Austin, Texas-based Alamo Drafthouse Cinema will open its first location in the District on Friday.
The nine-screen combination bar, restaurant and theater is at 630 Rhode Island Avenue, N.E. in D.C.’s Edgewood neighborhood in the Bryant Street mixed-use development.
The D.C. location has what Alamo Drafthouse calls “The Big Show,” a premium large-format standard with what it says is the largest movie screen of any theater in D.C. The Big Show auditorium has 217 reclining seats and a 4K laser projection system for its 66-foot wide by 28-foot tall screen, and a total of 76 speakers.
Alamo is offering 25% discounts on some food items and drinks through Dec. 15 at the D.C. location as part of its soft opening.
Alamo Drafthouse has been working on opening a D.C. location for a decade, and the Edgewood location has been in the works since 2016. It is one of the chains largest locations, at more than 45,000-square-feet and nearly 900 theater seats.
As in other Alamo theaters, the reclining seats are paired with swiveling tables and call buttons for ordering food and drink.
The D.C. Alamo Drafthouse also has several D.C.-related themes, including a Hall of Presidents, dedicated to actors who have played U.S. presidents in movies, including a life-size statue of President Thomas J. Whitmore, the fictional president played by Bill Pullman in the 1996 movie Independence Day.
The menu for the D.C. location is available online. And here is what will be playing when its screens open Friday.
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, with nearly 40 locations nationwide, has locations at One Loudon and in Woodbridge, Virginia. One is planned for National Landing in Arlington County.