iPic Theaters

So now I have been to iPic Theater. And never need to go back.
Having been once I can now say, with the authority borne of hundreds of Austin movie theater tickets under my belt, that there is just no reason to go. $ 16. SIXTEEN. $ 5.50 more than Alamo and $ 4 more than Flix or Moviehouse for a non-​premium seat up front, disingenuously labeled «Premium,» nearer the screen than I would ordinarily sit. These (admittedly comfortable, large, non-​reclining leather chairs with seat trays) are distinguished from the «Premium Plus» seats further back which do recline and are priced at $ 28 (!!) but include at seat service and a blanket, needed by no one with normal circulation in Austin this century)
So I got to pay a premium to sit in the first 2 rows with no at-​seat service. For someone who might ordinarily have a couple of beers during a movie, this meant I either had to make do with one or get up and walk to the lobby to buy another, missing part of the film. I settled for one purchased at the lobby bar, and a decent (but overpriced) sandwich. I paid $ 14 for a Turkey Panini that was toasted but not warmed all the way through and $ 8.50 for a 22oz Adelbert’s ale.
I was seated next to a stupid talking lady who I had to shush. And who I also had to tell to put her phone away during the movie, during which I saw not a single usher anywhere near the steerage seats.
Overpriced and under-​delivering, seemingly unaware of their nearby robust competition which is providing far better value and service.

Absolutely love how comfortable it is. Good was better than expected and prices were the only complaint.

Enjoyed the nice clean atmosphere! Would be a great place for a date night! Definitely will go back!

Karen from ipic hr asks for your info but never follows up. Seems I’m not the only one this happened to

Just visited iPic tonight for my first time & was sadly disappointed. First, the only seats available were the Premium (not the Premium Plus) so we purchased them thinking the seats would recline at the least, however we were sadly mistaken. Second, we made it only 20 minutes into the movie before walking out due to being so incredibly uncomfortable. Plus when you have the option to go to Moviehouse & Eatery down the road for much cheaper but with full service and reclining chairs throughout the entire theatre it makes iPic look overrated & overpriced.

I’ve been to iPic many times and it’s always such a treat. I always get there at least an hour early to enjoy the bar/​waiting area. I love the pool table and the general ambiance. There are tons to seating areas in the bar so it’s never been a problem to find a place to sit – a major plus for me in the busy city of Austin. I’ve personally never had a bad a experience with customer service – all the waiters have been attentive and friendly.
When it comes to the theater – it just doesn’t get much better than the Premium VIP seats. Yes – it’s pricier than a normal movie experience. But it’s not a normal movie experience. The seats fully recline – there is a blanket and pillow – the sound is great and I love that the arm rests also serve as a cubby for your personal belongings. The food choices are interesting and they have a lot of options – including easy bites if you struggle with eating in the dark like I do.
The thing that I also love about iPic is that I’ve never found the theater service to be disruptive. The waiters are very quiet and discreet and this is important if you’re into your movie! Overall definitely worth the splurge!

Visited iPic for the first time this past Friday. I wanted to see Creed before it left theaters, and it was no longer showing at any of the places I typically frequent. I shelled out the $ 28 for the premium seat with service, and enjoyed a $ 16 pizza and a couple of beers. The seat was comfy, and reclined if you’re into that. I chose to disregard the blanket and pillow, the temp was fine and I wasn’t looking to take a nap. The pizza was good, but was smaller and more expensive than the same variety at Alamo Drafthouse or Flix. Service was attentive, polite, and punctual.
So why only 3 stars? Really just the price. With tip, I spent $ 70 — the same experience at Alamo would have been a under $ 40. The only real differentiator was the seat, which wasn’t worth $ 30+. iPic is perfectly fine, but unless it’s the only theater/​eatery in town showing what I want to see, I doubt I’ll be back.

Love ipic I’d say if it wasn’t so pricey I’d give it give it five stars. I will add it is way nicer than any other theater I’ve personally been to here in Austin including yes Alamo! I know I’ll have some haters but at both places the service is ok. The seats here at ipic are a lot more comfy and I love the roominess of the premium area. You pay a bit more which is probably cause they give you popcorn with every premium chair you get but they recline and come with a pillow and a blanket.
You also can get a membership at different levels free and one for $ 15 a year that discounts the premiums seats. Every time you buy tickets or use the card on file in your account the membership gives you points for every dollar you spend. These points can be spent on drinks food or free movie tickets depending on how many you have accumulated. You also get more free movie tickets throughout the year than at Alamo draft house which I also have a free membership at. Plus you get a free premium seat ticket for your b day.
I’ve had a couple things go wrong with my food order and the manager was so nice he emailed me two free premium seat tickets that didn’t expire. I guess it comes down to how much you wanna spend when going out to see a movie. I will say you gotta at least try it once.
Ipic also has a two pool tables and a full restaurant /​bar you can go to if your not in the movie mood. I’d recommend the buffalo spring rolls, pita nachos and the fish and chips they have once and a while. The truffle fries aren’t bad either. Plus if you ask they have an off the menu item called the loaded baked potato chips I sub the chips for tater tots really fatty but soo good.

