The Magic Time Machine — Restaurant in Addison

We kept driving past this restaurant on the way to and from our hotel. After looking up reviews, it sounded like the food was pretty good and the description of the various themes and costumes the wait staff wears was unique and intriguing. We had never been to a restaurant like this before, so once it opened, we joined the online wait list by pressing the Wait List button on Google Maps. It's a good thing we did because the restaurant is super popular and a lot of people were waiting to be seated when we arrived at 5:30pm (30 min after they open on a weekday).

The restaurant has theming around each booth. We sat in a booth that looked like it was themed to be a small European town (Italy perhaps). We were right next to a space capsule. There were also crayon box, Disney, Super Mario Bros., Pirates of the Caribbean, metal lunch box, George Washington, merry-go-round, and more themes throughout the restaurant. The wait staff is also dressed up (and in character) including Harley Quinn, Spider-Gwen, Poison Ivy, and possibly Uncle Fester (or it was simply a bald employee dressed in all black).

We sat in Spider-Man's section and our waiter was excellent. He had Peter Parker's fast-talking easy-going personality and even though we were talking someone in a full face mask, he still felt expressive and definitely welcoming and helpful.

Each entree comes with a side salad which is served out of a Salad Car (a car that houses a self-serve salad bar). We had some concerns with how sanitary this was in a post-COVID world especially since the salad bar is frequented by children and youth that might pay a bit less attention to hygiene. We waited until the main salad bowl was freshly replenished and got some salad. Everything tasted crisp and fresh.

Bubbly Magic Time Machine Potion ($3) - We got a kid sized magic potion (in blue) and when it arrived, the waiter asked my daughter to chant some magic incantations (which my daughter was too shy to do, so I said "abracadabra") and make some magic sounds ("wooowooowooo") and then take the straw and stir it. There were pieces of dry ice on top of the ice, so the straw pushes that in and the liquid begins to fizz and bubble with "steam" rising from it. The potion itself is a fruit juice blend primarily tasting of pineapple juice. Fun!

Adam's Rib ($38) plus 6 oz. lobster ($16) - I received a thick cut (16 oz) of prime rib served with jus and horseradish cream on a bed of garlic mashed potatoes. The lobster was steamed just right and had a sweet briny taste which paired well with the savory beef. The mashed potatoes were excellent with a strong garlic flavor that really enhanced the meal.

Fresh Grilled Salmon ($21) - Nicely cooked salmon filet served with herb rice pilaf and fresh veggies. The salmon could have been cooked a little less, but it was by no means dry. A mango pico de gallo was served alongside it which gave it an additional layer of flavor (and kick) if desired, but the salmon itself was well seasoned (salt & black pepper).

Fudge Cake ($8.50) - This chocolate cake was served warm with hot fudge and two scoops of vanilla ice cream. I prefer cake with a finer crumb, but the chocolate flavor was good in this coarse crumb cake, and it scratched a desire for cake that we've been having for the last few days.

Because the place was gimmicky, we were pleasantly surprised at the food quality and thoroughly enjoyed our meal. Not only is this place fun, but the food is good too - it's a whole package. We will...

