Dunellen Theatre

This is a single screen old (1920’s old) classic theater with a tavern attached. They show family movies which is great so the kids can come with and there are coffee tables in front of each row of chairs. Prices are very affordable and the delicious homemade fresh to order pizza served with a pitcher of soda or beer made this an enjoyable evening! We came on a Monday night to the 5:00 show and had the theater to ourselves. What a best kept secret! Glad we checked it out while in the area!

Nice old movie theater that serves food. Not the newest of places but clean and comfortable. Good, family friendly theater.
Order your food and they’ll bring it to you in the theater.
Good service, nice staff.
Some reviews complained about the sound and picture but it was fine the after we went.

Love this old historic theatre. Attached to restaurant and can order food and alcohol. Great for kids. prices are great. Way cheaper than the big chains. If your looking for high tech this is not for you. If your looking for old school charm and a relaxed, fun day this is, a perfect place! My kids receive tickets from their Aunt every Christmas and it’s awesome. These days a trip to the theatre costs an arm and a leg. Not here!!!

We took our nephew to see Penguins of Madagascar. It was only $ 20 for three of us. For a little over $ 15 we got a large pizza and pitcher of soda. That’s an affordable night out for a family. Although it’s very old school and the seats aren’t new and plush, we had a good time without the noisey crowds. This is our go to place when the little guy visits.

Plays current movies, almost exclusively for the family crowd. Admission and pizza prices are very reasonable ($ 7/​$ 5 last time I went, with $ 13 pizza/​pitcher deals). It’s a great place for a child’s first movie experience. And for the parents who wouldn’t choose Disney for their own outing, the full bar selection from Zupkos Tavern takes the edge off. The outside was recently remodeled and looks great. The inside is a bit worn, but it beats having super fancy seats that come with a $ 12 ticket.

Local place for me, and has a nice charm.
Very old theater that has a nice way of making it family friendly.
Pizza ordered form the bar next door arrives at your table in front of your seats piping hot and with a pitcher of soda, you’ve got a fun night!
If you go on a night they are showing a kid-​friendly movie, be prepared for it to be a bit noisy — staff doesn’t do much to curb that — but it still is a fun place to go for a quick bite and a family movie.

There is absolute charm to this historic theatre. If you come expecting IMAX or 3D with a high end sound system then perhaps you will be disappointed but if you are looking for a slightly more low key experience this is it. Not to mention its great to support a local business for once instead of a big chain. Super nice staff, the best pizza around (seriously this thin crust pie is DIVINE), fair prices and a great afternoon/​night out particularly for families. The seats are roomy and have coffee tables so you have a place to put all the yummy food. I believe you can also order beer since it’s connected to Zupkos (where they make the pizza). It’s very unique and comfortable & I love the fact that I’m taking my daughter to the same place I used to go see Disney movies. We just came back from Girl Scout night & the staff ran the event really well. Popcorn & pizza & drinks were given out while we watched Free Birds. What a treat! Will definitely go back. The fact that it hasn’t changed significantly in all these years is a PLUS!

Ok so this theatre is geared towards family’s…doesn’t mean they don’t serve beer! It’s been a while since I came here and I do remember the sound system lacking. For family cartoon movies I’m sure that does not matter to much. For when they were showing The Dark Knight… yeah that matters. Either way a movie ticket is $ 8. they cleared out every other row so everyone has a coffee table in front of them to put their drinks or food. A Large Pizza and Pitcher is $ 16. Now it just says pitcher on website so I’m not sure what that means soda or beer wise but previously I got a pitcher of beer with my pie as the special. So for $ 32 bucks you get 2 adult movie tickets Large Pizza and a Pitcher of something. Sounds like a deal to me. They do not sell tickets for bodies not present. By that I mean I can’t go and buy 4 tickets for my friends that are coming later. They only have about 2 or 3 showings a day so you need to be there to get a ticket. You order your food before you go in and it comes out during the movie. You can order whatever you’d like from the waitress’ and it all comes from the bar next door. As much as I enjoy this place I wish they would show more movies I have an interest in.

Old movie theater with a bar and restaurant attached. Went here for a benefit and the space is nice and big, and smells like an old movie theater (trust me — my first job was at a theater, just like this one). The little tables in front of each row were a nice touch. I didn’t try anything from the kitchen but the wings looked amazing.

