CEB Marks Third Dinner, Movie Event

The College Events Board held its third Dinner and a Movie Night last night, bringing students out of dining halls and their rooms and into the Square.

This semester’s event included day-long discounts at eight restaurants in Harvard Square and a free 8 p.m. showing of “Where the Wild Things Are” at the AMC Loews Harvard Square Theater­.

Undergraduates had claimed all 520 of the free movie tickets by yesterday afternoon, according to CEB Chair Kevin M. Mee ’10, who said he expected a packed theater.

“People are really taking advantage of these discounts, which we like to hear,” he said before the movie. “We’re excited for a great showing tonight.”

Mee said fewer restaurants signed on to the event this year because of the economic climate, but several participating restaurant managers said they were excited to be part of the promotion.

Dinner and a Movie Night increased business by 30 to 40 percent at The Upper Crust Pizzeria when it took place last year, according to manager Shawn C. Shenefield. While graduate students are the restaurant’s most common customers, Shenefield said that Dinner and a Movie Night brings out a larger than average number of students from the College.

Divya V. Raghavan ’11 was one of those students. She said that while she had never been to Upper Crust before, the 15-percent discount and her friends’ cravings made the difference yesterday.

While Warren S. Loegering ’12 said that a buy-one, get-one-free discount motivated him to make a pre-movie stop at Qdoba, supervisor Samuel Solis said that Dinner and a Movie Night, while increasing traffic, did not have a huge impact on Qdoba’s business.

“A little bit more than usual, but not too much,” Solis said of the number of customers.

Finale Desserterie & Bakery had not seen an increase in sales as of 6:45 p.m. last night, according to general manager Tom J. Whalen, but he said he had not given up hope for the evening.

“We’re a dessert place,” he said. “We expect more to come after the movie.”

—Staff writer Naveen N. Srivatsa can be reached at srivatsa@fas.harvard.edu.