Midnight Society Cafe — Restaurant in Charlotte

After our first experience being very poor, Mason reached out and offered us another opportunity to visit. I understand this place is new and they’ve got some kinks to work out but I do love the concept. I really appreciate their willingness to rectify the situation and offer a better experience this time around. My son had a great time. We played the PS5 and the new Switch. They were very attentive and the food was actually very good. I will say getting your game setup can take about 20 minutes or so, I recommend going without plans after. The food also took about 35+ minutes but it was fresh and it was pretty busy when we went. Since we didn’t have plans after this time, we were prepared to wait and weren’t pressed for time which is the best way to visit.

Thank you for being very attentive and providing great customer service. We will be returning.

Previous experience :

We were excited to try this place and it’s just our luck we went on a bad night. Apparently 2 people called out and they were running behind. Such a great concept but they really need help with how to run it.

We arrived at 5:50pm for a 6:00 pm reservation we made that was not mentioned at check in. I initially made a reservation for 9:30 pm but there was no way to edit it so I made a new one for 6:00PM since we had a change of plans.

When we arrived, we were the 3rd or 4th in line. We paid $15 per person + ordered food. We were told they were out of every drink except canned sodas We sat at our table, with PS5 and waited. Mind you, a big group came in and were setup before they even paid because the lady asked me where to pay. When she asked the guy for the controllers, he went to grab them without even confirming that they had paid yet although we were paid and waiting for controllers. There were 2 men going around helping everyone get setup with their controllers and games. We flag one of them down to ask for controllers and he asked if we had already paid. I said yes. Had we not flagged him down he wouldn’t have known. Poor communication after payment. Finally, he brings us controllers and leaves. So my son tries to access a game to find out that we need the disc. So we flag him down again and said we need the disc. He spends the next 10 minutes looking my for it. And doesn’t find it until I come up there and ask for a refund.

So at this point it’s been 20-25 minutes since we sat at the gaming table. We have movie plans after so we came on a tight schedule. We wanted to play games and eat for 1.5 hours before the movie. At this point it’s been 30 mins since we arrived and we haven’t even started playing games yet. So we decided to leave.

We also made reservations which they did not ask me about so basically everyone was treated as a walk in there.

I go to the counter and ask politely if I can have a refund because we hadn’t started playing yet and had plans after.

The lady got visually irate and said that she told me they were behind and I agreed to give it a try. I said ok we will just head out but thank you. She proceeds to keep making comments and snatches my receipt from me , then slams the money on the counter for my refund. Even the lady behind me was confused as to why she was so upset. I wasn’t rude or yelling.

Anyway, it was just my luck that it was a bad night. But it needs to be run totally different from what I...

Review for The Midnight Society, Charlotte

I had high hopes for The Midnight Society, but unfortunately, my experience left a lot to be desired. When we first walked in, there was no clear direction on where to go or what to do. We ended up sitting for 20 minutes before anyone approached us. Even after that, the process was unclear — we were unsure if we should head to the bar, sit by the gaming consoles, or something else entirely. It wasn’t until I followed the staff behind the bar that we figured out how things worked.

The menu was on a touchscreen, which in theory is great, but it felt impersonal and somewhat disconnected. I’m all for embracing new technology, but in this case, it didn’t enhance the experience — it made it feel a bit robotic.

The staff also seemed inattentive. The bartender appeared more interested in his device than engaging with customers. I had to remind him a couple of times about my orders, which was frustrating, especially when you’re paying for an experience.

There were also some technical issues with the Xbox we were playing on — the multiplayer didn’t work, and even switching to PlayStation didn’t improve things much. On top of that, the game selection was really limited for the $15 cover charge per person. The games on the PlayStation 5 could only be played using physical discs, which meant every time we wanted to switch games, we had to go back up to the bar and request a new disc.

One positive note: the concept of a live DJ is great and adds an interesting vibe. However, at times, the music was a bit too loud and didn’t quite match the tone of the environment, which was a bit jarring.

Overall, the concept of a gaming lounge is a great one, but The Midnight Society didn’t quite hit the mark for me. With better communication, a more engaging staff, and improved tech, this place could have a lot...

Update: Please be aware that the owner, Mason, was not accommodating and provided upsettingly poor costumer service at the conclusion of our party: I thought our $250 minimum/deposit went towards all cost of the party (gaming and food) based on the pricing that was described to me over the phone by Mason and in person with Naomi, but Mason insisted that he did tell me over the phone (because “he tells everyone”) that the minimum/deposit goes towards gaming only and food is an additional cost. As a result we were forced at the conclusion of an otherwise fine birthday party to pay over $100 more than expected and disclosed. When I disputed that the minimum/deposit was supposed to also go toward the food, Mason took no ownership in the miscommunication and lack of clarity and said it’s up to the customer to ask more questions and not up to him and his business to provide clear written descriptions of the party package/deposit/minimum. He also laughed off my suggestion to provide simple contracts to avoid future miscommunications. Hope this helps others who want to book a party!… Original review: We are hosting our son’s 10th birthday here and he is so excited about gaming on their wall of tv’s! Mason, Naomi and their staff have been so accommodating! We’re looking forward to enjoying the space, food, and desserts (by their pastry chef!)! I’ll update the review...