Cable Car Cinema on South Main Street has been showing independent, foreign, and repertory films for more than 25 years. The format is unusual: you eat during the film, seated at tables rather than in conventional cinema rows. The food is modest — soups, sandwiches, light plates — but the combination of food and film in a relaxed setting has kept the place essential to Providence's arts scene.
The programming leans toward films that won't appear in multiplexes: retrospectives, international cinema, documentary series, local and independent work. Festival programming is particularly good. Admission is cheap. If you're in Providence for more than a night, check what's on — there's usually something worth seeing.