The newest movie theater in Southwest Florida opens April 29, and it does so with an array of entertainment offerings that go beyond the usual options across the region.
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Naples doesn’t have normal concession stands. Instead, it has a full-service menu and bar, with wait staff “ninja” trained, according to the company, slipping in and out of theaters with hand-written orders on sheets of paper before returning not just with popcorn, but full meals.
Sandwiches cost in the $15 to $17 range, and signature cocktails are in the $10 to $15 range among the menu’s many items. Movie tickets cost $14.99 for a matinee and $16.99 in the evenings. There’s also a monthly pass offered for $29.99, which includes unlimited movies each month, with one viewing allowed per day.
“Bringing fun and whimsy to a night out at the movies has been our mission since we opened 28 years ago,” said Alamo Drafthouse Cinema founder Tim League.
The cinephile collects classic movie posters. He joked he continued opening theaters so he would have a place to store them. The North Naples theater, located in the Mercato shopping center at 9118 Strada Place, Unit 8205, off U.S. 41, has 11 theaters ranging in size from 58 to 83 seats and takes up a combined 33,652 square feet of space.
There are a combined 682 seats.
The seats are leather and can recline. Each seat has a tray with a menu and ordering form underneath and a ballpoint pen attached for ease of ordering.
Movie patrons typically arrive 30 minutes before showtime, CEO Michael Kustermann said.
“The reception from the Naples community has been overwhelming,” Kustermann said.
This location differentiates itself from the others with a nine-hole miniature golf course at the entrance. Each hole is themed after a movie, the most noticeable of which is “Happy Gilmore,” hence the HappyLand Movie Miniature Golf name.
“Alamo Drafthouse Naples and HappyLand is a natural evolution in that sense, because what’s more fun than seeing a movie and then hitting golf balls between the legs of a giant gorilla?” League said.
Brock Cowgill, general manager for the North Naples location, will oversee a staff of 133 employees. He said they take their movies seriously. The use of cell phones during movies is strongly discouraged, to the point where policy violators will be asked to leave.
That policy wasn’t in place when League founded the company in 1997. It evolved over time. As the movie business continues to change, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema has changed with it, Kustermann said.
“For 25 years, we’ve been pioneering something very different, right? Dine-in cinema. Drafthouse is our middle name. So full bar, beer, cocktails. Food that is bought and served to you. We don’t have a traditional concession stand,” Kusterman said.
“We are a very differentiated experience that people will certainly see when they come in terms of no advertising. We do our own pre-show content. We ask you to put your phones down. No talking, no texting. It’s really about respecting the film.
“We’ve always kind of had a different point of view about what makes going to the movies so great and a reason to get off the couch. We believe bringing that to Naples is really going to provide someone a different experience than what they’re used to traditionally.”
