The owners of the Regal Cinemas theater opening next year at Dulles Town Center appear to be interested in possibly letting the establishment serve beer and wine.
An attorney for Regal Cinemas submitted a letter to the Loudoun County zoning department Wednesday inquiring about the possibility of serving beer and wine on site.
“Please advise whether the placement of a beer and wine license allowing for on premise consumption would be an approved use at the location and whether the sale of food is required for approval of such alcohol use,” the letter stated.
Regal Cinemas has a sister theater concept known as Cinebarre, which includes a full menu of food and drink available for order before or during movies.
A spokeswoman for Regal would not say whether the company plans to do a Cinebarre or its traditional theater at the Dulles location. Construction on the theater began in May, and at the time, Regal and Lerner Enterprises, the owner of Dulles Town Center, said that the theater would be a “premium experience” theater, which includes one screen with 3-D capabilities.
The theater is part of the developer’s planned overhaul of the town center, which will include 1,200 new multifamily units and 5.4 million square feet of commercial, office and retail space around the existing mall at the site.
I’ve put in a call to the zoning department to see if there is any ordinance that would prevent the theater from serving wine and beer, and will update this post when I hear more.
As for the question on the sale of food, I’ve actually been spending a lot of time with the range of weird Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control laws in the past few weeks, and I can save Regal’s lawyers some time: yes, the sale of food is required in a 45-to-55 sales ratio.
