There’s no gleaming 1930s-style marquee beckoning you through the doors of Syndicated, a cinema-bar-restaurant hybrid sitting inconspicuously in a barely marked former warehouse on Bogart Street. Instead, those Art Deco touches can be found within the 70-seat main dining room, which is dressed with geometric sconces, high-vaulted ceilings and projector screens playing muted classic movies. Anchoring the space is a four-sided marble-topped bar that’s packed with moviegoers guzzling craft cocktails before catching throwback screenings of Wayne’s World and Do the Right Thing.
ORDER THIS:Popcorn-elevating potables by bar manager Kenneth Vanhooser (Piora) take cues, naturally, from the big screen. A stiff-sipping nod to The Shining, Redrum ($13), is a Jungle Bird riff employing two rums (dark Blackwell and light Brugal Añejo) plus Aperol, artichokey Cynar and lemon. Smoke fans should seek out the tableside-poured Airplane III ($12), which layers potent Laphroaig 10 with sweet pisco, nutty falernum and floral crème de violette, while spice lovers can opt for the Lawnmower Man ($13), which offsets vodka and cachaça with fiery chili syrup tamed with kale and carrot juices.
GOOD FOR: An all-in-one movie date. Behind the kitchen lies a 50-seat, dine-in cinema rigged with rows of cushy banquettes, half-moon two-top tables and five varieties of house-made popcorn ($6), including curry powder and caramel corn. Though limited to just one screening room and one movie daily, tickets are extremely pocket-friendly ($3 for a feature, $6 for a double), and an online schedule lets you select a suitable date flick; recent titles have ranged from ’80s classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off to the dark, Tilda Swinton–starring psychological thriller We Need to Talk About Kevin.
THE CLINCHER: From the open kitchen, chef Bret Macris (Rose Water in Park Slope, Campanile in Los Angeles) dispatches beefed-up concession-stand fare like duck-confit nachos built with blue cheese and balsamic dressing ($11), and tater tots piled high with beer-cheese Mornay, pulled pork and sour cream ($12). A blockbuster trilogy of food, drink and film in vintage digs, Syndicated makes moviegoing as significant an occasion as it was in the old days.