Dine-In Movie Theater With Luxe Fare Opens in UES Tonight

NYC is getting yet another super luxe dine-in theater. CMX Cinébistro, opening on UES tonight, places a heavy focus on its upscale dining experience, where a myriad of dishes feature high-end ingredients like Wagyu beef and dashi cheddar cheese.

The six-floor theater opening at 400 E. 62nd St., between First and York Avenues, is equipped with six auditoriums and a full-floor kitchen that will whip up meals from scratch, such as lobster cannoli, Moroccan lamb, and Ōra King salmon.

It’s a full-service dining affair with a menu that sports appetizers, salads, entrees, and desserts, and servers who take everyone’s order 30 minutes before each movie showing. Unlike other dine-in theaters, here everything is served all at once. Further ordering must be done at concessions outside the theater room to avoid movie interruption.

Cinébistro — marketed by company executives as a “restaurant that shows movies” — has 45,500-square-feet of theater space within a renovated building that once held the Clearview multiplex. The NYC spot is poised to become the brand’s flagship location, the company says.

While the menu dabbles with high-end fare, the idea is not to compete with NYC’s fine-dining fixtures, says CMX’s VP of Culinary Development Isaac Stewart, who oversees menu development across all locations.

But Stewart says it was important to create a New York-specific menu for this Cinébistro, with items like the Wagyu beef sliders and short rib mac and cheese made with dashi cheddar added to cater to a New York crowd.

CMX Cinébistro [Official Photo]

CMX Cinébistro [Official Photo]

The theater also aims for luxury in the space, where big lounge chairs that fully recline replace traditional theater seating and come with storage compartments and USB ports for phone chargers. Swivel tables are attached to the arms of each chair, and meals come prepared on real plates with real silverware. Two bars are also in the building, where a robust cocktail menu is on offer, as well as beer and wine available by the glass or bottle.

But the theater does take it down a notch from super-high-end competitor iPic Theaters in the South Street Seaport, where tickets include a pillow and blanket. (No pillow or blankets are offered at Cinebistro’s UES spot.) And it doesn’t go as far as to theme the food offerings around each movie, as has been the case at the Nighthawk Cinema. At Cinebistro, the high-end meals on its menu are the true focus.

Cinébistro’s six auditoriums have 46 to 64 seats each, and there are two per level inside the building. CMX Cinemas, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mexico’s Cinemex, is one of the largest movie theater chains in the U.S. The NYC outpost is its 37th site.

The flashy theater opens today with showings of Halloween, What They Had, First Man, and Beautiful Boy starting at 7 p.m., according to its website. Eventually, it will show five new releases and one independent film. There’s a 21+ policy after 6 p.m.

Movie tickets are $20 from Monday through Thursday and $25 Friday through Sunday. Afternoon sessions during the week go for $17. Food prices range from $12 for a salad up to $39 for the lamb dish. See the full food and drink menus below.