Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to my new obsession, Showcase SuperLux in Chestnut Hill.
Let me back it up for a second. A few years ago when Legacy Place opened in Dedham, MA I heard they were getting a Showcase SuperLux. Friends who lived nearby were raving about the luxurious experience of seeing a movie this way. I was instantly intrigued.
And jealous.
Last week I got an email from Thrillist that a Showcase SuperLux was opening in Chestnut Hill in Newton. I literally jumped out of my desk chair with joy. I grew up going to the AMC movie theater in Chestnut Hill and this is a serious upgrade.
Last Thursday my friend and I drove to Chestnut Hill in the pouring rain to enjoy our first Showcase SuperLux experience.
I thought the theater was literally replacing the AMC theater, but it's actually in the space formerly occupied by Macy's (and before that, Bloomingdale's).
When you arrive to the theater, they have valet parking. For $8 a young man will park your car and deliver it back to you when the movie lets out.
When you approach the doors to the theater, there is a greeter at every single set of doors. Like a chivalrous date, they open the door for you. What service!
You head up an escalator to the main lobby. When you reach the landing you'll see the entrance to Davio's Cucina on the right.
Davio's has set up shop within the Showcase SuperLux complex, but is not actually related to the in-seat experience. You can visit Davio's without seeing a movie at all, or you can eat there before or after your showing.
There are two ticketing walls in the theater, each staffed with a Showcase SuperLux employee in case you have any questions. Tickets are $28 a piece.
Ticket in hand, you head to the concierge desk where they are happy to answer any questions and direct you toward your theater.
This area has its own bar, where again, you can sit and drink without going into a movie.
The concierge area also has little staged living rooms. I would imagine on weekends middle school kids will be hanging out all over these.
After taking a lap around, we headed toward our theater. We had purchased our tickets online and unfortunately the scanner the staff was using was broken, so we had to wait a good 10 minutes for them to resolve the issue.
When we got to our theater door, they noticed there were no seat numbers on our tickets. The manager was called, asked for my credit card, disappeared for another 10 minutes and then returned with seat assignments. A bit of a hiccup, but in fairness, they had only been open two days and were still working out some kinks.
Lesson learned: just buy your tickets when you arrive. It's actually easier.
At our theater door there were three more greeters (are you seeing a pattern here?) and one of the girls cheerily showed us to our seats.
These are the amazing lounge chairs you get to relax into when you see a movie at Showcase SuperLux. It is truly the ultimate viewing experience. The chairs were so comfortable. Honestly, they are wide enough for two people to sit in one together (though I am sure that is frowned upon).
We were seated in the first row of the stadium seating, which is the money spot. There is no one directly in front of you and the aisle is extra wide. I highly recommend snagging this spot if you can.
Here is the view from our prime seats:
For those who don't know, the main draw of the Showcase SuperLux experience (besides the lounge chairs) is that you can order food and booze directly to your seat.
Our waiter arrived, introduced himself and then handed us an iPad to peruse the menu options. There is wine, beer, cocktails, snacks, entrees, dessert, movie popcorn and candy.
The menu is fantastic! We had such a tough time deciding. Their dessert options are particularly incredible and includes milk and cookies from Rosie's Bakery next door. Bonus!
We decided to share an appetizer and the veggie burger. Forgive me, but our food didn't arrive until after the lights went down, so you'll have to use your imagination to enhance these food photos. I wish I had x-ray vision, but alas, the point and shoot camera can only achieve so much in the dark. Plus, I didn't want to be the jerk taking flash photos during a movie. Can you imagine?
The first thing to arrive was the fried green beans with ranch dipping sauce. These were a bit cold, but the flavor was excellent and it was the perfect portion size.
Since the tray tables at each chair swivel to the outside of each seat, we actually put this plate (and the next one) on the center console so we could share. Not ideal and kind of poor planning on their part, but we made it work.
We also shared their veggie burger, which was delicious. For those who have had the veggie burger at Hillstone, it's very similar.
Post-veggie burger we snuggled further into our chairs and really enjoyed the cozy seats.
About an hour into the movie we got a craving for candy. One of the best things about Showcase SuperLux is that you have a call button at your seat. You can push it any time and a staff member will appear. In fact, our waiter said, "You go ahead and push that button as many times as you like. I'm here all night for whatever you need." Pretty awesome.
We ordered M&M's and Milk Duds which came in jumbo packages!
I was having so much fun at the start of the evening I forgot to take a picture of the most magical feature of the lounge chairs - the full recline. I spent the entire movie with my feet up. Glorious!
As we were packing up to head out, my friend turned to me and said, "This was nearly perfect, but next time, we bring blankets!" What a superb idea.
I have to say, I was really looking forward to my first ever Showcase SuperLux experience and boy was I impressed! The theater itself is beautiful and feels very high end. There is an army of staff at every point in the process to greet you and assist you. They are very well trained.
The lounge chairs in the theater are insanely comfortable. The fact that they recline all the way is just too good to be true. The chairs alone are worth your $28 dollars.
The on-call waiters and waitresses really make it feel like a first class experience. I wasn't expecting the food to be good, but it turned out to be great. Really delicious and a lot of fabulous choices. I also really like that they still offer the movie classics - popcorn, candy and soda.
Overall, our trip to Showcase SuperLux was a huge success. I cannot wait to go back!
Be sure to follow @ShowcaseUS and @ShowcaseSuperLx on Twitter. I was tweeting them all day long before I went in, and both accounts responded in real time, several times.
Visit the new Showcase SuperLux at 55 Boylston Street, Chestnut Hill, MA.
Anyone else been?
