Carolina Cinemas

Another protest for terrible ticketing. Don’t go to this theater unless you plan to get there really early.
Like some other theaters, the Carolina no longer always sells tickets as you enter the theater. Tickets are sold at the concession stand. This is a problem because there is no register dedicated to ticket sales. Thus, if one simply wants to show up just before showtime, buy a ticket, and see the movie, it is not always possible. One must wait in line behind everyone who is also buying popcorn, cokes, hot dogs, and whatever else takes time to order and receive. I arrived five minutes before the Revenant was scheduled to begin on Saturday night. There were long lines at the concession stand. Although I counted five or six people behind the counter, only two registers were open, and there was no express line for ticket sales only. I waited in line for ten minutes, and by the time I reached the register, the movie had started five minutes ago. I put my money in back in my pocket and walked out. I’ll see the Revenant another time, from the beginning, at another theater.
I should add that at no time during my wait in line, did any of the people behind the service counter seem to show a shred of concern over the fact that there were at least ten people lined up, but only two open registers. And none of them seemed to be in a hurry. To. Do. Anything.
I always thought that the concession stand sales amounted to a majority of a movie theater’s profits. If that is the case, it would be reasonable to serve people there as quickly as possible. Before they change their minds, or consider that after paying $ 10 each for the ticket, they might need a second mortgage to pay for a popcorn and Coke.

Terrible ticketing. They allow online purchase but then you have to wait online to get the tickets anyway

I LOVE Carolina Cinemas! Comfy seats, spotlessly clean theaters, 22oz local beers on draft, decent food at reasonable prices, attentive and efficient staff behind the counter … sigh. It’s basically a dream.
Double awesome points … The Carolina has an upstairs bar and lounge area that offers a different ‘theme’ of movies every night of the week. Think things like horror Thursday, classics Tuesday, zombie Sunday, etc.
Skip the big crazy mega-​theater and hit The Carolina for a much more relaxing movie viewing experience!

This is my favorite movie theater in the area. Forget the RPX at biltmore park, Carolina cinema is where it’s at. I try to visit as regularly as possible.
They have reasonable pricing, a great selection of food and comfortable seating, even couches in the upstairs theaters.
I have always found the theater to have a quick moving line where tickets and snacks are sold at the same time. The prepackaged candy is standard at every movie theater, the prepared food is not. Hummus plates, pizzas, and Reuben’s are far from your standard movie fare.
The beer selection is also great, with the ability to taste anything your interested in. I was having a hard time deciding what exactly I wanted, so I tried probably 4 varieties, and expected frustration from the server, but he happily offered more suggestions.
I try to visit as often as possible, making it my go to theater. I’ve tried others in the area and they are sub par when compared to Carolina.

I’m a new transplant to the Asheville area coming this way from Chicago. It’s hard to leave my go-​to movie theater there called Studio Movie Grill, where each seat is a leather recliner with a dining experience.
As soon as I walked inside though, I fell head-​over-​heels-​romantic-​comedy-​in-​love with the theater. The décor was a tribute to movie lovers. You can purchase your movie ticket at the same counter you can buy your popcorn and candy.
Inside the auditorium, I did notice a particular funky smell. I’m not sure what it is, but it wasn’t pleasant? The seats are not stadium style but comfortable with plenty of leg room. The projection and audio quality were excellent.
Parking is ample so you’ll never have issues parking super far.

This is hands down my favorite movie theatre in Asheville, but unfortunately I had a less than pleasant experience earlier this summer. While I love the couch theaters and the beer selection, this left a bad taste in my mouth. The power went out in the middle of viewing our movie. This is no fault of the management, and I totally get that! Given the fact that we were watching a scary movie (M Knight Shymalan’s newest movie The Visit) and there have been so many violent acts at movie theaters over the last few years, I was feeling a little on edge wandering around the pitch black theatre at night. Management asked us to form a line and get a refund. I politely asked if I could call come back tomorrow and present my ticket for a refund then. Management was VERY rude and told me no. So I waited in line for 30 minutes only to have my name put on an email list for a refund (which to this today, 2 months later) I have not received.

First run movies, multiple theaters. They have all the snacks. Beer, wine, sodas, coffee. And incredibly comfortable seats with flip-​down arms.
$ 5 tickets every Wednesday.

This one breaks my heart. Carolina Cinemas has the best film roster in Asheville. They’ve got the big blockbusters, the obscure indies, local films, documentaries, they show sports upstairs sometimes, they host special events, and on lucky occasions you’ll enter the screening room to find a dozen or so giant leather sofas.
They’ve got a great selection of local beer on tap. They’ve got surprisingly good sandwiches and snacks. On paper, they’d be my favorite cinema in town. But their problem is glaring. The place is dirty. Simply put. The screens are dim, stained, and covered in cobwebs. And if you’re an immersion-​heavy weirdo like me, noticing a dangling cobweb of dust gently swaying across the screen whenever the air conditioning kicks in you won’t be able to focus on anything else.
With a deep clean and a little elbow grease this place would be awesome. Despite all that, it’s still a solid theater with a great and diverse movie lineup.

great theatre, decent selection of movies, great décor and apparently they have interesting events here.
the only thing that keeps it from being a 5 star from me is I disike paying $ 3 for a basic coffee and not even having the right kind of creamer accessible to me. I know movie concession stands are overpriced by design and this one actually has a great selection of hummus, veg, even wine, but I still don’t have to be happy about the fact I can’t get soy or almond milk

This happens to be the coolest place on the planet.
My husband talked me into going on a Wednesday. New movies are $ 5 on Wednesdays ONLY!
Typical movie fare is available. Tons of popcorn, candy and soda’s. OR, you can order REAL food and adult beverages. Yup, there’s a bar!
My husband and I shared a Margherita pizza and a Hummus platter. The pizza was good. It wasn’t hot. The hummus platter was delicious.
We have returned a few times for Wednesday night fun!