UGHH. Horrible experience.
First, had zero idea that their ‘Premium’ seats were self serve– at $ 16 per seat that seems ridiculous. We wound up ordering food on the fly (good thing we were 10 minutes early), but I still had to leave our seats to run and pick up our order. Plus, if you want a second cerveza during a 3 hour movie– owell, consider yourself out of luck. You can just miss the entire plot.
Shoddy, overpriced and disappointing to the extreme. I agree with another, reviewer on two points.
The premium plus seating is HUGELY INSULTING. I don’t need to be treated like a peasant when my family was just trying to get available seats for Star Wars.
Very shocked-​not really after this all the condescending behavior– that the «Premium Plus» menu includes healthier options…
Excerpt from another reviewer: «my boyfriend ordered the one healthy thing on the menu, they let him know, «Actually, sir, ummm, since you don’t have the premium plus upgrade, you can only order from the limited menu here. You can order either pizza or sliders.
In the words of iPIC– «Let them eat cake.»

This is one of my «Go to» theaters. Yes it’s a little pricey but I am all about comfort and space between the next person sitting next to me. So for me it’s worth it. Plus I watch movies at least 3 – 4 times a month.
I never had any issues with my seats or service. It’s nice to have free popcorn, not sure if they serve it free in the lower section since I always sit in the Premium Plus seats. I like to recline while I watch a movie.

Updating my review and bumping from 4 to 5 stars. I would give 4.5 if that was an option.
I think they listened to me about the temperature of the theater! It has consistently been a decent temperature in the past months.
This theater is still not perfect, but I think it’s the best around. The only area I sometimes have problems with, and it’s not common, is with people checking their phone or talking during the movie. It happens in every theater, but less often at iPic. I wish the staff would be more aggressive at approaching people when it does happen though. It’s always me who has to be the bad guy and tell my neighbor to not check Facebook in the middle of the movie. Why people think it’s okay to do this, I will never understand.

So here’s what is comes down to. Would you rather see a movie with the crowds in a standard model cineplex for $ 8, or would you rather drop $ 24 for a roomy comfortable reclining lounge chair with table and full service drinks and snacks. Maybe we see an average of one movie a month, and for the comfort and convenience of a recliner in a pleasant theater with reserved seating, iPic is usually the only place we’d go.
Time before or after the show? The lounge bar area is really inviting, and I’d not hesitate to hang there anytime for a while.
Price aside, there are a few things that strike a star from their potential rating. The food selections are not particularly well thought out considering they will inevitably be eaten while sitting back in a recliner in a completely dark theater. I’d give a thumbs up to the biscuits or the pretzels, if you’re really hungry, but think hard about ordering much else, knowing you are reclined and in a very dark theater. The first few times we visited iPic, we were thinking a meal and a movie, but between the difficulty eating, and not really caring for most of the dishes we did try, for the most part I’d recommend iPic as a date drinks and a movie spot. You do have free popcorn coming. Meal and movie, go Alamo and sit up.
The other downside is the Austin iPic has a few years on it now. Coverings starting to fray off the tables, under one table the electronics for the wait staff button was loose and dangling under the table, and the recliners are really starting to wear out. I’m hoping they have an overall refresh of the seating in the works.
That all said, I’ll continue to be an iPic fan.

Wow disappointing. Spent around 200 $ here for three people. We got VIP seats which were nice but the 3D glasses were awful. Service upstairs nice but not downstairs. Confusing different menus. No greeting. No have you been here before this is how it works… My sister had a ticket purchased separately yet they printed with 3 of mine without telling me & then the girl was all snooty about it. Worst salty popcorn I’ve ever had. Don’t get the mulligan drink. It was $ 11 glass of water with a tiny bit of cucumber juice. Awful. I liked the chairs & cubby to put things in during movie. Waiters standing up blocking screen. Dirty bathrooms. Weird… The star is for the chair & waiter upstairs. Rest gets zero.

So… if you buy regular tickets you are in a section that is self serve but there is no indication that that is the case on their website or when you show up. If you are the type to show up just on time and are buying tickets here the first time that is very important information to have.
To make it worse no one tells you this… you just have to figure it out on your own otherwise you sit there till you get fed up and get up to ask. I saw 2 other groups get up mid movie to get food because they didn’t know. Honestly, it wouldn’t be so bad if someone tells you this… but that’s clearly not a priority.
I see no rational reason to come here over Alamo Drafthouse. Here you pay more than there to get no waiter, less choice of food, and worse food… maybe if the food were good it might be worth it to come here… but its not.
Pick which one to be, luxury theater or regular one. I wouldn’t mind paying more for a better experience but to have a special «premium plus» section of the theater is just insulting, especially when there is no indication that that is the case until you walk in. CHANGE THE WEBSITE TO BE MORE TRANSPARENT ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE ARE PAYING FOR.
After reading some reviews on here I also learned there is a «premius plus» menu that includes more things…
Excerpt from another review here: «when my boyfriend ordered the one healthy thing on the menu, they let him know, «Actually, sir, ummm, since you don’t have the premium plus upgrade, you can only order from the limited menu here. You can order either pizza or sliders.»

