This was my go-to theater for over a decade when I was living in Pacifica. For the last decade living in San Bruno, we’ve almost exclusively gone to the Century at Tanforan. While it’s much closer to home, the Tanforan theater is still living in the stone ages with their seats. Daly City has since done a full remodel, switching to the “luxury lounger” electric reclining chairs. Depending on the movie and show times, we’re more than willing to drive the extra distance to have those super comfy chairs!
The theater itself is pretty big, featuring 20 screens spanning across multiple levels. You enter from Junipero Serra Blvd where there’s a box office to purchase tickets on-site. They have the standard red text digital screen displaying all the movie times, and you select your seats right there at the window. If you purchased your tickets digitally, you can walk straight to the far doors where they’ll scan your tickets.
**Note that they no longer automatically print out ticket stubs if you scan a digital ticket. If you want one, you can ask, though it looks more like a receipt now than the traditional stub.
As soon as you enter, you go up a giant escalator to get to the main level. The main level has the most / biggest theaters (IMAX / XD), the snack shop, as well as the arcade. The snack shop features all the standard options you’d expect to see at a theater: popcorn, kettle corn, hotdogs, nachos, candy, soda, ICEE, plus ice cream and other frozen treats!
Up at the front, they have special drinks such as coffee (latte, cappuccino, mocha, caramel macchiato – hot or iced), chai latte, tea, caramel frappe, and hot chocolate. They advertise for pizza, though I’ve never seen them out. Maybe you have to ask?
They also have a bar! Pretty basic, but solid options: Draft beer (Blue Moon, 805, Michelob Ultra, Modelo Especial, Sierra Nevada), cans (Guiness, Stella, White Claw, Truly Strawberry Lemonade, Twisted Tea) wine (red & white), and frozen cocktails!
The arcade is decent, featuring some standard games like air hockey, Ms. Pac-man / Galaga, Aliens shoot-em-up, Super Shot basketball game, Batman and motorcycle racing, and a cool Star Wars game where you get into a little enclosed pod. They also have a good amount of claw and other prize games.
There are even more theaters on the 3rd floor, which is accessible by another large escalator, or a literal mountain of stairs. They have a smaller snack shop up there, though I haven’t seen it in use the last few visits, so I’m not sure if they ever use it anymore these days. I definitely remember times where it was not only open, but busy! Both levels have (nice & clean) bathrooms, and they’re also accessible via elevator.
If you’re driving in, there’s plenty of free parking in an attached multi-level garage. I recommend parking on the 2nd floor – you can exit the theater from the back on the main level, and it connects you directly to that level of the garage! There are also several restaurants right there, including Round Table, Westlake Coffee Shop, Cold Stone, sushi, ramen, and a giant seafood buffet that likely has both of those things and more.
I definitely recommend seeing a movie at the Century 20 Daly City – it’s clean, comfortable, the staff’s friendly, and it’s an all around good experience. Come out and support the theater!