Gilson Cafe/Cinema

I love the Gilson. It is SUCH a good idea and it appears the community or at least surrounding community come to support it. I do think in the last few months it has been looking better than recently before. I can say that I’ve only come in and had coffees (regular and Irish) and that really hit the spot for me. I can always count on the Gilson for a good movie selection, especially for some «lesser known» films or independent films when bigger theaters pass them up or only keep them a week max.
Both movies playing start at 7 pm so you have to make a choice when you arrive.
The good part is you can arrive before the movie starts to eat, or arrive as it starts to eat (I’m really weird about eating during the movie so I like to arrive before the movie starts). Unfortunately you pay at the end of the movie before it’s over (for ticket and anything ordered).
Advice on ordering food, don’t expect some special fine dining experience. I’ve heard the waitresses/​waiters suggest their hamburgers and sandwiches and they seem to look reasonable/​good and of course you can’t really mess up a drink too much, and as mentioned before their coffees aren’t bad at all. I think at this point you should look at it as you’re going for the experience (making a movie slightly social).
Watching movies like Brooklyn or The Big Short were good decisions for there. Because of the slight disruption at the end when paying I wouldn’t suggest seeing a big epic movie like the Revenant that you’re going to be really into or you might get upset by being disrupted. I do think they do a good job at playing movies that are acceptable to be disrupted by.
I will say I feel like I have a totally different movie experience when viewing a film in the main larger auditorium versus the small one upstairs. You should go in with an open mind and know what you’re getting into. They do a good job at what they do and it’s nice they exist. Certainly a different movie experience and I’d highly suggest for a fun/​different night out with friends or a date.

We’ve been to the Gilson many times, and in spite of a few mishaps, we will return in the future, but recent experiences have prompted me to write a not-​so-​great review. Last weekend we went to see Brooklyn. We arrived at 6:05 and by 6:15 had ordered one soup and two sandwiches. By seven o’clock, which is when the movie started, we still had not received even the soup. About ten minutes into the movie, both the soup and sandwiches arrived.
So we waited nearly an hour! During that time our waitress passed by our seats a few times and never mentioned anything about the food taking so long or apologizing in any way.
To add insult to injury, our check was brought to us about ten minutes prior to the movie ending. Since we paid by credit card, we were then forced to wait another fifteen minutes after the end of the movie to get our card back. This particular mishap had occurred once before, leaving us feeling we should pay cash in the future, especially if the check arrives that late.
As for the food, we stick with the basics. I could never imagine ordering anything like pasta at this place, which seems a bit dirty and run down to me. I use to routinely order the Reuben, and it was quite good, but for the last year or two it’s gone downhill. I think they’ve changed the quality of the meat, and it’s extremely greasy as well. Stick with burgers (which cannot be ordered medium rare, just medium, which seems strange to me) or maybe a sandwich. The salads are ok also, but not great.
The concept is good, and I hope the Gilson perseveres, as Winsted definitely needs their presence, but they should improve the training of their waitstaff and the quality of their food. An occasional dusting wouldn’t hurt either.

My rating is really more like 3.5 stars. If you’re not familiar with the Gilson, it’s not a restaurant where they pull the shades and show movies, it’s a tiny movie theatre with two screens (upstairs and down) and basic food service capabilities. Don’t expect a «fine dining» experience. I haven’t seen the kitchen but I suspect most hot food comes straight out of the microwave. When a restaurant says, «Sorry, we can’t separate the peppers and onions», that means there ain’t exactly a Brigade de Cuisine back there.
The menu consists mainly of sandwiches. There are salads, appetizers, soups, and one or two kinds of pasta as well. The prices are a little on the high side ($ 2.75 for a comically small glass of soda, no refills), but to be fair, that’s because there’s only one seating a night and I am sure it is very difficult to turn a profit under those circumstances.
It’s important to get there early for a good seat, and remember that the seats themselves are plush and comfortable but don’t lend themselves well to sitting upright for a meal. You have to hunch forward to eat and I don’t know how anyone finds that pleasant.
I ordered a Roast Beef Melt ($ 10.25), which was kind of soggy and dull, plus it was really messy to eat. The chili, though, ($ 8.25) is a generous portion, rich and meaty, and comes with a hard roll and butter. And for finger food, they have a decent pepperoni, cheese and crackers plate for $ 7.25. There’s a good brownie sundae available for $ 6.95.
I’m not out this way often, but the Gilson is a unique enough experience that I’ll probably go back, but I think I’ll try a less messy sandwich, like a turkey or seafood salad pita.

Literally the worst beer selection I have ever seen. The food is awful and the seats are so uncomfortable. This place could be awesome if someone tried to update it a bit. I gave 2 stars because at least the movie we saw was entertaining.