It’s a very old building, and judging from the crowd is more suited for families and kids. The seats themselves were very uncomfortable, and the whole setup leaves a lot to be desired. I get rustic/​old school charm, but sitting in stiff, old movie seats, and pulling a coffee table up to yourself just seemed terrible.
The screen and sound were very outdated as well. I know it’s part of the charm being an old theatre, but with a similar setup at the Washington Theater this place has no excuse. With tickets being $ 8 each as well it leaves no reason for the poor maintenance of the entire facility. Some parts of the movie were hard to hear depending on the scene. You can find crappy theaters with tickets at $ 5-​$ 6, and cheaper concessions like soda and popcorn.
The bar food was good though. Great pizza, and the other patrons food smelled delicious. This is the only saving grace.

When we first got there we were surprised by how old the theater really was and looked! I think with some easy renovations they could take advantage of this vintage look and make it a true destination spot. (Spruce up the lobby and get better tables to eat on!) The staff was really pleasant and we got a kick out of going to back room bar and having a few beers while watching the movie. The food came out fast and it was really good! Great «pub food» I didn’t order the chicken cesar salad but when it went my me it looked really fresh! All and all despite it being a little run down it was a fun family experience.

Good place to bring kids to see a movie. There is room for them to stand up if they get restless. The pizza is better than I was expecting. Ticket and food prices are very reasonable.

Great atmosphere for family flicks. Wide rows where the kids can spread their treats out on tables. The building is old and certainly has character… could use a new coat of paint. The food was just OK. The scree and sound are not state of the art, but get the point across.

We need one of these on Long Island!
Old school movie theater with bar attached. They only have one screen and play one movie. Every other row of seats has been removed and replaced with coffee tables. This place has such an old school charm. The sound and image are by far not amazing but it really does add to the whole atmosphere.

You are certainly not going to come to the Dunellen Theatre for a modern tech experience when seeing a movie but if you set your expectation to enjoying a film with a nice pizza in front of you then you will not be disappointed.
Before Bridgewater set a new bar for the dine in movie experience the Dunellen Theatre was the place to go for dinner while at the movies. It is still a good option and I believe a much cheaper one and despite all of its short comings due to its age I hope it stays in place for years to come.

Liked it very much. Little out of the way for us but worth a trip back. Very low key but very easonable prices and decent pizza. Pleasant staff. Very clean bathroom. Easy parking. Wish it could have been a little darker but understand that it’s necessary to have a little light to manage the food. Someone’s review said it was a little like seeing a movie in your living room. That was a good description and defined its charm for me. The sound isn’t crystal clear but perfectly fine and the big screen is great. (Thor was better than I had expected, too.)

When you hear pushed-​tin ceilings, stripped basement-​like walls, garden latticework, a saloon piano, high school auditorium stage, and a full-​on tavern with cheap booze and bar pies, well, I don’t know what you think, but probably not a cinema. Maybe that Chris Hansen is somewhere just off-​camera, waiting for the right moment. But in reality, you get one of the most unique movie theaters I’ve even been to.
The Dunellen Theatre, built in 1920, doesn’t hide its age. The neon marquee sports an eternal flicker. Furniture, carpeting, and décor all seem to span several different decades. And yet there is this historical charm about this place. One downfall is that it’s no multiplex — it’s a single-​screen joint. But it also claim’s to be the state’s only «cinema café». And by «cinema café», it appears they mean the townie hang-​out bar named Zupko’s, just off the theater lobby. Food can be ordered from here and then enjoyed atop the tables lined up in front of every row of theater seats.
Funny though, I didn’t come here to see a movie. I came here for a birthday party. An adult’s surprise birthday party. And the Dunellen Theatre did a fantastic job playing along. The girls that worked there turned letters out on that marquee quicker than Vanna White in order to trick our guest of honor into thinking he was seeing something other than what they were actually showing at the time (an animated kids’ movie a thirty-​year-​old dude with no kids has no business seeing). They even gave him fake tickets at the door. And once the surprise went off without a hitch, the staff brought out pizza from the bar, pitchers of beer, and bottles of wine — it was officially a party in a near-​century-​old suburban movie theater. The screen was then used to showcase a homemade slide-​show, while the sound system pumped Birthday Boy’s favorite punk bands.
Despite the of-​legal-​age revelry that took place here, Dunellen Theatre prides itself on showing mostly family-​oriented flicks. At first, I thought this to be a bit hypocritical given there is a bar in-​house. However, they stop showing movies at a decent hour so the kids are put to bed, the whistle is blown, and then suddenly it’s adult swim. Dunellen Theatre may be all over the place, but for one thing, it’s a good time. Forget trying to figure this place out. Just sit back and enjoy the show…