Flix Brewhouse, America’s cinema brewery, arrives in OKC

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  • Inside Flix Brewhouse, 8590 Broadway Extension in Oklahoma City. Ledger photo by Andrew Griffin
  • Flix Entertainment CEO Allan L. Reagan, left, and Chef Chad White stand in- side the kitchen at Flix Brewhouse in Oklahoma City. Ledger photo by Andrew Griffin
  • Because of COVID-19, two seats will separate each patron in the theater.
  • Patrons wait for their drink orders inside Flix Brewhouse, 8590 Broadway Extension in Oklahoma City.
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OKLAHOMA CITY – As clips from Marty McFly’s adventures in futuristic Back To The Future Pt. II played, president and chief “enthusiasm officer” Allan L. Reagan explained Monday that the Flix Brewhouse chain is unique with its theater/microbrewery/eatery concept. The Oklahoma City location is part of Flix’s growing empire which claims 10 total locations in seven states.

The irony of that particular time-travel film was not lost on Reagan. We may not be in “Alternate 1985,” as Marty and Doc Brown find themselves in that classic film, but things are decidedly different for the movie industry compared to just a few months ago and Reagan is learning to adjust with all of the COVID-era changes necessary to run a business.

“We are America’s only first-run cinema-microbrewery,” boasted Reagan, as he repeatedly emphasized the importance of social distancing. Because of COVID-19, two seats will separate you and the next party over while seated in the theater, located at 8590 Broadway Extension.

And Reagan and his team at Flix Brewhouse, from bartenders to film projectionists (albeit an updated process here in 2020), are ready to make moviegoers’ experiences in this theater setting the best it can possibly be.

Wearing a mask, Reagan bragged about his brand, which started in 2011 in the Austin, Texas, suburb of Round Rock. It proved to be quite successful for Reagan, who sought to expand his Flix locations to other states with their unique combination of state- of-the-art digital projection and sound, comfortable stadium seating, parabolic screens, server call systems and cold plasma ionization heating/air systems that are on par with those of ultra-hygienic medical facilities.

On his tour of the OKC theater, Reagan highlighted the seating in the room, with comfortable, reclining chairs and sliding trays that allow for movement when necessary. There are 6 feet between each row of seats in each theater, so it is already “social-distanced” in advance.

Virtual menus and single-use menus are the order of the day until the pandemic is under control, he said.

All through the pandemic, Reagan highlighted how their core staff stuck with Flix, helping to get things ready for the grand opening this week.

“We just reopened our theaters this past weekend,” he said.

The employees are “pumped and jazzed,” Reagan said. “We really think we’re in the entertainment business. We’re in the escape business. We want people to walk out with a really good feeling, a feeling that this was a worthwhile thing to do and ‘maybe we’ll do it again’.”

Dinner and a movie are becoming popular, while the traditional theater concept – something Reagan called “popcorn palaces” – are struggling in this new, COVID-era entertainment environment.

He said the 30-or-so dine-in-theaters in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex are “beating the pants off” more traditional movie theaters in terms of box-office gross and attendance.

On a brief tour of the bustling Flix kitchen, head chef Chad White said the kitchen can handle as many as 450 meals an hour.

The menu features a wide choice of appetizers, pizzas, wraps and salads, burgers and sandwiches, entrees, kid offerings, desserts and candy, soda pop and other beverages, along with wine, cocktails and Flix-brewed beer from IPAs to Scottish ales.

“We’re a real craft brewery,” noted Reagan. “We’re making the real deal, not watered down (beer).”

Reagan said the company had wanted to build a Flix location in Oklahoma, but the state’s rigid liquor laws initially prevented their concept from being introduced here. However, that changed with the overhaul of Oklahoma’s alcohol laws via Senate Bill 792.

“We said, ‘We’d love to come to Oklahoma because we believed that people in Oklahoma would appreciate (Flix),’” said Reagan. “And we are family friendly, but we needed some help from the Legislature, and we got that.”

Nick Toros, general manager of Flix Brewhouse, echoed Reagan’s comments about originally planning to open the OKC Flix location in April, only to be temporarily thwarted by the global pandemic.

With Flix Brewhouse opening to movie-loving crowds this week, the new Christopher Nolan film Tenet is scheduled to premiere, along with showings of Bill & Ted Face The Music, a new Sonic film and even a screening of the 1993 classic thriller Jurassic Park, and typically at a discount price. As for regular prices, the Flix folks say tickets are not cheap but they’re not $15 or more, either, but declined to specify a firm ticket price.

“We’re changing the game for movie theaters and moviegoers across the country,” said Toros. “No longer are guest coming to just sit down and watch a movie. They’re coming to encounter an elevated experience that will keep them returning for more.”