Alamo Drafthouse Cinema NYC: Bespoke Cocktails with An Inside Look at Cinematic History

Wondering what to do with your free nights or weekends? If you love movies, dine-in service while you enjoy a flick, and custom cocktails, we have a fun activity for you. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema  just opened its third New York location. The new location is in Manhattan’s Financial District on Liberty Street. The famous Alamo Drafthouse concept started out in a nondescript parking garage containing hand-built interiors. It quickly took off as a hub for cinephiles and spread to 36 locations all over the US.

Each Alamo Drafthouse location has its own theme, and this location is no different. The Press Room Bar and events venue/museum attached to the movie theater is truly epic. Upon entrance you will notice a genuine 1940s Vandercook press. On the weekends you can see, and possibly even try, how the press works. The walls and tables are covered with historic ads spanning from the golden age of Hollywood to nostalgic 80s battle epics. What makes this location special is the story of how the ads got printed. Printing plates were once used by newspapers in order to print weekly advertisements for first-run feature films. When founder and CEO of Alamo Drafthouse, Tim League, found out about the one-of-a-kind collection being hidden away in boxes, he made an offer. The location of the plates containing cinematic history was revealed in a documentary. In order to celebrate cinematic history Alamo Drafthouse rescued the 60,000 vintage newspaper printing plates. The selection of these plates spans from the 1930s to the 1980s. Putting them to good use, Time League turned the Press Room into a letterpress museum.

Our visit to the Alamo Drafthouse was inspiring. We were invited to create a custom cocktail recipe, which will be on kept file, and can be used anytime we visit in the future. In case you might be wondering, we opted for a vodka cocktail naming it, “No War”, and a tequila cocktail, naming it “The Robin’s Nest.”

Besides bespoke cocktails, there is a selection of house cocktails and over 50 beer options. The new 14-screen, 578-seat theatre, plays all the latest releases. Did we mention the gift shop? Seeing is believing so make sure to visit soon. Sit back, sip on a custom cocktail and enjoy a movie of your choosing! Heck, throw a party in the Press Room. This is how movies were meant to be seen.