Regal Cinebarre is our favorite place to see movies in Knoxville
For those who don’t know, Knoxville, Tennessee is a Regal town. I mean the headquarters is literally here – you can see it looming over the south bank of the Tennessee River as you stand at the edge of Downtown. So it comes as no surprise that there are more Regal cinemas to choose from than AMC or Cinemark theaters.
The best one by far is actually 10-15 mins from Downtown, closer to West Knoxville and Bearden areas, and is inside the West Town Mall.
What makes it "the best"?
In our eyes, 3 things make this the best theater:
1. Great food and drink
2. Leather recliners
3. Easy-to-earn rewards program
Okay, that last one probably applies to all Regal cinemas but is worth mention because, after never having been part of a rewards program at a theater, we earn a free 2D movie ticket just about every-other visit to the cinema!
What food and drink do they have at Cinebarre?
You mean there’s more to a movie experience than just popcorn and candy?
Here, there is SO MUCH more. It’s not the only one of its kind – there are still theaters offering what is basically full-service at different cinema chains across the US, but this one does it right. They have a full food menu, everything from wings to pizza to burgers and more.
FOOD
If you’ve never experienced it, you might be thinking No thanks, I don’t want the equivalent of a hot pocket cooked in a dirty microwave.
This is so much better than that – I was skeptical at first too, but this food honestly rivals some restaurants I’ve been to in quality. Personal favorites on date night are appetizers usually, which for us is their pretzel bites with beer cheese and spicy fried pickle spears. But we’ve also had salads, chicken sandwiches, burgers, pizza, and wings, and I’d say just about anything is good, but the standouts for me are the apps and pizza.
DRINKS
This place has a full-service bar, and then some. Yes they do still have all the normal fountain drinks (Pepsi products), but let’s focus on the adult beverages (says the person who routinely watches animated movies at the theater). For those who don’t want alcohol, they also have ice cream floats and milkshakes, coffee, and italian soda.
They have about any drink you can imagine, and their menu sections it off into type – whiskey drinks, tequila, gin, vodka, mules, wines, beer, etc. I think 3 things are notable here:
1. Themed cocktails: on the “front page” of their drink menu (which is a webpage you scan a QR code to see), they always have themed drinks which usually are named after one of the current movies, typically about 3 cocktails of different varieties (different liquors and profiles, e.g. some fruity and some creamy).
2. Boozy milkshakes: this one is going to be divisive – people either think these are a good idea or think they ruin both the milkshake and the alcohol. Personally, I’m a fan. Sure, it isn’t something I want 5 of, but then again I’m not going to the movies to do THAT kind of drinking. They have some made with moonshine, which adds a little Tennessee flair. I’d personally recommend the Oreo or the Blackberry.
3. Beer selection: not only do they have national flagship craft beers (your big light beers, but also Sierra Nevada, Dogfishhead, etc.) but also local brews such as Blackhorse Brewery and Xul Beer Co. They rotate these throughout the year, and sometimes you luck out on a delicious gem you’ve not tried before.
PRICES
We all know the food is where movie theaters make their money, right? So these prices shouldn’t be a shock to anyone. Honestly, many of them are on par with any restaurant nowadays.
As of the time of this writing, these are how the costs shake out: For appetizers (they call them “snacks”), they range from $8 to $12. The pickles mentioned earlier are $8.49 and the pretzels $9.99.
For burgers and sandwiches, they range from $13 to $16. Hot Dogs are around $9. An order of wings is $11 and typically about 8 wings (but they come with a tasty little waffle too).
Pizzas are all around $14-$15, and salads are between $9 – $12.
Then some sweet treats ranging from $6 to $10: donut holes, cheesecakes, and sundaes to name a couple.
Of course, I couldn’t forget good ol’ popcorn, which will run you $10 and has unlimited refills. They also have a Cheetos version for the same price (though may not be refillable).
Oh, and did we mention they named all of them basically like dad jokes? The literal items are called things like Lord of the Wings, When Harry Met Salad, and Fry Hard!
