Dinner & a Movie 2

Friday, November 20 2009 (01:05PM) | Posted by Kathryn Vicat-Dlabach (UDA) | Downtown

Who feels like dinner & a movie? Apparently a whole lot of people! So what better time to bring back the enormously popular downtown promotion “Dinner & a Movie” than this holiday season? The summer Dinner & a Movie promotion, sponsored by the Downtown Springfield Association, was an amazing success with the distribution of more than 7,500 tickets to the Hollywood Theater and Moxie Cinema.

“We got so many calls and compliments from customers and restaurant owners about the Dinner & a Movie promotion that we just had to bring it back,” explained DSA Community Development Coordinator, Kathryn Vicat, “When you find a promotion that works for DSA member businesses and the patrons of downtown that is fun, practical and saves money, well it’s kind of a no brainer – you just gotta do it again. So we are doing Dinner & a Movie 2!”

Downtown restaurants are excited about bringing back this promotion, “Once again downtown is working together to provide an outstanding holiday season for all visitors,” said Ryan McDonald, General Manager for Trolley’s Bar & Grille, “We can't wait to promote the holiday dinner and a movie program to all of our guests. We expect to see larger crowds this year than in years past with this great program that worked earlier this year to boost the downtown economy.” Some of the participating restaurants have changed but the promotion remains the same, eat dinner downtown buy a discount movie ticket for the Hollywood Theater or the Moxie Cinema for just $5. Participating restaurants for “Dinner & a Movie 2” are:

Big Whiskey’s
Bruno’s Italian Restaurant
Farmers Gastropub
Fedora Social House
Izumi Hatake
Kai
Lili’s Diner
Millie’s Café
Springfield Brewing Company
St. Michael’s
Tonic Ultralounge
Trolley’s

Everyone is watching their penny’s these days with restaurants also feeling the pinch. “Dinner & a Movie 2” provides an option for someone on a budget to have an evening out without breaking the bank. Lili’s Diner owner, Andrea Zamora, is well aware that people are trying to save cash. “Not only does it help us bring in the customers but you give them an opportunity to save money on a movie ticket!” Zamora stated, “Due to the holiday season, business for some of us might slow down, so what a great opportunity to bring folks downtown! I hope to sell a bunch!”

After going through more than 7,000 tickets in the summer promotion, some kinks had to be worked out of the system. “Keeping up with demand was a big issue,” Vicat explained. “All of the participating restaurants try to keep tickets in stock, but there is no predictor for how many tickets a restaurant will sell on a given night. Restaurant patrons can’t just show up at the Moxie or the Hollywood with a receipt and get a discounted ticket; they must purchase a ticket from a participating restaurant but I think we have come up with a distribution plan that will work for everyone.”

“Dinner & a Movie 2” runs from November 20, 2009 through January 18, 2010. So while you are downtown doing your holiday shopping, why not have “Dinner & a Movie 2”? Go to the theater yourself or use the ticket as a gift, either way you win. Look for “Dinner & a Movie 2” posters in the windows at participating restaurants.