Movie Nights at Moonstruck Drive-In Theater in Houston & Austin

Moonstruck Drive-In is a drive-in movie theater with locations in Houston, TX and Austin, TX. The Houston location is located in East Downtown (EaDo) and the Austin location is located at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA).

Moonstruck plays movies on the weekend, Thursday-Sunday nights. They have 2 screens, a big main screen and a smaller screen off to the side. The selection of movies include cinema classics and the newest box office films. Movies are projected onto the screens hoisted onto a group of shipping containers.

Moonstruck Drive-In big screen

Drive-in theaters are a good option for those who are not ready to go back to indoor movie theaters. I, for sure, am not ready to watch in a regular theater quite yet, but I really wanted to watch the new Marvel movie and the Legend of the Ten Rings since I wanted to support Asian representation in mainstream media. Plus, Simu Liu is a funny guy. That’s when I remembered drive-ins existed and I remembered Moonstruck since I’ve seen some Instagram posts about them in the past.

Moonstruck Houston Location

Houston’s Moonstruck Drive-In location is at the upcoming East River development in EaDo. East River will be a 150 acre area next to Buffalo Bayou and will include a mix of residential, restaurant, office, retail, entertainment and recreational businesses. From the Moonstruck lot, you can see the skyline of downtown Houston!

Moonstruck Drive-In
100 Bringhurst St.
Houston, TX 77020
[open in Google Maps]

The Moonstruck Drive-In Experience

You’ll need to buy tickets in advance through their website. They will update their site on Mondays with the schedule for the week. One entry ticket is $30 and good for one car, so it’s a nice economic option for larger groups of friends and family.

Doors open at 7:00 PM and the movie started at 8:30 PM. We arrived around 7:30 to take photos before the sun set. Shang-Chi played on the main screen since we watched it on opening weekend. I managed to get a really good spot.

Food and Amenities

Moonstruck sells snacks such as chips, candy, popcorn, and bottled beverages. There are air conditioned bathrooms on-site as well. The concessions booth and bathrooms are located at back of the complex. Concessions takes cash and card. Outside food is not allowed.

No movie is complete without the popcorn. On Saturday nights, they also host local food trucks. On the night I visited, the food vendor was selling these delicious looking barbecue skewers, yum!

Watching the Movie

When the movie plays, you can watch it from the comfort of your own car or set up chairs outside of your car. The audio is broadcasted through FM radio. We were a party of 2 people, so we just stayed in the car. If you have more than 2 people, I suggest bringing some chairs. If you have a large car such as a truck or SUV, you can even sit in the trunk.

The only downside to sitting in the car was it was really hot since I didn’t want to leave my engine running for over 2 hours in the brutal Houston summer. Next time I’ll definitely bring a chair. I saw a lot of people sitting in their trunks and it looked cozy.

watching Shang-Chi on the big screen

We played the audio through my car’s radio, but towards the last part of the movie, my car decided it did not want the battery to stay on any longer and shut down. Even then, we could still hear the movie since other cars around us were blasting the audio.

Houston Photo Spot

If you arrive early enough to catch the last of the sunlight, Moonstruck is also nice for photos! I took photos with the shipping containers for an industrial and punkish vibe. The main shipping container structure is really tall, so I suggest using a wider camera lens or phone to fit the entire thing in frame.

If you’re looking for things to do in EaDo Houston, swing by Moonstruck one of these weekends! This was the first time I ever went to a drive-in theater and I really enjoyed it. It will be great experience in fall and winter when the weather cools down. They can even host private events, so that might be something worth looking into in the future.

Giveaway

I’ve partnered up with Moonstruck to give away 10 tickets! That’s right, 10 different winners! Please check my Instagram post on @eatingwithstephano for rules and entry.

Thank you to Moonstruck Drive-In for inviting me out for movie night!

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