If you’ve never been to an Alamo Drafthouse, you must go. It will ruin you for all other movie theaters. For one thing, there’s food and beer. But even better is the reverential geekiness that goes into pre-shows and nightly themes like “Weird Wednesdays,” singalongs, and quotealongs; the zero tolerance for talking during the film; and the occasional hilarious appearance by a C-list celebrity or culty figure. Grab a calendar at the theater and tack it up on the fridge.

For all this, we endure food that’s sort of legendarily bad. (But have you ever had great food at a movie theater?) Although the kitchen experiments with using local, quality ingredients to create specials inspired by the latest film releases, it’s rarely as good as it sounds. We’ve learned not to deviate from the pizzas, despite their mundane toppings and crackery crust; the wonderful fried pickles with magical, sturdy breading; and blameless, spicy Buffalo wings. It’s hard to resist the allure of sandwiches and burgers, but you should—they’re 70% dry bread and 30% filling.

Houston moviegoers (even the ones that consider Austin a bitter rival) should be thrilled to have Alamo in—for now—two locations, and should rally for more. Where else can you drink from a well-chosen and diverse selection of beers (many on draft) while watching movies on the big screen?