I enjoy watching movies at Main Gate Movies. The things that I love most about Main Gate are the…read morepopcorn bucket, small theaters, bathrooms are clean AND the the movies are $5.99. The 2026 popcorn bucket is $17.99 and the refills for the year are $5.00 per refill. Sometimes I will go to Main Gate just for the popcorn, no movie. The one thing that I wish they would change is that they offer a larger selection of movies. Other than that, Main Gate is perfect.

I had a very disappointing experience Saturday night. When I walked in, I was told my purse needed…read moreto be searched--yet not everyone around me was asked. Watching other patrons walk right in while I was singled out felt disrespectful and completely unfair. As a disabled veteran, I fully support reasonable security measures. If bag checks are required, they should be applied to everyone, not selectively. What happened did not feel like policy--it felt like poor judgement and inconsistent enforcement. I hope that management addresses this, trains staff properly, and ensures all patrons are treated with the same level of respect and fairness in the future. I did speak with the manager, I was told that she was short staffed. I will not be going back to that movie theater.

Great experience! You cannot beat these prices for current movies!! Concessions are a 1/4 of the…read moreprice the outside theaters charge!!! Strictly unbeatable! Sometimes they do free movies as well!

For many families that have multiple children, a trip to the movies is a splurge. This venue makes…read moreit affordable and has snacks and free parking to make things easier on a family night out. Current as of 20JUN18, the price of admission is $3 for admission and children age 3 and younger are free. There is a snack bar and they have similar items like a commercial movie theatre does. Most of the times my schedule is so hectic that I may miss a movie when its first released. This theater has a variety of movies and even free advance screenings. When they do have advance screenings get there early as seating can fill up fast. The actual space is an auditorium with main floor and balcony seating. During the week the space is mostly used for training and conferences. The movie schedule is available online and on Sundays, for the 1p showing it is free. Take some time and check it out. It is a little dated but my son and I enjoy our trips here and hope you will as well.

Gentle reader, I have...a past. Yes, indeed. Way back in the 1990s, yes, the late 1900s, I lived…read morein southeastern Virginia, and worked in downtown Portsmouth. This is where I discovered the Commodore. It was, indeed, joy. I had spent time in my teenage years working at movie theaters selling popcorn and soda, and in my very young years when we didn't have AC in our house we would spend Saturdays at the old "third run" movie theaters where for $1 you could watch the movie several times without an issue. Sticky floors, giant buckets of popcorn, wobbly seats, that was my youth and I loved it. So, finding the Commodore, which was being restored at the time, was delightful, because the owner was creating a special experience - a theater where you sit at small cafe tables, each with it's own dim light and telephone. You order by telephone and food is brought out while you watch the movie. Seats are plush and roll smoothly along the soft carpet. The BEST part, though, is the SOUND. To explain, I must tell this story: In 1996 I had a challenging situation at work. Our company was celebrating it's 50th year in business and they wanted each location to have a celebration party that the senior executives would join, and one site would be named 'the best'. Our slot was in November, had to be during the work day, and no alcohol. Hmm. Then we realized the Commodore was also 50 years old - yay! We designed a 'murder at the theater' mystery that took place in 1946. In discussing our plans with the owner, a man I think named Fred, he told us the story of how he came to own the place - a movie nut - and that as a retired engineer he realized the walls were very thick and the space could handle a superior sound system without disrupting anyone outside the building. So he went about figuring ways to install a THX like system - long before THX became a licensed product. He was having some difficulty and wrote a highly technical letter to Skywalker Sound, asking for their thoughts on solutions. The team was so enamored of the project that they came out and helped him complete the installation. The result, gentle reader, is outstanding sound. Truly. For example, we saw Dances with Wolves there and I ducked when I heard those bullets whizzing by my ear. Until we did this event though I never knew the story behind it. Fast forward to this year. I moved away from the area decades ago, but was in town for an event, and yes, I planned to go to the Commodore during my stay. What I saw was so much what I had remembered and more. Restorations had continued, and the lobby had more decor, including an alcove that was set up like a scene from past times. Staff were great. No online ordering, you go to the box office to get tickets. Go. If you like movies at all, go. This place is amazing, unique, special, all those words. You bet I'll be back. PS. Bonus points from me if you can tell me why George Lucas named his groundbreaking sound system THX. :)

The Commodore Theatre is what happens when dinner and a movie stop being lazy date night energy and…read moreevolve into pure cinematic luxury. You don't just watch a movie here ...you arrive. Plush seating, actual tables, and servers bringing food while explosions happen on screen makes you feel like royalty who also enjoys popcorn and bad decisions at the concession stand. The theater itself looks like old-school Hollywood decided to move to Portsmouth and never left. The sound is incredible, the screen is huge, and somehow even the fries feel like they deserve an award nomination. Honestly ruined regular movie theaters for me. Now when I go anywhere else, I'm confused why no one is bringing me dinner while I emotionally recover from plot twists. Five stars. Come hungry, leave happy, and prepare to become dramatically judgmental about every other theater afterward.

We had so much fun. I have not been in a theater in awhile and was amazed with the comfort of their…read morenew seating (Well, new to me hee hee). We watched Superman soar and literally felt him get smashed into the concrete. IMAX is beyond anything I could hope for. The clear, crisp sound you feel. I felt bad for Superman. I can tell you that I felt like I was relaxing at home at one point. The Nacho cheese was warm and yummy. I love eating nachos and drinking my slurpee. This theater has pizza, hotdogs, and a candy assortment that pleased my nephews . Parking is good and ticketing is Superman using the in lobby machines. I love picking our seats on that screen, it's huge. All of the staff including the security personnel were so friendly and very professional. Every age group was in the theatre and it was a good time. We are headed back in a few days. Prior to COVID, we lived going to movies and we are getting back in the swing of it now. Oh the theater was super clean, bathrooms are stocked and clean too. The put a few tables and chairs so you can munch out while waiting for everyone in your group to arrive. Get out there and enjoy .

