said. For many, the luxury of being waited while getting to

by Elizabeth Bircher

watch a movie is the biggest pull factor. There are also restaurants and bars at some of the locations. The ones in Austin are the Glass Half Full Taproom, Barrel O’ Fun, 400 Rabbits, and The Highball. I spoke to an Alamo attendee and he told me that he “did go to the Barrel O’ Fun today before the movie and it was fun.”

Other than just being a theater, the Alamo Drafthouse also hosts Fantastic Fest. This is a film festival started in 2005 that focuses on many different genres such as horror, science fiction, fantasy, action, and more. Many guests come to Austin to speak at this event. It lasts 8 days and is held annually in September.

Film has always played an important part in people’s lives. Smith explained how important the theater is when he said “We have the ability to give people really cool experiences that they’ll take with them and remember for a long, long time”. It can give people a new perspective on things that they may have never been able to see on their own. This unique opportunity is different than any other.