The Gilson is a gem; a very unique movie theater found in the dimly lit and desolate downtown of Winsted, CT. Don’t let it’s location phase you: the Gilson is magical, packed to the brim on Fridays and Saturdays, showing current independent films.
You can order drinks (wine, beer, cocktails), appetizers and meals with your movie throughout the film. The waitstaff is extremely friendly! They make sure not to bother you too much, but they don’t ignore you either: it’s the perfect balance. The food is not exquisite; I find my excitement from enjoying a meal while watching a film and sitting in a large, cozy chair makes the food appear more tasteful than it actually might be. It’s not a major problem though, the menu is diverse enough for you to find something yummy. I love their french onion soup and eggplant parmesan! The portions are large and filling. There is also a pretty decent selection of alcohol as well. Be careful though, they charge you for water!
Located in my hometown, The Gilson is my number one spot when I return home to visit. It is great for dates! Arrive early if you wish, so you can enjoy your meal with the best of service, then stay awhile for a comfortable movie experience. I definitely appreciate this theatre and I would be so sad if it ever lost its business.

Ok, so when we arrived, they lost our reservations. great! Then we orderd french onion soup, was microwaved, no golden brown cheese. blah. we also ordered a cheeseburger, and a wrap. almost an hour later. nothing. we asked our server, «where is our food?» She seemed perplexed. and said shed check… at this point I already knew our order was forgotten. great, because we showd up an hour before the movie, so we could enjoy the movie AFTER we ate… at this point the movie had started. our server kept walking by us bringing others their food, never explained what was going on, how long it would be. that would’ve been nice, so we ended up walking out. a simple explanation would have saved it, but we were ignored. Oh well, they can’t all be winners! We won’t be back, but wish everyone the best of luck.

This is a cool place to watch a movie, have dinner and drinks.
Seats are comfortable inside and the service is fast.
I ordered a burger which wasn’t good at all. Was over cooked and lacked flavor.
My husband ordered a salad which he liked.
The drinks and popcorn were my favorite! The popcorn is made fresh and tastes nothing like you get in regular movie theaters. It was so good we ordered 2 which I ate most of.
The drinks and popcorn are great, but their menu is very small and basic. Their dinner food is just so so. Maybe I will try something different next time but there isn’t a lot to choose from.
No matter what, it is a good place to go and will be back.

This review does not reflect on the theatre itself or the wait staff. Have gone there many times and enjoyed it. Tonight I ordered their «special» which was a hamburger with swiss cheese and grilled onions. I ordered it medium. I am not a fussy eater. If it was rare or a little overdone, I would have eaten it. But it was raw in the middle and it doesn’t seem safe to eat raw meat these days. Plus I don’t eat hamburgers that often and I would have liked to enjoy it. I had a few bites and could taste that it was raw in middle. I showed my friend who said yes it’s raw! Even if it was cooked right, it didn’t look that great. Bun not very fresh tasting and much bigger than the flat hamburger, but I still would have eaten it. I very nicely pointed it out to the waitress, who was also very nice about it. Soon another waitress came out and obviously embarrassed, told me the chef said the meat was cook all the way through and he would take it off the bill but would not make another one for me!!! I didn’t ask for another one. Just expected him to throw my original one back on the grill for another minute or two. He didn’t offer to make me anything else. The nice waitress said at least let me bring you some soup. He doesn’t have to cook that!!. So she brought me a big bowl of soup which was fine. The food is not even the point and I know we are not talking a gourmet restaurant here. But even if I had wanted him to cook me a new hamburger, you never tell a customer you will not make them something else if they are not happy with their food! This is just bad customer service and no way to run a restaurant!

This theater is a wonderful idea. It is really great to be able to eat dinner, drink beer or wine while watching a movie. I had been here twice before and each experience has been nice. The one drawback is that the food menu could be elaborated on. It is very basic food, sandwiches and salads. I understand wanting to have food that doesn’t need to be cut or seen too well due to the movie atmosphere. The food is tasty, just basic.
The seats are comfortable and there is a small movable table that is shared every 2 seats. The film quality itself is good, we have never had a problem with sound or anything (wish I could say the same for other local theaters).
Overall a great place to try out.

Cool spot for film and food. only place I’ve seen like this

I used to live in Winsted and went here all the time. Now that I am in the valley I never get up there and I miss it terribly!!! This is the most quintessential theater in all of Connecticut. It was an old ballroom/​dance hall that has since been converted into a movie theater. There is the main theater and an upstairs, smaller theater. Both areas offer dinning and drinks before and/​or during the movie.
The food is not the greatest, typical bar food quality. The beers are better than the wines, and if memory serves me, mixed drinks as well. You do not have to order a meal to view a movie. Service is hit or miss. Really, the atmosphere is priceless here.
The movie prices are fairly cheep, the last time I was there, several years ago, they were $ 6.00, may have gone up since then. Usually fairly current listings. They used to show more indi, trendy movies, but seem to be going more main stream now.
For two, with meals, it was typically running around $ 40.00. Not too terribly bad. Oh, and they have a great chocolate brownie sundae!
Doors open at 6:00 p.m. for dinner, and 7:00 p.m. is movie time, for both theaters, each offering the same menu but different movie choices. Children under 12 not permitted, and are only allowed Sundays, Tuesdays-​Thursdays. The theater is closed on Mondays.