Adult beverages range from $9 (the smallest/cheapest wine and beers) to $14 (the most expensive signature cocktails).
Here is a link to the menu landing page. In our experience, the menu is pretty consistent through the year.
One of your highlights is leather recliners, really?
Yes, really. Hear me out – so long as you are paying anywhere from $12 to $21 per ticket, you want the best experience you can have, right? These recliners kick your feet all the way up and tilt the chair back probably 30-ish degrees (I didn’t bring a protractor). They are controlled by a little button pad on the inside of the right armrest (just above your right thigh). These chairs make good movies even better, and movies that aren’t as good as you thought at least comfortable.
Regal Crown Club - a rewards program for going to the movies
Like most people, I’m no stranger to being a part of a rewards program for a place I frequent. Some folks are avid Starbucks loyalists, some have Kroger rewards cards, but I never really thought about one for the movies. At first, I kind of dismissed it as “just another thing to sign up for”. But then I looked at the rewards:
My initial thoughts were ok, either 18,000 credits is a lot, or the rewards are hard to earn. As it turns out, I was wrong: every dollar you spend on tickets and concessions is 100 rewards points (i.e. credits), effectively making them 1 cent each.
Personally, I think this is an enticing enough scenario to justify using the rewards program every time we go. Go with me on this example: 2 of you go, each buys a matinee ticket (~$15 each), a drink, and a food item (~$25 each – let’s say you like cocktails and pizza). Right there, your total cost $80. Some of you are saying OUCH, but most of you already know how painful the cost of going to the theater has been for a few years now. That $80 is 8,000 points. So you can see how, in either 3 more thrifty visits to the theater, or 2 where you are REALLY enjoying yourselves (it’s ok, we too have this problem), you can easily earn the 18,000 points for a free (2D) movie ticket! That cuts the next cinema visit cost by 25% – 50%.
Let’s face it, most people have a pretty good TV at home now that they can stream just about any imaginable movie on for cheaper than visiting the theater, even if they have to buy it. The point of going to the theater is to have an experience, and so long as that is the point, getting a free movie ticket every couple visits is a pretty good reward in my book.
However, if you don’t want a free ticket, or free concessions as shown above, there’s other things you can do with the credits:
As you can see above, you can enter sweepstakes for different prize packs of movie-related gear for a dollar worth of credits each, or even get live-size movie posters (they’re about $600 worth of credits each, but hey, they’re your points)!
Movie Ticket Prices
It may seem remiss that I’ve made it this far into this post without talking about the prices of the tickets themselves, so here it is – as of the time of this writing, tix are:
Early/cheapest matinee: From what we can tell, matinees are movie times at or before 4 pm
Adults $12.49, seniors and children $11.49
“Premium” matinee: that’s just what I’m going to call it – I’m not sure when they decide a movie needs a more expensive matinee
Adults $13.49, seniors and children $12.49
“Regular” tickets (after 4pm): These appear to come at 3 prices, perhaps influenced by the releasing studios.
Tier 1 Adults: $15.99, seniors and children $11.49
Tier 2 Adults: $16.99, seniors and children $12.49
Tier 3 Adults: $18.49, seniors and children $13.99
3D tickets:
Matinee: Adults $17.99, seniors and children $16.99
“Regular” tickets (after 4pm): Adults $20.99, seniors and children $16.49
As you can see, it is worth checking out what the specific movie you want to see will cost. The prices above were taken from 4 different movies, and already there are some notable differences: a senior/child late 3D movie is cheaper than a “matinee” 3D movie, depending on your schedule flexibility, it might be cheaper for you to see a 3D film earlier in the day than a 2D movie at night, etc.
Parking at Regal Cinebarre
Of course, you can park anywhere in the West Town Mall parking lot and find your way to Cinebarre, but we would recommend the parking garage – the 3rd floor of it has an entrance right into the theater lobby. The parking garage entrance is pointed out by the lower arrow in the picture below.
If parking garages aren’t your thing (or your vehicle won’t fit, there’s usually parking in the southwest corner of the parking lot, also circled below.
