Hollywood Palms: A Cinema, Bar & Eatery REVIEW

Hollywood Palms: A Cinema, Bar & Eatery is located at 352 South Route 59 in Naperville. IL.. It is pretty much at the NE corner of Route 59 and New York street but it is hidden behind some other stores. I went there for the second time this past weekend and we saw The King's Speech which I reviewed here yesterday (scroll down). The previous time I was here I saw True Grit. Hollywood Palms is a movie theater (six theaters, I believe) that serve drinks, both alcoholic and non, and food at the bar area and also in the theaters during the movies.

Enter if you dare!

When you walk in from outside you immediately notice that the entire theater is decorated like Skull Island from King Kong. This has nothing to do with this review but I have always wondered why the people on Skull Island would build a door big enough for Kong to fit out of if they never intended to let him out but I digress. It didn't really work out too well for them. The place is decorated with movie posters and you immediately notice the two bars on either side of the entrance to the movie theaters themselves. The two times I was there we stopped off at the one of the bars to wait for the theater seating. I have had Tequila Mockingbird and The Margorator and my gal-pals had the Halee Berry Pomegranate Martini and the Lemoncello Martini which uses Danny DeVito's Lemocello recipe. The drinks were good but they were $9 each, which isn't that pricey though the glasses are, like Danny DeVito, smaller than glasses you see in most bars. We ate dinner before we went this time but the first time I went we ordered Grinch Dip at the bar. It is basically melted cheese with spinach and artichoke. It is served with tortilla chips or garlic bread cubes which we got both. It was really good and I even ordered it this time too but in the movie theater rather than at the bar. The first time we went there Sugar Momma got The Kevin Bacon, Lettuce BLT and she said it was terrible...six-degrees of suckage.

I want $25 on #2 to place in the second

They have a great list of "Mystic Pizzas" and I ordered the 3 Amigos Mexican Style Pizza which is: fajita chicken, pico de gallo, three cheeses and Guadalajara sauce but I ordered it without the chicken because I don't eat meat. I was told that there would be an up-charge to remove the chicken. I asked, "so, you're going to charge me more for taking and item OFF the pizza?" She told me, "yes." This tells me that the pizzas are probably frozen even though their menu talks about their hand-tossed pizza dough... I ordered the popcorn with the "real butter." It wasn't good the first time we were there (a Thursday) nut this last time it was better (a Friday). Prices are cheaper during the week but quality is not as good.

Am I watching a movie or is it watching me?

The movie theaters themselves look like Las Vegas Sports Books or Off Track Betting (OTB's) Facilities. The decorations in the theater is cool with characters from various movies watching you watch the movies. We had been to another of these types of theaters at Yorktown Theater and there you had big comfy chairs and your own area/table and the popcorn was popped right in the theater. At Hollywood Palms you don't even get the extra pleasure of the popcorn smell wafting over you when you walk in.

I do like that they have special events there. They have an Academy Awards viewing the night of the Oscars, February 27th, and you walk the red carpet  and get a red carpet photo, you get a "swag bag" and watch the Oscars. The $20 entrance fee gets you a champagne and appetiser reception and the money goes to "Variety, a Children's Charity." The first time we were there Corey Feldman was there. We didn't know it ahead of time but there was a huge line on a Thursday night and soon he walked in. You may remember him as the more needy of the Corey's. He was in movies such as: The Goonies, Stand By Me, Gremlins. The Lost Boys, The Burbs... It was weird. He was there promoting a Corey Feldman Film Festival of several of these old films. Coming up April 1st Dan Ackroyd will be there hosting The Blues Brothers and April 2nd Burt Reynolds will be there hosting Cannonball Run, Deliverance, Smokey and the Bandit "and more."

Is that Corey Feldman or are you just happy to see me?

During the film there are a lot of distractions like people ordering food, waitstaff watching around, people arguing over their bills, glasses clinking... The waitstaff doesn't even whisper when taking orders. while watching The King's Speech, which is a pretty quiet movie for the most part, we could hear very loud explosions coming from the theater next to ours from The Green Hornet or The Mechanic most likely.

I had a good time both times I have been here but it may have been the company I was with (even Corey Feldman) or it may have been the two really good movies I saw but I want it to be better and I think it easily could be if they tried just a little harder. They also have a similar theater in Woodridge, IL called Hollywood Boulevard. I really liked the cushiness of the one at the Yorktown Mall but they only show one film at a time there. Also, I haven't been to that one in awhile since the movie we saw there was The Matrix. I may go see Dan Aykroyd or Burt Reynolds at Hollywood Palms because I like them both and a picture would be great for the blog. For more information you can visit their websites at www.hollywoodpalmscinema.com or www.atriptothemovies.com where you can link both the Naperville and the Woodridge locations. They are fun but, though nominated, they wouldn't win the Academy award for Best Theater.

I have given you my two cents and you have to decide for yourself based on my findings. I would give it a try if you are looking for something different to do. Let me know when you're going...I may meet you there. I'd be curious to see what you think. Now off to get the blog done...see you over there.