The Dinner Detective True Crime Murder Mystery Dinner Show - San Antonio, TX — Local services in San Antonio

Dinner Detective Murder Mystery was a fun and entertaining night!   It's an interactive dinner experience, different than a typical dinner date.  The actors were great and engaged with the crowd.

Before I took the leap I looked over reviews.  I read how some commented on the quality of food and room conditions (columns that obscured view).  Still, there were many positive reviews for reassurance.

I paid roughly $145 for two tickets for a 3-course dinner and entertainment.  We parked at the hotel valet.  Let them know you're there for the Dinner Detective.  Parking fee was $12.50 at the front desk.

Frankly, I can appreciate the work that goes into putting on a show and capturing the crowd's attention.   We attended with two friends to celebrate a birthday.  The four of us were seated with three other couples; we had a great time getting to know them. We were all laughing and having a great time throughout the evening.

If you're not sure whether to give it a try remember: It's dinner and a show, but expect to be called on to participate.   Everyone was game during the event, and there were at least 100 guests (about 10 per table).

Honestly, our food was fine.  I chose from three options during my purchase.   We had  grilled chicken breast (moist) with mashed potatoes and broccoli.  The meal is catered by the hotel and the servers work for the hotel as well.  I had no problem with any of them.  Everyone was courteous.

As for seating issues or columns blocking the view,  the show takes place throughout the room.  There were times I turned slightly to see, but it wasn't inconvenient in my opinion.  I could see and hear the actors just fine as well as the participants from the audience.

If you're looking for a social night out with some laughs I recommend you give them a try.  We'll definitely return for...

What a chaotic night! The story line was not coherent, the "clues" were a distraction, and don't bother showing up on time because they do NOT start at 6:00pm. The enclosed photo captures the chaos. The reception was haphazardly ran, it was a free for all. It looked like several people didn't show up for work, they were asking attendees to help with set up -- why do you charge $70/person if we need to work too? By the way, apparently the actors are not paid and they work for tips -- that doesn't makes sense.

The hotel wait staff serving the food were not synchronized with the different scenes. For example, while you're trying to watch the actors, the hotel staff would serve the food or they would be collecting dishes. You can forget about etiquette. The wait staff clearly have not been trained to serve from the rear of the room to the front and serve a full table before moving to the next table. The wait staff started serving at the entrance of the room which caused a bottle neck and additional commotion. They didn't have a dish collection stand, so that caused additional distraction.

Keep your expectations low and you will have a good time. It is a good time to get to know the other attendees, because you will be working as much as the actors. Don't bother paying for the additional fee to be included in the plot, the administrator of the show is way to disorganized to orchestrate that. Being included in the plot is...

I just can’t recommend.

First, the venue. It is in a hotel conference room. The acoustics are terrible and we had a very difficult time hearing the 2 main actors. There are minimal decorations like a taped silhouette on the ground and a couple cards on the tables. It felt more like a conference than a Murder Mystery Dinner Theater.

The food is below average. Kind of like cafeteria food, or bad wedding food. You can tell it was made ahead of time, the chicken was slightly dry.

The story…I won’t give away details; however, it was difficult to follow (again, reference the acoustics). The QR clues helped, but the story didn’t develop well. I could not tell what was happening or why, and the ending was VERY rushed. All of a sudden the main actors just started reading from a script explaining the murder. I didn’t understand why we bothered filling out the “who done it” form, they only gave us roughly 10 minutes to complete anyway. Both my wife and I thought “well, that was slightly entertaining; however we were both left wanting more”. It’s just missing a few elements that could make it so much better. It needs more/better props/sound effects. The storyline development is unbalanced. Way too slow during the first 2 acts and then WAY too...