Flippers Cinema & Arcade

Flippers Cinema and Arcade has spent about two decades serving up first-run movies and arcade games from its spot on Taft Street in Hollywood, and it has built a loyal following by doing the classic movie-and-games combo without the corporate polish of the big multiplex chains. The venue’s own site puts it plainly: “For 20 Years, Flippers Cinema has been committed to providing an experience that can be enjoyed by everyone,” and that mission shows in the mix of programming and pricing choices built around families and regulars rather than maximizing concession sales.

The format is simple. Guests can catch current releases in a comfortable, small-scale theater setting, then wander over to the attached arcade before or after the show, an experience closer to the classic dinner-and-a-movie multiplexes of decades past than the stripped-down cinema chains most people are used to now. Flippers runs a standing Wednesday promotion offering five-dollar movie tickets, though the discount carves out new releases, 3D showings, and holidays, so it works best as a way to catch a film that has been out a couple of weeks at a fraction of typical ticket prices. The arcade side of the business gives kids and adults alike something to do independent of the movie schedule, whether that means arriving early to play a few rounds or sticking around after the credits roll.

Beyond daily moviegoing, Flippers has built out a private event side of the business that regularly hosts birthday parties, school field trips, and private theater rentals for groups that want a screen to themselves, labeled on their site as “Theater 10+” bookings. That flexibility has made it a popular choice for Hollywood families planning a kid’s birthday party who want something more memorable than a standard party room, since guests get both a movie and arcade time built into one outing.

The Taft Street location sits in the western part of Hollywood near Emerald Hills, convenient for families throughout that side of the city as well as neighboring Pembroke Park and Hallandale Beach. Flippers is open seven days a week, with slightly shorter hours at the start of the week and a midday opening on Wednesdays and weekends, giving families flexibility whether they are looking for a weeknight outing or a full Saturday afternoon plan. For a city with no shortage of national theater chains within a short drive, Flippers has carved out a niche as the local, independently run option that treats the arcade as just as important as the movie screen, and two decades of steady operation on the same stretch of Taft Street backs up the loyalty it has built with Hollywood families.