OVERALL GOOD-My family took me here to celebrate my birthday. Let me start by describing the meal and service. The first course was a fresh mixed greens salad. At the table, there was only a raspberry vinaigrette dressing to top the salad. It was good, but had berry seeds that were a little off putting. The rest of my group would have preferred a second dressing option such as ranch. When booking, you could choose chicken, fish or vegetarian. We all had the chicken. It was a beautiful plate of assorted roasted vegetables and potatoes topped with grilled chicken. The vegetables were a bit overcooked but were still tasty. The chicken was seasoned, but it could have used a bit more seasoning for my taste. Another guest at our table had the vegetarian option, a grilled cauliflower, and it looked delicious.They served iced tea, water, and there was a cash bar. They were slow to refill the water & iced tea glasses. I might suggest a pitcher of water at each table. The dessert course was a very good creamy chocolate mousse with fresh fruit & a crunchy cookie. Now for the show. This was a combination of acting, jokes, and audience participation. After the rules were explained, we were encouraged to make our way around the room to talk to the other participants to see if you could identify any suspects. The show started with a "murder" and clues were given through QR codes using your phone. Between courses, the actor led us through the story and interacted with the audience. Halfway through, the meal was served. After the dessert course, the actors started the final part of the show. There was a second and third murder, more clues, and the audience was then asked for the provided "who done it" questionnaires. Once collected the show staff went through the clues and announced the winner. The murder mystery part of the event was a little hit and miss for me. One of the neat things was that we had three of the hidden actors at our table. One was obviously part of the performance, but the other two were revealed in the end as actors in the show. During the pre-meal and meal time, they carried on table talk and added their input about suspects and clues just as if they were guests in the audience. Their reveal as part of the show at the end was very surprising to my party and made it very enjoyable. On the other hand, the website with the description of the event suggests "you will not find yourself staring at cheesy costumes, there will be no recited campy dialogue and certainly no hokey song and dance," My party believed all of this was in the show to some extent. I do understand each scripted show could have better writing and different actors which might make a difference. My party also believed that there was too much information and clues provided in the last ten minutes of the show for any guest to actually solve the crime. However, maybe my group wasn't up to speed or different shows/performances could be better planned. All in all, it was a good time. read more

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Solid show. Kind of funny everyone accusing one another. You won't figure it out until the very end. I would certainly recommend.

The Dinner Detective is very fun! It is an activity you should try with a group of friends or date when you want to try something different! The food was okay, but the service was very good. If you enjoy improv and silly acting, go to the Dinner Detective for a night of laughter and fun. read more

It was a great show. The actors killed it, literally. They surprised us. It was a surprise date for Valentine's Day & I had never did something like this before. The actors were so energetic and genuinely funny. It's hard to entertain a crowd but they did a great job on making everyone participate and not feel awkward. Super fun date. read more

The Dinner Detective - a table with a black table cloth and a yellow ribbon - Dinner Theater Near Me - Houston, Texas

Food 5 Service 5 Ambience- 5 We had a bunch of fun & appreciate the cleverness of the murder mystery! We had our Christmas company party here & glad we did! Lots of fun & enjoyment including mystery!!!! read more

Quite a show! Food was good, warm and service was nice! Performance was excellent and we fully enjoyed it! read more

We came for my best friends birthday dinner! I thought the couple next to us was in on it the whole time. I was way wrong! We had a great time! Highly recommend. read more

Great event for birthdays. A lot of fun and very interactive. The chocolate cake at the end was fantastic.

Funny and interesting show. Got to meet lots of people. The actors are hilarious. Food is ok.

Went for a date night last Saturday as a different experience and had a good time. We knew going in the food wasn't going to be memorable so that tempered our expectations on the evening (otherwise I may only have given 3 stars). The show itself was run well and interactive with the audience, even if it is slightly embarrassing for an introvert to get called up. We were left guessing until the end on the true culprit, which changed throughout the night for us. I would not go again anytime soon, and I view the experience as a try it once to check the box. read more

The food was sub par. We ordered the fish and it was like a fish soup pie...the bread was hard and the salad was iceberg with some parm cheese and berries. For almost $90 I expected better. The performance was cute. read more

Two friends and I went last night to this show. I will be honest, we almost didn't get tickets due to the negative reviews on Yelp. The tickets were for my friends birthday and I wanted to be certain she would have a good time. Knowing our group of friends, we would make the best of it no matter even if it turned out terrible. The show is not your typical costume scripted show, it's improv. The murderer can be anyone in the room even someone at your table. I was rolling in laughter at how funny the actors were and everyone around us seemed to be having a blast as well. Two out of the 3 of us were included in the show being called upon to answer the detectives questions. Dinner was good. I won't say it was amazing but it's not like I was going there for the food. Two of us had the chicken and nothing to complain about. Our other friend had the fish and he said it was really good. Chocolate cake after was delish! Cash bar only no credit cards accepted but there's an ATM. Drinks were priced fairly. I'm not sure why there are so many negative reviews. Only thing that I can think of is they expected costumes and something like the board game Clue or Improv is just not their thing. Oh well. If you are the fence because of the reviews, just go. Thank you Dinner Detective for making our night one we will talk about for quite some time. :) read more

