The Dinner Detective

Not sure if this is the one at Vitello’s in Studio City… but that is what I’m reviewing. Got there at 6 which is when it was called for. Had to wait in small bar as they didn’t have the room open. Finally took us and about 50 other people all at once and it was chaos… it was like it was the first time they did this… It was advertised as a 4 course dinner. I would hardly call a wafer thin and narrow piece of pizza, about 3 bites worth, a course. However the salad was nice, salmon and rice tasty but the canoli for dessert was again, about 3 bites. I was not counting on the interactive nature… I had no desire to get up and move around the room and talk to other audience members… I thought that was lame and confusing… and the clues were pathetic. I’m a college grad and had no idea what was going on and how these laminated papers with random information were even clues… and I don’t even drink so it’s not like my mind was cluttered. For the price, even the discounted price thru Goldstar or Groupon, I thought it was a rip off. Better to go out to dinner with friends and have a nice conversation and decent sized portions.

We had such a fun night. The show was great. One of the most fun nights I have had in a long time.
Don’t come for the food. It is good food but it isn’t what you are paying for. Not sure why so many people are bitching about the food. You can’t get dinner AND a show for less than $ 100 anywhere else. And on a boat no less.
The experience is way more fun if you get involved, but don’t worry if you are a little shy. My shy friends sat at the table and didn’t make the rounds talking to people and still had an amazing night. They all said it beat their expectations.
The actors were all so funny and quick witted. I wish I could go again and not know who the murderer is!
The person I was convinced was a murderer wasn’t even one of the actors! Haha

Expensive but worth it. this is my 5^th murder mystery dinner at different places. The cheaper ones are just that cheap and ok. This is by far the best. The improv is what makes this even better. The two cops played of each other lines like a hooker doing coke in a shady motel. That impressive. You could make a comment and they would throw one right back at you without hesitation. Spend the money go with the best. I would recommend this to anyone. I thing I would suggest it give a little bit more time to interview suspects. Remember people at your table are suspects if you don’t know them or even if you do know them. Don’t trust anyone.
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I bought a living social deal for this show and was excited to use it, made a reservation, and then got completely swamped with work unexpectedly the day of the show and needed to change my reservation to a different day. Even though this was the morning of the show, I was told my tickets couldn’t be changed unless I wanted to pay a $ 40 change fee, which is RIDICULOUS. I feel like I wasted so much money on this place, between the living social cost, then the added cost they charged me to make a reservation ($ 25) — I wasn’t willing to pay another $ 40, so I never got to use my tickets and had to miss the show. I can’t say whether or not the show was entertaining but I would never buy a ticket again after all the hassle and terrible customer service I feel like I received.
Also, they have absolutely terrible hours for their phone lines… If you do only 1 show each saturday, you should keep phone lines open that whole day for whatever issues may arise. Instead you can call up to 1 pm CST… WHY ON EARTH would they have phone lines open until 1 pm CST for a show that occurs in California, at PST? Just weird and to be honest, incredibly annoying.

I am a big fan of murder mysteries, role playing, dinner parties, etc. My friends and I organize weekly games of Mafia/​Werewolf because we love them so much. So I am absolutely the target demographic for this. I’ve even hosted my own murder mysteries before (hint: you can buy them on Amazon for $ 30), so I know what I’m talking about.
Anyway, I booked this from Living Social thinking it was a deal. Wrong! Whatever discount they gave me on the tickets, they then charged me in arbitrary taxes and service fees when I actually claimed the tickets ($ 45 + $ 12 in taxes + service fees)…nearly totally the price to the same as a regular ticket ($ 65).
Price aside, I went in with an open mind. I booked the Halloween themed one for my birthday party. Costumes required! How could this go wrong? So of course I invite my friends to spend a bunch of money with me as well. Poor things.
We all arrived in costume, thinking this would be a fun themed dinner party. We were shocked to discover the most barren, undecorated, windowless, plain-​colored convention room littered with 8 blah beige tables and a tiny bar stand in the corner. That’s it. Some of the pictures posted on this LA Unilocal are not what I got. There is nothing to pull you into the mystery. It’s the most lifeless looking party when you walk in. I’ve set better mood lighting for Wednesday night tricks.
Ok, so you guys clearly don’t realize we’re in Los Angeles where props, lighting, and set décor are KIND OF OUR THING. That’s fine, at least you probably have a good story to pull us in right? Nope.
Whoever wrote these didn’t write them as if the audience had gathered for dinner for any particular reason. We just happen to be there, awkwardly observing self-​described incompetent detectives stumble on a body… why? Come on people! It’s not that hard to make up a story that actually explains why people are sitting in this room. Pull us into the story! Give some real conflict and interesting stories! Why did I waste an additional $ 15 to have a person in my party labeled as a suspect, when that makes NO sense to anything happening in the story?
On the plus side – the food and acting was not nearly as bad as I was expecting. I was more than satisfied with that. Also the drinks were decently strong, but the event would be so much better as an open bar. The prizes were not prizes. I laughed out loud when the host proudly declared the prize was valued at $ 100. I guess that’s the total of a free ticket to come back to this shit show + a mug + a dvd boxset of donated Hitchcock movies. Hitchcock is rolling in his grave.
Long story short (TOO LATE!), this company needs to rethink everything. I pay for an experience, you gave me a dinner where i watched a bad show. I’m so disappointed.

