1195 Eddie Dowling Highway
Route 146 South
North Smithfield, RI
02896
(401) 769-7601
August 30, 2014
New England Bites likes to visit the Rustic Tri Vue
Drive-In at least once a year. Although
there hasn’t been any summer releases we’ve wanted to see, we did notice
that they planned on showing “retro” movies during Labor Day weekend. Figuring that this may be our only chance to
go, we decided to watch two of our favorite movies – Jurassic Park and Jaws –
outside on the big screen.
The three-screen theater opens at 6 p.m., but a long line
had already formed on Route 146. It didn’t
take long for the cars to start moving in.
For only $25 you get the pleasure of bringing a car load of your friends
and family to see TWO movies. That’s a
steal, considering an adult-price ticket in the evening costs about $12 now …
and that’s just for one movie!
Now before you start in with your hate mail, we’re already
well aware that this won’t be a healthy dinner.
That’s what snack bars are all about.
If you want something different, pack a lunch!
We stood in line with our little cardboard trays and went
up to the food area. After some waiting
we chose two hamburgers wrapped in little foil envelopes, a tray of nacho chips
with hot, spicy cheese and a salted pretzel with honey mustard dipping
sauce. We both got Diet Pepsi to drink
(gotta watch our weight – lol). The
total came to $26.
Mom and I got back into the car and chowed down. Everything was awesome. The nachos and cheese were addictive, the
salted pretzel was soft and chewy and the hamburgers rocked. They taste like the high school burgers you
secretly loved but always agreed with your friends when they said they were
nasty. We get them every time we come to
the drive-in. Our night is never complete
without something wrapped in silver.
Just before the movie was about to start, Mom and I
decided to get two twist cones ($6) from the new ice cream window at Rustic. They were icy cold and tasty. I have to say – we’ve never had a bad
experience with the food here. The snack
bar is always clean, the staff is always friendly and the food is as good as
snack food should be. We did have one
not-so-great order of clam cakes once, but that was a while ago.
Also, for a very busy bathroom, it’s always clean. The staff does a great job of tending to the ladies’
room throughout the run of both movies.
The first movie to start was Jurassic Park. I’d seen JP on the big screen before when it
first came out, and it was just as much fun this time around. After it was over, I decided to get a large
bag of buttered popcorn ($7). No movie
is complete without popcorn.
Jaws started and we dug into the fresh popcorn. The attendant really layered on the butter,
but we shook the kernels around and they tasted great. Mom had seen Jaws on the big screen when it
first came out and it has always been one of her favorite movies.
Just before the movie finished and Roy Scheider and
Richard Dreyfuss swam toward shore, Mom and I put on our seatbelts. As soon as the credits started rolling, I
backed out of my parking space and drove out.
I didn’t want to get caught in the chaos of everyone trying to figure
out how to leave the theater.
So if you’re looking for something fun to do with the
kids, or if you’re just looking to relive those old drive-in memories,
definitely visit the Rustic Drive-In. You’ll
feel like a kid again. Bring the babies,
the pets, the grandparents – everyone’s welcome!