After hearing how nasty this company was towards those who are in my family trying to book tickets, I decided to take my money, family and friends elsewhere! I will never support folks who treat my little Neices the way this company did shame on you and your unprofessionalism towards potential customer! I would name the lady who is the main reason behind this horrible review, but she isn't worth me causing her any more embarrassment! Signing out Bad review for Dinner Detective workers/owners read more

Food portion was small cake was dry and alchol to exspensive. Service was slow we had to ask for water. Actirs were good. Like capt silvers preformance. read more

The concept is obviously intriguing or else you wouldn't be reading reviews, but the execution really isn't that good. The actors are not the best (and I feel bad saying that because they do try). The murderer will be staged and will not be an audience member. It is engaging, but not in the way that I expected it to be (not get-out-of-your-seat type deal). The food is also bad. Not mediocre, bad. I had a vegetarian dish and they gave me three slices of dry eggplant with some tomato sauce slopped on top. Very much not worth the calories--I had to eat something else when I got home. And to put it all off, it is in a rinky hotel conference room--definitely do not make a special night out of this one. read more

Great detective show, good chicken meal, just wish there was more iced tea and water coming around... and rolls! The dinner rolls were awesome, but only 1 per person. Parking is located in the hotel garage. Dinner Detective will give you a validation ticket to pay the discounted rate at exit. read more

The food was some of the worst I had ever had. The "fresh catch of the day" was some weird fish pie that was filled with salt and onions and mussels. The asparagus was thinner than a pencil, over cooked and horrible. The bread was so dry and hard to chew I gave up. The drinks are very expensive. The "acting" was ok. If you plan on coming, eat first or bring a sack lunch. No way this thing was worth nearly $100 per head after all taxes and fees read more

I hate to have to put there here as i'd really enjoyed working for this group before this, but it's not fair to myself if i do not warn others and stick up for myself. I worked for this company for over 3 years and it has gotten a bit disorganized recently as far as scheduling. (It happens and i completely understand, unfortunately this is not reciprocated with them) I had to resubmit my availability multiple times and had already written in dates on my calendar for upcoming shows more than once. For the first time EVER i'd gotten a date mixed up for a show. I was usually sent a confirmation email that i would need to fill out a week prior to confirm my role which i never was emailed. Later i was told i did, but maybe they misspelled my email who knows because i did not receive it nor had i confirmed my role. I was always reminded 24 hours after these are sent out about filling these out if i hadn't had the chance to previously fill it out, which i also did not receive. (if so, i would've been able to prepare and make the show) So, of course i'm going about my week and i did get an email about parking, which i thought was odd, but since i'd gotten no other emails i thought maybe they accidentally send me it and went on with my day. Next thing i know my phone is blowing up asking about my ETA to which i'm completely confused about as i'd never gotten any emails or confirmed anything. (you have to complete your form that's sent out regardless of your availability in order to work that show) i'd accidentally mixed up dates. I felt terrible, i had no time to get ready or make the show as there was less than an hour til show time. This has never happened. When i explained my situation i was not responded too. I was then let go the week after where all of the blame was put on me with no chance to stick up for myself and make the note that it had been a miscommunication mistake on both sides. No compassion or lenience after working for a company for so long. You really are just a number to people, this company constantly complains they do not have enough people to work, but are not setting actors they do have up for success. I deserved better. read more

My fiancé bought the dinner for Valentine's for me, and he included my family because he is just that nice. So ticket was more than $300, almost $400 for 5 people. My mom got sick that day and we didn't want to go without her. We called them before the event and nobody answered, so we just sent out an email instead. After couple of days they respond that there's additional $200 fee to reschedule! This is the first time we experience an event/restaurant that treats their customers like this! No way ill let my fiancé pay another $200 to these greedy people. Almost $600 for a dinner is crazy. We understand we couldn't show up, but that was an emergency. Its not like we just decided to not show up. I WILL NEVER RECOMMEND this to any of my family and friends! I will continue writing reviews in other social media about our experience with them!!! read more

We tried desperately to like this show. We tried to laugh and have fun. We kept thinking it would get better. It never did. It was like watching children run around a room screaming. We were so disappointed. The three of us spent a lot of money and time to see this and it was terrible. We actually left the show early. The first show I've ever walked out of! Sooooo disappointed ... I feel very harrassed by this company after posting this review. They are very bitter and can't seem to take the good with the bad reviews. read more

