Image borrowed from http://www.missiontiki.com/
I posted this at Yelp today:
Two things from my childhood that I’m glad are still around: vinyl record albums and drive-in movie theaters. Both appeared to be on their way to extinction years ago, but diehard fans wouldn’t let them go out like a dodo. While neither will recapture their glory days of decades past, records and drive-ins are alive and reasonably well. I still buy the occasional album and thankfully I can watch movies again in the great outdoors.
The Mission Tiki Drive-In Theatre is an absolute gem in Montclair, CA. Whether it’s date night or family night, the Mission Tiki is worthy of your entertainment dollar: with admission being only $7 for two movies ($1 for kids aged 5-9), you won’t need many of those hard-earned bucks to enjoy a double feature of brand-new and recently released films.
Everything is tiki-themed, from the moment you drive up to the tiki-hut-inspired ticket booth to the snack bar and adjacent gift shop. Just like the old days, you’re allowed to bring your own food and drink. Unlike the old days, the speaker boxes that provide the audio are gone, having been replaced by an FM signal transmitted to your car’s stereo. No more worrying about ripping that forgotten squawkbox off your window as you pull away to go home. The projection system is state-of-the-art as well; no more grindhouse-quality images to strain your eyes.
The snack bar is much more reasonably priced than a typical walk-in theatre and offers untypical concessions such as carne asada tacos, burritos, and french fries. My girlfriend and I brought our own food, but I couldn’t resist trying the carne asada fries. The fries were great: crispy crinkle-cut potatoes cooked to perfection. Unfortunately, the carne asada that topped it was not as tasty. Next time, I’ll order the fries without the meat.
I knocked off one star due to the self-serve condiment bar not being totally clean: I don’t like having to maneuver my tray around random jalapenos, onions, and salsa spilled all over the place.
Despite my run-in with the messy condiment bar, I highly recommend a trip to the Mission Tiki. It’s a great link to our movie-watching past and its quality experience assures it will be around in future.
Ruel Gaviola 