Punch Line Sacramento — Restaurant in California

Drove down from out of town to Punch Line Sacramento to see a comedian that we have been wanting to see for years and we were NOT disappointed!! We scored tickets via Live Nation/Ticketmaster end of the summer sale for $20 bucks but would have paid full price for him wherever he was performing. Venue was easy to find in the strip mall, upstairs located next to a mattress store was easy breezy and literally across the street from our hotel. Walked right in to be greeted by security, went through a quick security check of the usual (ID check, ticket check, bag check, etc.) that then pointed us to their new bar area while we waited for the first showing to wrap up.

The new bar area aka The Callback Bar was a perfect place for us to grab one of their specialty cocktails prior to our comedy extravaganza. We opted for Mules, I had the Drug Mule which had Humboldt's hemp infused vodka in it and was exactly what I needed!! The hubby went with an Irish Mule with Jameson Irish Whiskey to start his night off. Our bartender was above and beyond as a matter of fact all of the staff here went above and beyond!! She made sure that we knew that whatever we order would not be counted for our two drink minimum not that we were counting, heck we would be walking back to our hotel across the street plus we had just had an amazing dinner a few moments before our arrival. We asked the bartender if there was anyway we could upgrade our seats to sit closer to the stage for the show so she worked her magic and boom chakalaka with the show not selling out we were able to move closer for next show - wooohoooo!!

Upon inside the main show area, we were escorted to our new seats (thank you staff) the venue was intimate for holding 200, we like that no matter where you are inside it gives you a great view of the performers. Servers, staff and bartenders are kind, nice and service was great. Comedians had us holding our sides from start to finish. The MC was hilarious, the opener was cracking us up from the moment he came out and the headliner is insanely funny. We had the opportunity to have a Meet & Greet after to include pictures plus all of them visited for a few with the audience members that wanted to hang in The Callback Bar.

Only downside to the evening was the two gender neutral bathroom so the lines can get rather hectic especially if it's a full house, not too clean since everyone was in and out in a flurry with paper towels strewn about but I am sure the A-plus staff does their best to keep on top of that. Overall, cool venue for comedy acts and...

Two things happened at the show last night which I will never be coming back here. My review is long so understand most won't read it, but I'll just state that my experience left me feeling UNSAFE, and looking at the other 1-2 star reviews here, this place is shady so be cautious of your visit.

I bought VIP tickets to 6pm show. I arrive at 5:40 and was told that they had changed the time to 5:00 and had sent an email the day before (Sat) letting fans know. I try not to check my email on the weekend so was super disappointed that I had missed most of the show, but the front door people were nice (not their fault) and told me I could watch the remainder of the show, and ticketmaster would refund my ticket bc Punchline had changed the time. Great, this was not ideal but it was fine. The next part is what was disturbing.

We go in and get seated at a table in the back. The waitress comes over to take our order and I tell her I'd appreciate if we had the 2 drink min waived considering there was only 30min left. She seemed to understand and the whole exchange lasted 30s. Five min later, one of the staff members comes over and starts whisper-yelling at me that he heard we didn't want to order the drink minimum. I attempt to tell him what happened, but he cuts me off, tells me its fine, but don't bother the waitress with anything, and stomps away. I was left shocked, my personal space was invaded bc he got really close, and I felt unsafe due to how aggressive he was. I also did not understand what the point of that whole exchange was. After the show my husband went to talk with the waitress to get the staff member's name (Anthony) and to make sure she didn't think we were being rude initially. She seemed surprised by the exchange and no, we were not being rude. So, I can only think that this Anthony guy was on some sort of ego, power trip.

After the show, I contacted Ticketmaster for a refund and was told that the Event Organizer (aka Punchline) only issues refunds for shows that are canceled, not if the time was changed...which is contrary to what I was told by Punchline people. I honestly didn't even have the energy to push back. It was the cherry that topped this...

The comedic talent was good and i would have been a regular with my group of friends had it not been for how they treat their guests, and the prices they are charging. First we have reasonable incomes all of us, but we did feel pretty ripped off with their admission coupled with the two drink minimum. Somehow drinks that we did not want to have to drink but were forced upon us, costing us $100. We bought three beers, one cocktail and a Shirley Temple soda. So on top of our tickets we spent $100 on medicocre drinks. The cocktail was definitely not good, and the beers were crazy overpriced. By the time we got the second round of drinks from the waitress that were forced upon us because of this 2 drink minimum, the show was wrapping up. Then they told everyone to leave immediately no matter the fact that we had full drinks in front of us. Super tacky and cheap and unnecessary. It's one thing to not allow additional beverages to be ordered but you should certainly let your guests finish. The lady said "you don't have to go home but you can't stay here". That was 5-10 minutes after the show ended- ridiculous. Also to wrap up the show by rushing people out after forcing them to drink is just encouraging drunk driving . There's nowhere else in this entire Shopping Center or anywhere nearby where one can go to recover from your drinks before you have to hit the road . I would select another comedy club for sure over...