We went to the Dinner Detective tonight, August 10 for our first anniversary and we had a good time! My husband and I were quite nervous we would get picked out of the audience but it was entertaining to watch the other audience members participate. The mystery was fun to figure out and I picked the right culprit but I didn't win the prize. That's ok with me! We had a wonderful excuse to leave our 7month old at home with my parents and get out for our first date in nearly 8 months! Food was good. Not like gourmet restaurant style food but good. Come with an open mind and some cash to drink and you'll have a good time. Would do again and considering bringing the whole fam next time. read more

Starting with the dingy venue and ending with no real clarity about how exactly the audience is expected to participate, add a mediocre dinner, resulting in overall disappointment and poor value. The location was a gray bare bones hotel business meeting room with no decor. There was no overview explaining how the overall event way to play out with what roles paid actors and guests had. The person who won the prize seemed to be a guest of one of the paid actors. Food was very mediocre. Would not recommend as the value for money was very low. read more

Please do not waste your money! The acting and the food were awful. We tried to like it but ended up leaving early. It was absolutely terrible! read more

I wish we could get our money back. The show and the food were terrible. The venue was terrible and we left early because we did not want to waste anymore of our Saturday night. The acting was awful. We were looking forward to a fun mystery night and it turned out we could not figure out what was happening. read more

You have to get into it if you're going to enjoy yourself. It's corny, yes, but you will have a good time if you just go with it. If you don't enjoy talking to people, it won't be as fun. Tip: definately come up with your character you'll b playing before you go and come up wiith a bio. It will make it that much more fun read more

we went to the dinner detective on Dallas street in Houston TX last night Dinner , show , parking are all horrible. Then only good thing was service for dinner (waiters and waitresses) , they were so nice. please do not waste your money. this is my honest opinion. read more

It was kind of funny and interactive. We had an okay time. The food was really bad. We got tickets half price, so I would say it was worth it. I would not pay $70 to go though because it really seemed thrown together and the food was terrible. read more

The Dinner Detective show was OK depending on your table mates you could a great time or you could have good time. This was my first time going to a mystery dinner so I didn't what to expect. First of all think of an alias name, occupation, and life story, this will be your persona for the evening. The more you mingle the more fun you will have. Some parts of the show are a little cheesy but have another drink. Cash only bar is in the room. The food was typical hotel banquet food. Do not set the bar to high and you will not be disappointed. Go have fun and experience something different. If you are going with a group of people secretly incorporate them into the show. It is a little extra but worth it to add on to the fun. read more

November 8th show was canclled and we were not notified until we got to the hotel (by the front desk).

First, I would like to say that all of the performers in the Dinner Detective were very talented. I hate to give a bad review for that reason alone. But I just did not enjoy the way the show was set-up. Maybe its just my preference but I strongly prefer a traditional murder mystery show format where the performers not the audience are the primary focus. To be honest, I was pretty bored throughout the entire show. My date and I actually left early as soon as we finished the main course. I do not think we were the only ones who were bored since I saw several other guests yawn throughout the show. Just a warning to others, this is nothing like other murder mystery shows that you have watched. read more

Do NOT waste your money. The show was VERY uninspiring/unimaginative and seemed just thrown together. The food was TERRIBLE, barely enough to feed a mouse, drinks were exorbitant, and CASH only, so bring a lot if you are foolish enough to attend after reading, because you will need to drink a lot to get ANY kind of enjoyment out of the farce!!! read more

I have purchased tickets to surprise hubby for his birthday on Nov. 10, 2018 so I haven't actually seen the show yet. But I do want to comment on the reviewer that stated that she was not offered a refund because her mother became ill. When purchasing the tickets, I read the comment that there will be no refunds and a charge to change your reservation date. I agree with the producers response. They have a business to run and if everyone cancelled because someone got sick and they refunded everyone's money, they would certainly be out of business. I attended one in Vegas that was interactive and enjoyed it very much so I'm hoping to get the same experience. For $60 I'm not expecting it to be the best event (with the best food) that I've ever attended. It's just something different and we will go in not expecting too much and, therefore, will not be disappointed. Life is too short not to have fun! read more

The food was mediocre at best. Would have been nice if they could have served what was ordered. The acting was really really bad. This truly was the worst dinner theater experience I've ever had. Seriously--I think I would have been more entertained taking $180 a light a match to it and watching it burned. Oh--did I mention--the bar was overpriced? Doubletree should be ashamed for allowing something like this to operate on their site. read more

I agree with Nunya's review with the exception that I will give it only one star. My party did stay to the end so Nunya did miss a good dessert. No one at our table expressed any positive reaction to the show and that was confirmed by all ignoring the suggestion to leave an additional tip for the actors. The cost of the performance was the posted rate plus about 8% (taxes) and 15% which I assumed was a tip. No additional tip was warranted. The setting and food was the same as one would expect at one of those "free" investment or retirement seminars in a hotel conference room. read more