This show was alot of fun! I was so shocked that someone at my table was part of the act. I highly recommend this show.

My husband and I went for the first time this evening for our One year wedding anniversary. We had such a great time. Host (ess), waiters, waitresses, actors, and all who putted it together, did a great job. Kept us laughing and enjoyed our night very much so. We just want to really thank you for their hard work. The food was also tasteful and the cheesecake was unexpected. Two this up!

I was there for my birthday this year! Yay! It was so fun! It was very comical and the overacting was hilarious! We had such a great time there! Though… the food was very mediocre… in fact the not worth the money. HOWEVER the totally worth the experience!

We had a great time and the food was pretty darn good. The actors really get you involved and part of the fun is guessing «who done it.»

Great time, very well done. My group had a wonderful time and we were entertained the entire evening. Definitely going back again.

I have been to this twice, and both times it was horrible. In addition, both times it was exactly the same performance. The food is cheap hotel/​wedding food. Between each course, is a skit the actors do. The drinks are small and expensive, and you end up spending a ton of money on booze because you are bored. I think if you like the show The Big Bang Theory, you will like this.
Both times I got the killer and motive correct, but never won the prize. It’s not worth vying for. It’s a dvd set of old mystery movies, and a mug. At the end they ask you to tip the actors. After spending a ton on the ticket and drinks and tipping the actors, this become’s an expensive night.

I should have looked more closely at ALL the name tags! We were soooo close but by the time we had it figured out we couldn’t find the person with that name. If you ever go, take them at their word when they tell you that anyone with a name tag is suspect. Anyone.
Oh. Hope that wasn’t a spoiler…
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Food was ok and the acting was a little over the top but admittedly I did briefly get caught up in the theatrics. As in WHY are they talking about this in PUBLIC?! theatrics. Eh, call it what you want. I think buying into their act made it more fun.

WAY TOO MUCH FUN. I totally loved it. My boyfriend had a rough week and wanted to do something fun, like a dinner and a show. So I googled up dinner and entertainment and came across Dinner Detective. then I Unilocaled it so I can read some reviews and bought my tickets through their online site.
We checked in and got our photos taken. I was told that sometimes, there are actors in the group but you’ll have no clue who they are.
I sat down and instantly had a feeling this couple at our table was actors. the individual breaks in between are for thier acts and us as guests to interact with other ppl and «interrogate» them as they are suspects. They have a bar in the room but we didnt know so we ordered outside first.
their food was decent, i mean it wasnt terrible. I was already warned to not expect highly of the food, its just the entertainment. My bf ordered Roasted chicken — it was actually pretty good, very moist. and I had the tilapia fish — i’ll give that like. 3.5 stars. It was okay. They had cheesecake as dessert, which was pretty good also, surprisingly.
I loved everything about the entertainment. I loved that you get to interact with people. I loved that it was group activities trying to solve the murder together with your table. I loved the very dramatic but not over the top acting. I loved the comedy of it, it was my kind of humor. The actors were just great. Ive already recommended it to my friends! I’d be down to do it again for a different show :)

A perk of working for one of the largest retailers was that we managers got to go to «team build» dinners like this one. Came on a Saturday night and got a table to ourselves. Before that, we took a couple of group photos against their green screen. You’re asked to fill out a name badge with a silly moniker of your choice — real names need not be concerned! You are then led into the dining room where you’re seated. A couple of actors enter the room and kick off the show and the rest of the night is an interactive one. They’re walking around, asking questions and discussing the case amidst the crowd. There are actors sitting at different tables, blending in until they hop out of their seat and jump into the action.
Dinner is served halfway through and the food is as good as «formal» hotel dining food gets. It’s going to be something baked or steamed and will appeal to general taste buds. My friend and I were chatting it up with the random guy at our table who came alone. We then realized that he seemed a bit suspicious and ended up guessing right when we nailed him as the prime suspect! Woohoo! All in all, a really fun night. The more people you bring, the more fun it gets. Definitely something to try at least once!

