Galaxy's gone; meet the Rialto
Web Posted: 11/17/2005 12:00 AM CST
Larry Ratliff
Express-News Film Critic
The Galaxy Theater has long seemed like an old friend. The first movie I ever saw in San Antonio, "The Jerk," starring Steve Martin, was there in 1979.
Oddly enough, Martin and the theater near the intersection of Loop 410 and Interstate 35 have both undergone significant transformations recently.
Martin, no longer the "wild and crazy guy," is taking on leading-man dramatic roles these days ("Shopgirl").
The Galaxy, thanks to a $2 million renovation, has been reborn as the Santikos Rialto Cinema Bistro. A dinner-and-a-movie house, the Rialto caters to adult moviegoers, much like Santikos' Bijou at Crossroads.
Can't decide whether to go to dinner or take in a movie during those precious hours when the baby sitter's clock is ticking? You can do both at the vastly remodeled venue with the noticeably changed front.
Once inside the doors with ornate handles, the Rialto offers nine movie choices and two sit-down dining options — three if you count the snack bar.
Patrons can head straight across the teal, mauve and blue-swirl carpet to their auditorium of choice or dine in the lobby's free-standing Italian restaurant, The Bella Napoli.
Perhaps you're puzzled about the nine auditoriums and not 10, which used to be the case. One of the 300-seat auditoriums took one for the team, so to speak. It's now the monstrous kitchen.
Food and beverage director Gary Smith and his staff need somewhere to prepare serious dinner dishes. Gamberi Rialto ($13.95), for instance, features six jumbo grilled shrimp with a lemon butter garlic caper sauce. In a fowl mood? Chicken Parmigiana ($10.95) fills a plate with chicken medallions, fresh tomato sauce and Italian cheeses.
Film buffs in a hurry or just in the mood to combine the movie and dining experience can proceed directly to the auditoriums. A now-familiar layout awaits, one similar to Bijou at Crossroads or Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. That means regular movie seats with wooden benches between them as tables.
The lean forward to the food bench seems a little more of a stretch here than at similar venues. It's not bad, though. The service, while a little slow arriving (but with an apology), was attentive and knowledgeable.
Food choices inside the theaters are varied enough to suit almost any hunger. Everything from pizza ($7.87 for the supreme) to cheese sticks ($5.79) and beyond to chips and salsa ($3.70) and buffalo wings ($6.48) are available.
I opted for the beef fajita salad ($8.10) and a cup of Starbucks coffee (small regular drip for $1.25).
For those more adventurous (or not on the clock), coffee choices can be spiked into Irish Whiskey ($6), Calypso Rum ($6) or Cossack Vodka ($6), just to name a few. Mixed drinks and wine are available as well.
The Rialto, named in honor of the bridge in Venice, Italy, represents yet another step in John Santikos' innovative style.
I'm not quite sure what the player piano and the two pool tables next to the formal dining tables (covered with table cloths) in the lobby dining area are all about.
The fully renovated bathrooms are state-of-the-art, though. I've seen automatic faucets before and hand-motion automatic towel dispensers. At the Rialto, though, just place your hands under the soap dispenser and plop, you've been dispensed.
A few operational bugs remain, which will no doubt soon be worked out. The movie in the auditorium I was in, for instance, was well underway before the house lights went down. And the projected image was slightly out of proportion to the screen.
The Rialto Bistro is a welcome addition to the San Antonio movie landscape. No cost corners appear to have been cut, and portraits of legendary stars from Hollywood's golden era (Groucho Marx, Mae West, Bette Davis, etc.) hang in the lobby. That's a nice touch.
Any movie emporium that has gone to this much trouble and expense to please its patrons serves two-fold notice:
Serious movie fare will be shown here. And, you want fries ($3.47) or a margarita (Rialto Rita, $9) with that?
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