I am very saddened to have to write this kind of review because I know how detrimental Google reviews are to a business, but I definitely feel like it's important for would-be customers who might visit this establishment to understand what they may be getting themselves into. My family of 10 plus an infant came to visit on Thursday May 2nd for my granddaughter's 10th birthday. Prior to us arriving my daughter tried to make reservations as the website indicates and at the front of their location it says reservations are accepted Sunday through Thursday but we were told that we could not make a reservation! okay no problem. We're patient. So we arrive at 7:15 and we're seated in the appropriate time which was awesome the hostesses were fantastic and great at communication 🙂 we were seated in an area that had a six top and a four top so we weren't all sitting together at the same table but we were in the same area which was okay. Not what we had hoped for but we were excited! We loved the decor. We loved the fact that it had a lot of vintage themed areas and the kids really enjoyed walking around looking at stuff as did the adults 🙂 Are appetizers came out and they were amazing. The spinach artichoke dip was the best I had ever tasted! Our entrees came out and this is where the issue really began! My husband had an alfredo which had very little sauce. My father had chicken parmesan... this is a 73-year-old not picky at all man... And he told us it just didn't have any flavor or taste to it... Okay fine. They missed the mark on the pasta but for mine and my daughter's mashed potatoes tasted very sour. Also, the ranch tasted very sour so we asked to speak to the manager about it. We explained to the server that she's not doing anything wrong. We just have an issue with the food. The manager Isaac comes over and had The most smug demeanor you could muster.... And after hearing our issue said I don't know what to tell you... Uhm... I who had planned to remain silent and let my daughter handle this immediately spoke up and explained that his response was completely inappropriate for a person in his position towards a customer and I further explained to him that I wanted those plates off my table and I wanted those entrees off my bill. He did that and I appreciate that and we tipped the server very very well but we don't appreciate his attitude as a member of management as well as other employees walking by our table several times saying "it tastes good to me". "It tastes fine to me"... Good for you! It tasted like sour potatoes to us. So maybe the buttermilk that you use when you make your stuff in-house fresh daily as per Isaac's statement to me is bad! Maybe it was expired... Either way ....Magic Time Machine. Y'all are not as great as you think you are.... We won't be back and we will never recommend this establishment to anyone! We should have went to Rainforest Cafe which is what my granddaughter wanted in the first place. Most establishments who have been in business as long as magic time machine typically do not care about one set of customers that come through that have an issue.. But I certainly hope that the powers that be see this review and maybe offer a little bit of customer service relation training to their management and or staff! I've been in the restaurant business for a very long time and customer service is everything especially in a day and age where we don't have it...

Spent a total of $135 for a party of 4 at this place. I'm not gonna gripe about it since we got to spend time together and got a laugh (at ourselves) from what we just experienced.

We arrived at 6 p.m. Was told there would be a 2 hour wait. It ended up being about 90 minutes. They said there is a cash-only $3 per person magic show, a bar, and an arcade upstairs for the wait. We went up and found a seat in the lounge waiting area.....which really isn't bad; but, I would take some cards or something to do for 90 minutes if I were gonna wait there again. Didn't see a TV. Just a bunch of kids chasing each other around the room. The upstairs bar can't make any frozen drinks; so, we didn't get anything there. We woulda got some virgin daiquiris or something if they could make them. The "arcade" is a little air hockey machine and 3 or 4 claw-like games. lol. We overheard the magic show, but didn't watch it. Sounded like small kids were enjoying the jokes. We got updates via text on the wait time as we waited. We didnt know what to expect, so we hung in there and waited it out.

When we got seated, our waitress was pretty good. I dont remember her character. She was someone this Gen-Xer didn't recognize. The bubbly drinks were probably worth $3 each just to check them out. We each had one. The salad bar was pretty good. The ordered food was horrible and overpriced. It was either bland or awful....in the shrimp's case, it smelled like it was soaked in chemicals. lol. None of us ate much of our food and we didn't ask for a to-go box....if that tells you anything. Couldnt even doctor it up with A-1 to make it taste good. It was awful. I wouldnt waste money on the sirloin, shrimp, or ribs. If ya wanna go for the experience, I would opt for the cheapest thing on the menu that will include the salad bar.

They take your group pics at the table and sell them to you. $10 for one or 2 for $20. We bought the AI-edited one because it was a funny memoir of the experience.

A person making balloon animals visits every table. We had a flower made and tipped $5. I would have liked a squirrel, but that was outside of her skillet.....for now.

What we enjoyed most is watching all of the kids run around with no supervision, trying to collect all of the characters' autographs. That was good unscripted entertainment. Kids are funny.

I will say again that the server was great.

All in all, we had fun. Laughed at ourselves for delving into this adventure instead of going somewhere for a legit dinner.

Would I go again? No. But it was an unforgettable experience with the fam.....all for the low price of $135. And we got a souvenir balloon and a professional photo. lol.

Hard to describe the place. Just go and check...