Since its inception, Alamo Drafthouse theaters have tried to curate an immersive cinematic experience, including a strict ban on phone usage during movies. That is coming to an end. According to a report from Variety, the theater chain that has been a favorite of cinephiles is going to ditch its pen-and-paper food ordering system in favor of allowing people to place orders on their phones.
“Alamo Drafthouse’s new approach aims to improve efficiency while continuing to protect what makes the brand special: an elevated, immersive, and a more distraction-free way to enjoy movies,” the company said in a press release. The company also claimed that it won’t be laying off any of its service staff or reducing hours or wages, per Variety.
The change is planned to go into effect in February across the chain’s 44 locations, though some have already been experimenting with the digital ordering experience. And while placing orders via phone is now allowed, the company won’t be getting rid of its no talking or texting policy—though one would imagine the latter will become much harder to enforce with the invitation for hungry folks to use phones during a screening.
The move is one of the first major changes in Alamo’s operation since Sony took over the company in 2024, and can probably be read as an attempt to appeal to a more general audience. Perhaps the other most notable action under Sony ownership was widespread layoffs that led to unionized employees striking and filing unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board. The unions managed to get some staff rehired and secured new agreements for workers.
Alamo has a reputation as a cinephile theater thanks to its attempts to restrict in-theater distractions and a policy that prohibits late arrivals—though enforcement of that has also apparently relaxed a bit in recent years, if social media reports are to be believed. Alamo used to actively curate its strict reputation, but that seems to be slipping.
Speaking of social media, folks online are not exactly thrilled by the shift to mobile ordering. People who go to Alamo specifically for the no-talking, no-texting approach feel like the sanctity of the experience has been violated. It’s not clear whether the news of limited phone usage will reach more casual audiences or pierce Alamo’s reputation as a distraction-free cinema, which kind of risks making this a worst-of-all-worlds situation.
It’s possible—maybe even probable—that this change won’t fundamentally ruin the theater-going experience. Other theaters, like Alamo knock-off Flix Brewhouse, use mobile ordering during films, though they also have much more of a casual movie-going vibe. But it does fundamentally change the pitch of Alamo to its primary audience. It just seems like a complete misread of what their core demographic wants at the cinema.
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