Elijah Wood Hates Alamo Drafthouse’s ‘Truly Awful’ QR Code Ordering: ‘Don’t Cut Corners With Your Staff’

Elijah Wood is not a fan of the new QR ordering system at Alamo Drafthouse.

The “Lord of the Rings” alum slammed the new food ordering experience at the movie theater chain on Tuesday, writing on X that the experience left much to be desired. He did not hold back while deriding his experience using the “truly awful” QR codes and demanded the theater return to the original way of ordering food before and during movies.

“For the first time yesterday, I experienced the new Alamo Drafthouse QR code ordering system and I can tell you it’s truly awful,” Wood said. “Rather than making ordering food and drink more efficient, it actually adds steps to the process AND if you want to order additional items during the film you HAVE to open your phone. No, your cute reference to that irony in your How To Alamo video doesn’t negate how ridiculous this is. Please don’t cut corners with your staff and revert back to physical menus and order cards.”

Wood isn’t the only one who’s feeling the pain of the new system. Union employees of a Colorado theater even went on strike earlier this spring over the move, arguing it “creates a worse experience for customers and makes our jobs harder.”

In announcing its movie theaters’ pivot to QR code food ordering in January, meanwhile, Alamo Drafthouse reasoned on its website that it “will reduce distractions (goodbye check drop during the climax) and, in the long term, make the experience even better. Putting ordering control directly in our guests’ hands allows us to move faster and more efficiently, creating a smoother, more responsive experience without added distraction.”

Representatives for Alamo Drafthouse did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment on Wood’s concerns.

Wood has been a fan of the Alamo Drafthouse for decades, so his criticism is all the more smarting. The actor spoke to Austin Monthly about his history with the theater back in 2017 when the Alamo was celebrating 20 years of business.

“My first experience was going to see a 35mm print screening of ‘Halloween,’ which is still one of my favorite movies. And it was a marvel,” Wood said at the time. “It was obviously the original location, and [Drafthouse] was in its infancy, I suppose, but I think what made an impression on me was a few things. One, that it was a movie house that you can go and see not only movies that were kind of new and current, but you could go and see 35mm prints of classic cinema, which wasn’t something that I’d experienced at that stage. And also the notion of a community around a theater. That was very apparent to me.”

He also celebrated the theater as a place worth going compared to staying and watching your movies at home on streaming services.

“They created an experience that’s just that much more special, from my perspective,” Woods finished. “You’re getting a dedicated, pure experience in regards to the projection and the cinema, and often times the capability of being able to screen 35mm and 70mm, which is awesome. But you’re also getting really good food. You can have a beer. There’s something about those elements kind of converging that just makes it feel special. It makes the idea of deciding to go out to a cinema that much more exciting.”

Time will tell if Woods still thinks the food and service are at that high caliber.

The post Elijah Wood Hates Alamo Drafthouse’s ‘Truly Awful’ QR Code Ordering: ‘Don’t Cut Corners With Your Staff’ appeared first on TheWrap.