AMC Mercado 20

santa clara's mercado shopping area first opened up sometime in the mid to late 1990s; i forget exactly when. it has a microcenter, an amc movie theatre, and several food places / restaurants. later, the mercado expanded to include tj maxx home goods. microcenter competes with fry's electronics. the amc mercado 20 is one (not necessarily _the_ first) of the first megaplexes in the south bay area. listen, the silicon valley is america's _real_ heartland. don't ever forget that! the amc mercado 20 is located in the heart of the silicon valley. keep santa clara weird. from its inception (or whatever you call it), the amc mercado 20 has been stuffed/overstuffed with high school students and junior college students. well, it _is_ right next to mission college. if you have any doubt about what the latest suburban hip hop fashion is, then swing by the mercado 20 and hang around for about 28 minutes. you'll learn if your jeans are baggy enough, if your hat is big enough, crooked enough, and with a flat enough bill. you'll learn whether you need to roll up a pant cuff or throw on some more gold chains or whatever. whereas the amc saratoga 14 (which i believe used to be the saratoga _six_ theatres) is more of a place for young families who are scared of lowered cars and bass, the mercado's a place for teenagers, young adults, and silicon valley yuppies who are too cheap to watch artsy movies at santana row's arthouse theatre but who'd prefer to take advantage of those cool, cheap costco tickets. you _do_ know about them, don't you? costco sells a 2-pack of amc "gold" movie tickets for something like $15. that's a great deal because full price, adult admission at the amc mercado 20 is something like $10. crazy, huh? at that price, it's cheaper to hop in the car, drive around, n' guzzle gas all evening for a good time. yes or no? i'm not too sure. well, at the amc mercado 20, you can grab some ben & jerry's ice cream or a starbucks corporate coffee drink before the show and even bring your own food and drink into the theatre. that's great. there's an in-n-out at the mercado as well. if you're a silicon valley yuppie couple, you might want to hit up the mexicali grille or tomatina before your show. taxi's also ain't bad. world wrapps is a bit casual. jamba juice hardly qualifies as a date. yoyo sushi is well... just ok. anyway, you can have a pretty good evening at the amc mercado 20. let's all go to the movies! more

My favorite theater cost $9.75 (I THINK!) for an adult ticket. I don't ever get candy here because it is really expensive and they dont have any of those gummies, all they have is stuff like Milk Duds, Red Vines, Starburst, etc (good, but not for that price.) And Im not into popcorn ($5) or drinks. I love this theater because the seats are really far apart, you will never have a head bobbing in front of your view. And you are never sitting too-close-for-comfort next to your neighbor. I think that might be why it is so expensive. more

The City Editor reward really prompted me to write this review. I know that this is a chain, but so what, the people have to know about whats good! This is my favorite movie theater in the area. I even pick this theater over the Century Theaters that sell the delicious gummy candy(so expensive by the pound, but so good.) That is really the only flaw here, the candy is only candy bars and redvines and none of that good gummy stuff. The reason why I love this place is because of its seating. There are not nearly as many seats in a single theater as others and that is because the seats themselves are bigger. I can really get comfortable in these seats and not be pressed up against my neighbor. Also, there are never any heads bobbing around you; the next row is quiete a ways away and much lower than you. Wonderful theater, I choose AMC! more

AMC Mercado is usually packed with people on Friday nights and weekends and it is extremely hard to find parking. But if you're going on a weekday things should be fine. There are always a lot of policeman patrolling the area and security because of all the kids there but it is a nice clean theatre overall. Plenty of places to eat in the area, a sushi restaurant, mexican food, and I believe they just opened an In and Out. Clean theatres and usually playing the latest movies. more

This theatre is located inside of a large plaza with restaurants and a couple stores. It is also just a few minutes away from Great America and across the street from Mission College. For all these reasons plus the fact that it is a really nice theater, this place is a madhouse. It is almost impossible to get a parking space on the weekend and the lines are very long. Teens run wild. It is fun to check it out once in a while, but I really have to be in the mood for the chaos. more

AMC Mercado 20 is one of the silicon valley's largest movie theaters. Built about 8 years ago it is the destination for nearly every high school student on the weekends. Parking is horrible and you can't find a free spot on the weekends. That said, the theater is quite nice. There is stadium seating, 20 screens, and a well stocked concession stand. The food isn't cheap of course, but then again, what movie theater has cheap food? Tickets are often sold out for popular films. Star wars 3, for example, had long waiting lines to get into the theater and no spare tickets. You often have to buy online on moviephone.com. more

silicon valley is undoutedly america's _real_ heartland. amc mercado 20 is located right smack in the heart of silicon valley. amc's a big theatre chain, so this theatre has few surprises. it's a great place for the young crowd but doesn't play enough indie and foreign flicks. on the weekend, the parking lot gets way too crowded. they probably will need a parking structure someday. of the 20 theatres there, only 2 are big. i'm always so disappointed to find that my movie's playing on a dinky screen. i'd prefer the big ones. this theatre has problems with kids' hopping from screen to screen and has at times implementing some ridiculous, soup-nazi rules. why should mature adults pay good money to be forced to wait outside in the freezing cold (it's never _that_ cold in the silly valley) for a movie that has no one else in line??? they once did that to my wife and me. we went to see a movie that wasn't very popular, but they told us to wait outside the building until 30 minutes before the movie started. they're just too paranoid that people will sneak into movies. they also force patrons to exit in one direction after movies, which is very inconvenient as people often want to find less crowded bathrooms. let me tell you, the bathrooms here are often nasty, nasty, nasty. the best deal on amc movie tickets is found at costco. actually, de anza community college students get a good deal, i've heard. more

One of the best in the bay, this one and Century 25 are rivals since they are both really big and have tons of shops and eating places around them in a packed shopping center. The people that work there are very cool, they always let peopleback in to use the bathroom or the phone even if they are done with watching the movie. The seats are big and long and the rooms are large. The popcorn is delicious; I buy it every time with a huge cup of coca cola. more

Mercado holds fond memories for me. I used to go here practically every weekend during my youth, especially in high school. The parking lot gets really jam packed on the weekends, so I suggest parking across the street at Mission college. But, pay attention to the signs and make sure you don't park on a restricted day. The cops love ticketing here. Lines can get long, but it's always fun to people watch while you're waiting. If there's a lag time before your movie starts, there's tons of places next to the theater to grab a bite or snack on ice cream. The theater is nice and large inside with an arcade. Security has gotten strict, but a few years ago it was easy for kids to hop in and out of different screens. more