Very cool upscale movie theater. HUGE TIP: if you want the full experience, do yourself a favor and pay the extra for the premium seats. Also get a free membership to get better prices. Sadly, my friend and I did not know that these premium seats came with reclining chairs, better seating location in the theater, free popcorn, blankets, and wait service. Instead, we decided to be cheap and got the normal front seats, which were also very comfy and spacious though. Ipic is definitely an experience, and you are for sure paying a lot extra for it. But it’s something everyone in the area must try once! Comfiest I’ve ever been at a movie theater.

I had a really great time here, but this is not the place I would go on the regular.
I was part of a group of friends seeing a so-bad-it’s-hilarious new release that educated people should never bother with. We booked up the entire upper, fancy seating area. It was super comfortable and I love the recliners and bottomless popcorn.
The servers do NOT try to be quiet when they come by.
The food is crazy expensive and not very good. Eat before you go. Cocktails are super weak, stick to beer. Beer prices are on par with Alamo Drafthouse.
They give 0 craps if people in the theater are talking or texting or skimming Facebook on their phones. For our rowdy group’s purposes this was great but this would really suck if it was a serious movie you were actually trying to pay attention to.
If you’re buying the fancy seats and some drinks or whatever get ready to easily drop $ 50-​$ 75.

So the only reason I’m not giving this place 5 stars is because of the HORRIBLE customer service from the two women at the front desk. They were trying to explain the concept of the theater (which we already knew) so i told them, we get it I would like to pick my seats now as there was other customers in line and the movie previews had already started. She then proceed to let me pick my seats only to FORCE me to change them cause another customer (who was there after us in the line next to us) wanted them. when i specially did not want to sit there and was missing the movie. i couldn’t believe how unprofessional and rude they were.
Other than that the seats/​the wait staff and the food were amazing. i will defiantly go back just hope to avoid the nasty front desk women.
it is a bit expensive but the price includes water and personal popcorn (which was great) and blankets and pillows. i did wish they had slurpies tho. we got the crispy rice spicy tuna that was 5 small bites for $ 16

I heard a lot about iPic but never had a chance to go. I am a big fan Alamo Draft House and Movie House and Eatery so I had high expectation for this place. I will say my review is purely for how it looked and the movie. I did not order anything and I sat in the basic seats.
Over all, for $ 12 a ticket, the place was very clean and the movie sounded great. I did wish that they were a little clearer on the website about what the different seat types meant. I was unaware that the basic seats had no recline and were all at the bottom of the theater but you get what you pay for.
One of these days I will come back to get the full experience of this theater but overall, it was a solid movie going time.
PS: Make sure you sign up for the free membership and do not pay the non member ticket price.

We absolutely luv this theatre. Abundant space, large reclining seats, free wifi, and service at a touch of a button. Wow best theatre experience I’ve ever had.
They bring your order. Include free popcorn when u sit on the large reclining chairs and have water sitting on your table as u enter,
You have to try the sliders. Small, simple, and won’t make a mess if your taking your special person with you. But if it does it’s a dark movie and they wouldn’t tell anyways.
If you order candy it comes in a Asian take out food container with the metal handle. Seemed odd but I think u get more candy.
The theatre felt clean, you get blankets, a place to store your belongings, sit back and relax to enjoy the show.

Nope, never again.
The two stars I am giving them is for their service and the quality of the food. Each of three service people we dealt with were unfailingly nice, professional and welcoming. Kudos.
The food we ate was fine — not haute cuisine, but good. I especially liked the ham and cheese biscuits with the maple butter, but everything was fine, really.
But that’s it. The prices were outrageous — we spent way more than we would for a similar experience at Moviehouse Eatery or even Alamo. When we were leaving I added up our total cost for tickets and dinner/​drinks, and immediately had consumer remorse. Never came close to feeling that way at the many movies I’ve seen at Alamo and MHEatery.
We could not get four seats together in the premium section, and now I’m glad we didn’t. The upcharge for them is apparently for three things:
table service — don’t care, it wasn’t a big deal to bring our own food and drinks in from the bar area
blanket — who gives a shit
popcorn — maybe the least expensive food possible
The kicker for me was the family seated directly behind us. Two parents, two kids about 7 years old from all appearances, and a NEWBORN baby. Seriously. The baby cried and made noise throughout the movie, but not once did we see an official from iPic politely ask the mother to leave the theater with her crying baby. And what kind of parents bring their elementary school kids to a PG-​13 movie with tons of violent action? And what kind of theater allows it?
All in all, I’m happy that there are a wealth of other movie options, for which you’ll spend a lot less money and you won’t have a crying baby behind you. iPic may have gotten my money this time, but I won’t make that mistake twice.
Two thumbs way down for iPic.