I'm really starting to appreciate stand-alone theaters more often w/ so much parking close to the…read moredoor. (Sometimes I LOVE not having to calculate an extra 5-7 minutes of brisk walking through the lot and the mall especially when there's elevators) I can always appreciate how clean this theater is. I used the restroom near the exit this time just to see if it held up... it did. The employees are all really nice and helpful. They're mostly young adults but always smiling and very polite. The food is what it is...Not gourmet or "cafe" style, but always hot and available already packaged. Not to mention, the kiosk option to assist myself, always saves me when there's an expected crowd for a new and exciting movie. Otherwise, I get to take my time to an empty theater on discount Tuesdays.

It's old and nothing contemporary. They don't have enough bathrooms after brand new movies…read moreespecially. One of them has a big gap and waiting people can see. I don't know about Men's bathrooms though. Good things are the tickets prices. Usually $3, sometimes free. Also the staffs are friendly. I really like the cool old funky lady with husky voice. I watched free Kingsman the other day, which was wicked;)

Love going to this movie theater. All of the prices are decent. The national anthem before the…read moremovie starts if the best part. Seats are tight is my only complaint.

We love cinema cafe, but this location wasn't anything to write home about. The bathrooms were so…read moredirty and overwhelmingly smelled like pee. The rest of the theater was pretty clean! A lot of the time we could hear guests/employees talking and laughing right outside of the theater doors while our movie was playing. Every time the employees came in, the door would let a significant amount of light in on the screen. It was super distracting. Also for the price, I feel like the chips and cheese could offer a bit more. It was tasty though, just not abundant.

I had one of the worst experiences I've ever had at a movie theater. After being seated, it took at…read moreleast 15 minutes before my server came to take my order, and the theater wasn't even crowded. I ordered nachos with added chicken, cilantro, and sour cream, but received none of those items. After asking more than once about the missing ingredients, I was eventually told they couldn't find them. The condition of the bathrooms was unacceptable. There was toilet paper all over the floors, a strong smell of urine, several stalls had no toilet paper, and some toilets were overflowing with toilet paper that hadn't been flushed. It was clear the restrooms had not been maintained or cleaned properly. Between the poor service, incomplete food order, and unsanitary bathroom conditions, this was extremely disappointing. I expect much better from a movie theater experience and hope improvements are made.

This is by far the best Cinema Cafe location I've been to in Hampton Roads…read more The theaters are clean, the service is quick, and they consistently have a great selection of new movies playing. My husband and I love a dinner-and-a-movie date night, so having everything in one place is perfect for us. The reclining chairs are super comfortable, especially once you've eaten and can just settle back and relax during the movie. The menu is pretty basic, but that's expected for a movie theater, and it still has some solid options. Some of my favorites are the coconut shrimp and the hot honey pizza. Overall, this is my go-to spot for seeing a movie. Always an easy, enjoyable experience, and I'll definitely be back again soon.

I went to go check out by any means necessary movie today at the cinema Café to take advantage of…read morethe 40 year anniversary deep discount prices as always I seem to order my initial popcorn extra butter with cheese sauce on the side and as always they never bring the cheese sauce with the popcorn. Service was OK. The young lady was soft spoken which means she's spoke very lightly couldn't hear her and I knew she spoke lightly because everybody she went to kept telling her they could not hear her. I don't know what type of training is going on in Customer Service nowadays, but it just seems to get worse and worse by the minute I see now I gotta find a new location to watch a movie because although Edinburgh used to set the standard for cinema Café in his now since fallen along the wayside.

Went to see Spider-Man and I love going to cinema cafe but ever since you guys got rid of the…read moreJulius Caesar wrap I've been absolutely stumped on what food to get. I've gotten the gyro but it leaks juice all over me as I'm eating and it's super annoying. I've gotten other salads and they just seem super salty and I usually love salty but even that was too much. I've got the coconut shrimp and while I thought those tasted great there were only like 7 small shrimps and I was still very hungry for the price. Pizzas are super hot and greasy. Hawaiian is my favorite if I have to choose. Idk if you can tell but I go to cinema cafe a lot. It would be nice to have a healthier option back like the Julius Caesar salad (with option to make it into a wrap like old times). This time I just ate before I went and got the fried dill pickle spears with a bull rock cider because they were out of my favorite blue moon. The spears should be cut thinner. Giving this place four out of five stars because the service was good and the chairs are comfortable so we keep coming back but please take some of the things that I said about the food and improve.

Cinema Cafe has become our, new "go-to" spot for my friend and I and with the anticipation of Scary…read moreMovie 6, we couldn't wait to grab our tickets to go see it. We normally order tickets online so when we get there, we can just scan the barcode or enter the confirmation number and grab them. The process is always very quick and easy. We've claimed the last row as "our seats" since we enjoy sitting in the back, and thankfully, the views of the movie are still great. As we looked over the menu waiting for the movie to start, we decided on the Mission Impossible Deluxe Nachos and The Fifth Element Supreme Pizza. Our food was served fairly quickly but unfortunately, the nachos lacked cheese and they only added a few, small dollops of chili. The pizza was pretty good though. Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our movie night at Cinema Cafe. As many times as we go, we're probably going to try everything on the menu lol! We'll definitely be back.