historic gem theatre

We were over-nighting in Panguitch for a visit to Bryce and walked over to Gem after a recommendation. The people who served us were very friendly although perhaps struggled a little with our accents. We had the pulled pork and club sandwiches which were fine, and then a free scoop of butter pecan ice cream which was delicious.

The ice cream is delicious. The meals are more homespun and can vary in quality. The steaks we had were very tough....everything else is very basic. What can you expect from a movie theatre lobby made into an ice cream stand and sometimes serving dinner?

A trip back in time. A restaurant, ice cream parlor & movie theater and museum all in one unassuming building and open for very long hours. We were only sorry that they had closed for the season on our return trip through Panguitch.

We ate here earlier this month while travelling through the area. The GEM theatre is located on Main Street (Route 89) in Panguitch, a small town in Eastern Utah. I didn't take note of any parking, having walked here from our accommodation.The server (whose husband owned the café) was very friendly, but she was clearly torn in several directions by trying to do double duty in the restaurant and the attached ice cream parlor. We had to wait quite a while for her to serve people getting ice cream before she came to take our order.The café is decorated like an old-style diner, but not in a good way. We saw electrical wires hanging all over the place and felt that if you are trying to run a historic attraction then spending 30-minutes to make it look a bit neater was probably a good idea, but that hadn't happened here. While the table and chairs were clean, the rest of the café has a bit of a disheveled look.We eventually settled on the meatloaf sandwich and a grilled cheese sandwich. After seeking recommendations, we went with something called Utah Potatoes as our side dish. We were told that these were a regional dish so we figured we'd give them a try. Turns out it was potato salad with a slice of American cheese on top. My cheese was completely melted on to the potatoes but my companions' was barely heated (which is how we figured it was an American cheese slice). We spent two weeks travelling throughout Utah and nowhere else did we see this 'regional delicacy' so googled it when we came home. We found something called 'Utah Funeral Potatoes' but it in no way resembled what we were served.The grilled cheese was served on ciabatta bread which seemed like a strange selection for a grilled cheese but it was edible enough. We couldn't identify what the cheese was inside. My meatloaf sandwich was reasonable but nothing special.In the 45-minutes that we were there, we noted that at least 80% of the customers came in for ice cream. Very few ordered food.In the age of internet we felt that there was no excuse for the café to look as it did (especially when making it a bit more presentable wouldn't have cost anything except elbow grease) and the quality of the food could certainly have been better. If you're going to serve something that's a regional delicacy you need to actually make the regional delicacy properly - serving potato salad with American cheese on it is NOT a side dish that you should be serving to paying customers. Make a bit more effort and serve something authentic, especially when foodnetwork.com shows it only taking 30-minutes prep time and 30-minutes cooking time.Payment was by cash or check only, which is a bit inconvenient for customers, especially when travelling. I realize there is a cost to take credit cards, but that's unfortunately a cost of doing business these days.I'd not eat here again and would suggest that you find somewhere else to eat when in Panguitch.

Although the GEM is not currently showing movies, it is worth a stop for their simple good food and friendly service. It is also well worth going out of your way for their amazing ice cream.The food is pretty much a Diner menu but tastes a cut above. We enjoyed our meal there and even got a historical tour of the theater. The real win here is their ice cream, which is made fresh on the premises. We did lots of hiking while in the area and treated ourselves every evening with different flavors. Their pistachio has so many nuts that it appears they took a barrel of nuts and just poured the ice cream over them to keep them together. They offer tastes of all their flavors and I asked them how do they get their Apple Pie ice cream to taste so much like pie a la mode? It's simple, they put in 3/4 of a fresh baked apple pie in each batch, plus they only use fresh apple puree. Their coconut is coconut on steroids, and ditto every flavor we tried.We live in the Berkshires where good ice cream places are as numerous as pizza joints in NY. This place beats them all.

This place was recommended by our motel and we were not disappointed. The place was crowded at 8:30pm but it was Saturday night. We sat at the sidewalk tables. Our food was fabulous and we got a dip of ice cream with our meal price. There were MANY choices for a side with a sandwich. What a shame the theater was remodeled and now can't be used due to the cost of upgrading the projector but good for us to enjoy a wonderful meal.

I visited this place to have some food and the owner Mr. Henrie was so nice that he gave us a tour for the no longer theatre, he is out of business because the digital projector costs $60.000, considering this is a very small town with only 1.400 habitants don't make sense to invert that money.He allow us to take pictures off the building while he prepared our food.What a great and friendly person Mr. Henrie is.

Interesting combination of restaurant, ice cream parlor and movie theater. Food is excellent, home made ice cream are delightful and the service is very good. All of it for a very reasonable price.

The staff is friendly and helpful, the seats are really comfy and the movies are family friendly! They have a selection of candy and sodas and when you are done with your movie, they have the BEST HOMEMADE ICE CREAM!!!

We did not eat here but our motel manager said it was the best place to eat in town. We visited inside and the Manager gave us a tour a the theater. She was extremely kind and informative. There was a large selection of ice cream and a huge display of candy. I loved that their candy was reasonably priced because most movie theaters totally rip you off. They even had 5 cent candies there! It was such an amazing place and we wished we could have stayed for a movie. Now we know for next time.

We recently rented a house in Panguitch as a base camp for Bryce. Our tween daughter wanted to see a movie, so we checked out the GEM theatre. What a revelation! Two movies per day. The admissions were $6USD for adult/$4USD child, or an additional $1USD if you wanted to sit in the "VIP" section, the small balcony. Amazingly, "small" soft drinks were actually small, and $1USD for a small soft drink, $2USD for a medium and $3USD for a "large". The large drink was the size of a small drink in your typical assembly-line chain theatre. Popcorn was the same price structure. So, for one adult and one child we got tickets and refreshments for less than $20.It's not about the money, though. We sat down in the small theatre and were treated to NO PREVIEWS! The lights went down and the movie started.In the lobby, in addition to popcorn and soft drinks, you can choose ice cream or other refreshments. The proprietors actually wait to start the movie until everyone has entered the theatre, received their refreshments and have been seated. They also take the time to ask you where you are from if you are not a local.A completely refreshing movie experience as it should be - no hassle, low prices, focus on the main event, personal touch.We left with high hopes for the future of the movie industry based on this little theatre in a small town in Utah!If you want to experience movies as they were once presented, and should be presented, take a road trip to Panguitch and be transformed!

.....We were walking around town looking for a place to eat breakfast after having a horrible experience at the Flying M, and this was recommended by some locals in the area. They said that they just started serving breakfast here. Well, we walked in to a 50s type restaurant that goes into the Theatre. The waitress was an older woman, and she was so nice. They had just started a breakfast menu and the Theatre so the kinks hadn't been ironed out. But there were not kinks!!! The service was excellent - the food was great!!!!! ...and the prices were very, very reasonable! (in fact, pretty darn cheap). I hope they have success @ this little restaurant with breakfast because it really hit the spot. Probably will be the best restaurant in this little town if they can get the word out!!!!

We ordered take out, I had the Greek salad, it was wonderful. This small town has been needing a place for a healthy meal and Gem fills that need. My man ordered a French dip and was impressed with presentation and taste!

I loved seeing movies at the Gem but now they are also serving breakfast, lunch and dinner too. I've eaten there twice and it was really good. Salads, hot sandwiches (meatloaf is my fav) and a daily special and you get a little dish of ice cream for desert at a good price. I've heard that for a small extra charge you can get your meal upstairs in the balcony while you watch a movie.

We were pleasantly surprised to find new release at this little town theatre. It was my first time to eat ice cream in a theatre. Very comfy seats!