My fav movie theater! Great food always friendly staff. I wish all movie theaters were this nice.

Awesome place to watch a movie… Our new favorite! Has a bar upstairs, all different kinds of specials going on all week a restaurant that brings food right to your seat, a sofa movie lounge upstairs and the seats are comfortable in the theaters! Look for the specials going on all week long! We go once a week and can’t say enough about the place!

Love this cinema. Staff is friendly and interested in movies. The excitement for the films can be seen in their bright smiles. Okay that is over doing it but more often than not they are willing and wanting to talk about movies. And they show the big block-​busters and independent movies.
Upstairs is a little lounge and viewing area where… guess this… Thursday nights at 20:00 is Horror Movie Night. A free screen of a horror movie in said lounge. There are also art events and other special movie screenings. The popcorn is good. They offer unique foods that most cinemas would dare and the beer is on tap.
Their reward card seems to work wonders. Every other time I come to the Carolina I seem to have a free popcorn or movie tickets. Not sure which number theater it is but one of them has soft sofa with foot rests. Always a pleasant surprise ending up in that one. Love this cinema and it is my first choice when I want to see a movie.

What a great place to see a NEW movie for $ 5 (Only on Wednesdays). You CAN’T beat that deal!
To top it off you can select a variety of dishes to munch on rather than just your typical soda/​popcorn/​candy selections. They also have a few select LOCAL brews on tap!
I chose the Margherita pizza with a appetizer of the Pita & Hummus (LOCAL AVL Roots hummus). I shared these 2 menu items with my wife. They deliver your food to your movie theater door when ready. They provide you a beeper to let you know when it is ready for pickup at the door (VERY COOL!). The Margherita pizza was pretty good very tasty but a little expensive for what you get. The dough was ok not great. This was $ 9 for the pizza but probably should be priced around $ 6. The Pita & Hummus was perfection. ROOTs hummus is soooooooooooo gooooood. The Pita bread was very good and they provided you with a fairly good size portion of the hummus.
The seating was very good but sits a little low so hopefully nobody extremely tall will sit in front of you. The sound was excellent!
Parking was plentiful and the staff couldn’t have been nicer and welcomed us with a warm inviting greeting!
GREAT overall experience we will be back on Wednesdays!

I love, love, love this place! Moving from SF, I was sooooo happy to find this place! It’s just like their kabuki theatre but better! This place has sofa cinemas and their food menu is awesome! They have the best Chicago dogs ever! We come at least every two weeks or whenever a great, new movie comes out!

Went there for the first time today. I enjoyed it immensely. The staff was very nice. There concessions were a great blend of traditional (popcorn and soda) and unconventional. I had french fries with truffle oil and parmesean chhese. They were absolutely delicious. The seating for the movie I was was the best part of all. They had sofa seating in some of the rooms (including the one I was in). It felt like I was at home. They had ottomans for your legs and built in cup holders. The seating was so comfortable, I’d like to go there for many more movies in the future.

I’m a huge fan of this movie theatre. For a theatre, they do a lot of community outreach and host a lot of community oriented events. The beer on tap is pretty great and a lot of it is locally sourced. Great deals on movies every Wednesday. A few of the theaters are also what are called ‘couch theaters’, so instead of your standard stadium type seating, couches and comfortable chairs are strewn throughout the room. Fantastic for seeing a movie with some friends, or for a date night with your special someone.
4 stars because as much as I like this place, none of the screens have stadium seating, so for short people like myself it can be a bit difficult if you get a particularly tall person sitting in front of you.

CRAP I hate CORPORATE. stay out of what is good, and go back to hiding in your window office. I used to love the pizza here, but now CORPORATE has gotten more involved and the pizza SUCKS. It used to be cheesy, delicious, a real value. Now it is dry, small, and a real cheap imitation. I still love Carolina, but listen up CORPORATE, I won’t be spending any money at your concession stand. YOU RUINED A GOOD THING, YOU DUMB ASS CORPORATE!

Super place to see movies. Definitely will be my «go to» spot when venturing out to see cinema in the Asheville area. Comfortable seats. I liked not having to watch all the «coming attractions», And great food — sandwiches, salads, beer and wine. I sampled a salad, glass of wine, and popcorn.

Awesome place we go 2 times a month new and old movies! The Asheville film society puts on free movies on the lounge 2 times a week mostly old classics, before the showing someone usually gives a brief talk about the movie.
They have a bonus card that gives you sometimes free popcorn or tickets.
They have unusual little snacks that are healthier and draught beer, also local beer.
The staff is great and gives recommendations to movies!