Showplace Icon

Five of my girlfriends and I had planned to see the new Sex and the City movie.  We did it up in style and went to the new Showplace Icon Theater.  I didn’t even know this theater existed or that there had been so much construction on Roosevelt that I somehow missed the brand new Roosevelt complex!  The drive from my office to the theater was much longer than I expected and I showed up 20 minutes later than planned. Plus, it started to rain as I ran into the theater. The good news is that there’s free parking for now in the massive underground structure.  The entrance of the theater is pretty normal of what you’d expect for a theater. The ticket takers and the concession stands weren’t anything to mention. 

To get to the theater where our movie was playing, you had to walk up to the next level.  The area was packed with women dressed to the nines anticipating the big movie.  There was also some Time magazine event which drew a large crowd as well.  I spotted my girlfriends right away and they already had a Pino Noir waiting in hand for me!  I also caught one of my co-workers and her husband waiting for the show over by the windows, only later to see that she had texted me that my manager was also there.  The city is too small!

We ordered dinner from the short menu available.  I want to warn you that there’s nothing for Glutiods to order right off the menu – not even a single salad!  I suppose if a meat and cheese plate could keep you full for the 2.5 hour movie, then you’d be ok. But if you’re looking for dinner, you better pack something in your purse.  The menu consists of pizzas, burgers and paninis.  I ordered the Royale Burger ($10) with no bun of course. 

We were notified by buzzer during the opening scene of the movie that our food was ready.  Three of us went to fetch the plates.  My meal had three mini black angus burgers with American cheese.  It sat on a bed of shaved lettuce and what they call a ‘special sauce’ which tasted quite like Thousand Island dressing or some mix of ketchup and mayo.  The burgers were pretty good, but cold and a little difficult to eat since I also didn’t have a fork.  It would have been too disruptive for me to get up again in the middle of the movie to get a fork from the bar.  Not to mention, eating in the dark is rather difficult.

The red faux leather theater recliners were spacious with wide armrests for our food and drinks.  We selected our seats upon ordering our tickets – they were an astounding $17.50 each!  The screen was too small for the theater and tough to see over the row in front of us.  The movie itself was entertaining! I never once checked the time nor bored watching the ladies and their curious antics.  This sequel had much less sex, the ladies looked older, but the clothes were still fabulous.  It was also interesting to see the Muslim/Arabic culture portrayed like it was in the movie. Having recently returned from Jordan, I could definitely relate and was embarrassed for how rudely Samantha behaved.

My review of the Showplace Icon is that it’s overpriced, with a limited food selection, and not a place to catch action films where screen size does actually matter.  But, if you like to sip on your pino during the show then go for the splurge.

Showplace Icon Theater
150 W. Roosevelt Road
Chicago, IL 60605
312-564-2104www.showplaceicon.com