Consume refreshments initially in the Criterion, perhaps (7)
I believe the answer is:
theatre
'criterion perhaps' is the definition.
(Criterion Theatre is a London theatre)
'consume refreshments initially in the' is the wordplay.
'consume' becomes 'eat' (eating is a kind of consuming).
'initially' suggests taking the first letters.
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
The initial letter of 'refreshments' is 'r'.
'eat'+'r'='eatr'
'eatr' going inside 'the' is 'THEATRE'.
(Other definitions for theatre that I've seen before include "Scene of drama or operation" , "Play scene" , "Show" , "Place for actors" , "US cinema" .)