Around the Sun: A Blog About Saving Money in Portland, Oregon, and beyond

Second Run Spells Savings

November 28th, 2006

With the rain, cold, rain and more rain, winter in Portland is the perfect time to go to the movies. But at $8.50 per ticket and a small fortune for food and drinks, people are foregoing big first-run movie chains in favor of local second-run theaters. Many of these theaters also serve beer, pizza, and in some cases a full pub menu, making the classic “dinner and a movie” date a one-stop no-brainer. And at about $3 a ticket, you don’t feel so bad about splurging on food. So the next time you head out to the movies, why not consider one of these theaters? You’d be helping your wallet as well as the local community.

In Portland, you can’t throw a stone without hitting a McMenamins, our friendly, local brewery-pub-hotel-theater empire. McMenamins has 5 movie theaters in the Portland area. Tickets are $3. All theaters serve pub fare or pizza.

• Bagdad Theater & Pub
• Edgefield
• Kennedy School
• Mission Theater
• St. Johns Theater & Pub

The Laurelhurst Theater is located on East Burnside and 28th. Tickets are $3. And they serve Pizzicato pizza.

The Academy Theater, located on SE Stark, is one I just found out about a couple of weeks ago and hope to find a reason to get out there soon. The website looks great. $3 tickets, 2-for-1 deal on Tuesdays. Yahoo!

For those in the SW burbs, there’s the Valley Cinema Pub on SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy. Tickets are $3.75.

Any others? 

Entry Filed under: Entertainment