by Madeline Best
Before entering Standee’s, located in Prairie Village, I wondered, what would make this movie theater different from any others? Standee’s, which presents itself as an “entertaining eatery” is a cross between a movie theater and an upscale-restaurant serving food ranging from gourmet appetizers to burgers. Standee’s gets its name from movie theater revolutionizer Stan D. Stan believed in offering the best possible experience to his customers, which Standee’s uses as its mission.
As I stood at the entrance of the theater, I was quickly welcomed by a concierge dressed in a suit who held a door open for me and then directed me to the box office, which had no line. To be fair, I was at the movie theater on a Tuesday afternoon, so maybe not the most popular time to go see a movie. After paying my reasonable ticket price of $6.50, I was told that Standee’s makes sure their customer’s don’t have to sit through as many commercials and trailers as other theaters do. This is important to remember if you are the type of person who arrives to movies just in the nick of time, because you might miss the beginning. Yet again, another door was held open for me as I entered the theater, which happened to be completely empty. The first thing I noticed about the theater was how small it was. The theater maybe held around eighty seats compared to bigger theaters like the Plaza Cinemark which can hold a few hundred people at a time. Much like the Ward Parkway AMC theater, the seats resemble something closer to a La-Z-Boy recliner rather than your typical fold down seat. Although, the seats don’t actually recline like they do at Ward Parkway. Standee’s also offers small airplane-like tables attached to the sides of the seats. I think this is a nice addition to a movie theater seat because it gets rid of the problem of having to awkwardly balance your popcorn and candy in your lap while only having a cup holder.
Because of space limitations, Standee’s only shows three movies at a time compared to other theater’s where your movie selection is closer to at least a dozen movies. Currently, Standee’s is showing “The Family”, “The Butler”, and “Blue Jasmine”. I chose to go see The Family, starring Robert De Niro. In the movie, the patriarch of the family is an ex Brooklyn mobster who must constantly move his family from place to place in order to avoid being found by his fellow mobsters after ratting them out. The family settles in a small village in France with the help of the FBI, although you can bet not all goes as planned.
After the movie was over, I headed over to the restaurant, which is just feet away from the theater. As I sat down I was greeted by my server who gave me a menu with a long list of choices ranging from full entrees to small appetizers. I chose a basic hamburger, which was quite possibly even better than burgers at Blanc. The best thing about the meal by far was the french fries. They are unlike any other restaurants’ fries because they are almost paper thin and just so good. My meal ended up being around $10, which was an incredible deal considering the quality of food Standee’s has. If you are planning on eating at Standee’s, I would recommend bringing $10-$25 depending on what you decide to have.
Overall, Standee’s offers a comfortable and inviting atmosphere that is perfect for a night out or a lazy afternoon. I plan on visiting Standee’s again soon and give it 4 out of 5 stars.
