Pre-Theatre Dinner Near Riverside Theatres: Eat Well, Make Curtain-Up

Riverside Theatres recommends arriving at least an hour before your show. That hour is the whole problem: it is too long to stand around in the foyer and too short for a leisurely dinner somewhere that has not been told you have a curtain to make.

Here is how to eat properly before a show at Riverside without watching the clock through dessert.

The timing

For a 7:30pm curtain, book dinner for 5:45 or 6pm. That is ninety minutes at the table, which is enough for a shared start and a main without rushing, and it puts you at the theatre with time to find your seat and read the programme.

If your show starts at 8pm, 6:15 works. Later than 6:30 and you are eating fast, which defeats the point.

Tell us your curtain time when you book. We will pace the kitchen around it rather than making you ask twice.

What to order before a show

Two courses, not three. A shared start while you decide, then something off the grill.

• To share: tzatziki and taramosalata with pita, plus spanakopita or haloumi. These arrive quickly and give the table something to do.
• Then: a Souvlaki Plate, a Gyros Plate, or the paidakia if you want the best thing on the grill. All come out at a sensible pace.
• Skip: a heavy dessert. Have coffee after the show instead, we are open until 10pm on weeknights and 11pm on weekends.

Getting to Riverside

From 316 Church St it is a short walk north along Church Street to Church Street Mall and across to the theatre on Market Street. Under ten minutes at a gentle pace. It is one of the easier pre-theatre walks in Sydney, entirely flat and entirely lit.

For a group booking

Theatre parties are usually four to eight people who all need to leave at the same time. That is exactly the sort of booking worth phoning about rather than doing online. Call (02) 9891 4174, tell us the curtain time and the numbers, and we will handle the rest.