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The New York Times profiled the Waverly at IFC Center cafe, observing it’s “nearly always empty, although it's hard to know why… Its location could be a lot worse: it is stumbling distance from the West Fourth Street subway stop in the West Village….And while most restaurants that lack a sport, ninja or Martian theme have to rely on cooking to draw diners, Waverly has movies next door to do that (And tickets to the theater get you a 15 percent discount on lunch or dinner).”
We think the location might actually work against the café (why go there when far better eateries overflow the area?), yet agree that nearly each time we visit, we basically dine alone. On several occasions, we ordered great sandwiches and the $15 cheese plates and were not disappointed despite the sea of empty tables (in fact, the waiter once offered a free glass of white wine as we were the only customers). You’d think a convenient "dinner + a movie" combo would be more successful, but something’s obviously keeping moviegoers away and it probably goes beyond the disapproval of the projectionists union issue. The inflatable rat is long gone now, so any theories as to why audiences avoid the Waverly café?
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That stretch of 6th Avenue is particularly vile, what with all the tattoo parlors, sex shops, weed dealers, and teens looking for trouble. I steer clear and can't imagine having a nice dinner in the vicinity....and yet I consider that theater an important asset and a worthy competitor to Sunshine and Angelika.
I can tell you why I haven't been there.
1) The IFC hasn't booked any movies I want to see.
2) The area around West 4th Street is filled with sex shops and tacky novelty stores. Combine this with the ever-present street people and the result is that I don't want to spend any time in that whole neighborhood (or at least not West 4th and Christopher Streets).
I went to the IFC with my wife this summer. We had a drink at the bar/restaurant and then saw "Me and You and Everyone We Know" which was a charming, sweet, and funny movie. We went to dinner around the corner at another restaurant, but that was only because we hadn't planned to eat at the IFC. We used to live across the street from the IFC, so we know the neighborhood and it doesn't bother us at all. Years ago, we saw "Dogma" at the Waverly (before it closed and was renovated) and the new theater is a monumental improvement. I'd definitely go back there for another movie, and probably dinner.
First off, not many people know there's a restaurant there, and so are even less likely to know about this dinner+movie deal.
Secondly, that Union-related issue still sticks in my mind, even without the giant inflatable rat being there. Whenever I walk by the place, all I can think is, "Scabs."
it is an awful little stretch of the neighborhood, but an absolutely lovely theater- with good programming, too. i had a drink there before seeing one film, and another time had a coffee and a chat after one- it was very nice to have a comfortable place like that to be before or after a movie, in the theater itself. it's pretty common in europe (at least in germany), but not so much here. bravo to the waverly.
No movies there I want to see. And this is coming from a long-time Angelika customer and Kim's Video obscure movie lover. But everytime I pass that place, I see no movies I'm interested in checking out. I suspect they are using that place to mainly play movies they either own distribution rights to, or have a TV deal with, thus the odd choice of movies. If this is the case, then they deserve the slow business for favoring a selfish business model over plain old good theater programming. I don't want them to fail, but they need to revise their programming choices--fast.
I would have gone to I.F.C. times if not for the Union Issue. There are so many choices it's easy to pick a union friendly theatre.
Same here. The labor dispute earlier this year kept me away. I ain't crossin' no picket line to see "Me and You...", that's fer sure! Now that the union issues are presumably "settled," I'd still rather patronize a labor-friendly establishment. The whole ordeal left a bad taste in my mouth.
People really consider that to be a bad neighborhhod? Come on Bloomberg, when ARE you going to rid us of these ghastly "ever present street people" who are tarnishing our lives? We can't even get into a movie theater because of them!
It's hardly worth the trip to the cafe unless you're going to see a movie there. And I have to agree, IFC hasn't played movies that I want to see. Most of the movies they show at the theater seem mildly interesting, something I may watch if it aired on the IFC channel on TV, but not something that I would go out of my way and pay money to see. If only they had the same programing as the Angelika, I would be there every week.
I live right down the street from the IFC Center and pass by it every day on the way to work. The seedy nature of that particular stretch of the block definitely contributes to the lack of business at the Waverly. I wouldn't say it's a dangerous area, just not very appealing.
Perhaps I'm naive, but I was hoping the theatre would drive up property values in the area and force the tattoo and sex parlors out. What do I know?
Wait, wait ... some of you people think that area is bad? Where the hell are you from?
Not to criticize or anything, we're all cool, I just never expected to hear something like that in my life. I would love to see your reaction if you got lost in the middle of Bed-Stuy or had a nice stroll through Newark.
the place will rot in hell; it is owned by cablevision and the dolans.