They sold Groupons for this then did not allowed them to be used even though they have not expired yet. Shockingly they have room for right after the Groupon expires and will allow us the pleasure of attending at double the price we have already paid. Pretty shady …

This was hands down the most fun and random outing you can imagine for a group of adults. We did this as a surprise outing for my brother’s 26^th bday, and are still laughing about it a week later. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen the guy from table 1 rap, or the girl from table 2 do a cheerleading routine (audience members — not actors. Which is why it’s fascinating).
From the moment we arrived, we were welcomed by friendly and helpful staff, got situated with an easy to access cash bar and quick service, and sat at our table with friendly strangers. The host and actors led us through a night of interacting with a room of randoms in the most hilarious ways, entertained every single minute of it (the benefit of seeing an LA production — access to great actors). This place took audience participation to a new level. The appetizers were good, the dinner was fine, and the dessert was *delicious*. More importantly, we laughed for hours. Nonstop. They earned every single cent we’d paid to go. If you go in good spirits and are game for whatever comes up, you will have a night to remember. The best dinner theater I’ve seen, would go back in a heartbeat.

Ok, this was pretty much the most family night activity ever. The Dinner Detective was hilarious and engaging, and not just because the murderer was sitting at our dinner table [and my mom solved the mystery!] The actors are whip smart and funny; the night out is fun and social, and our dinner company [the people sharing our table] were a riot. I would totally recommend it to anyone fun! Non-​fun people probably would not have fun, given the nature of their non-​fun-​ness. Who comes for the food? I won’t even.

I was pleasantly surprised after reading the reviews.
The food was quite good– the mini chicken empanadas were awesome! We were supposed to mill around talking to people for clues, and I kept thinking, perhaps I can find the empanada man again… There’s a *lot* of time between courses, so I was pretty hungry, and I was worried there wouldn’t be enough… But the hor d’oevres were passed around multiple times, the bread basket (really like the onion poppyseed rolls btw) was refilled, and the entrees were fairly sized. I had the salmon which was moist, tender and had a tasty sauce, my friend had the pasta which was generously portioned, and our other friend had the chicken which he seemed happy with. The dessert was a nice dense cheesecake, so we were all pretty happy. They left us with a carafe of coffee which was convenient.
The actual show was cute– be prepared for cheese, but it was cutely cheese-​tastic. The detectives did a great job of staying fun and high energy. We were all a little lost at the mixing around part where you’re supposed to talk to other guests to «gather clues” — but we were there just to have a good time and everyone at our table was very pleasant. It is, however, highly unlikely you’ll solve the mystery unless you happen to be seated at a table where it’s convenient to get to know the major suspects. In the end, it tied up well. So, yay, I was happy we went and we would recommend it to others.

I am not a social butterfly by any means of the imagination… but I like murder mysteries. :sigh: so I thought I would be good at this. I laugh at the mere thought of this now.
When you first get there, they make you pick a fake name. Of course, I picked Lucie Manette. Come on… who wouldn’t want to be her?
Anyway, I was taken on a date here. Yeah. Um… I spent more time talking with my date then to anyone else. Apparently, that doesn’t make for figuring out who the actually killer is (unless I were dating a cast member). Anyway, also, I think you need to be a little outgoing to actually do this… since you’re supposed to «mingle» and go up and talk to other people. Yeah. That doesn’t quite work out for me.
Aside from that, I remember the people and «characters» were pretty interesting… and they went pretty much all out… the whole nine yards. It was interesting… but it wasn’t over the top cheesy (as the one in Calabasas is).
As for the food, I remember it wasn’t half bad. I had some sort of chicken… perhaps Piccata? Anyway, it wasn’t the best I’ve ever had… but it wasn’t bad… considering this place is all about the experience. At our table, we were seated next to some people who met on E-​harmony or
one of those things… so that was pretty interesting to see how their «date» was transpiring. hahaha. :)
Let me give you a word of warning: Don’t write random stuff on the form when you have to guess who the murderer is. I picked someone at random… and you have to put a reason… so I just made something up. Of course, they call on you and read it out loud. How embarrassing. I seriously was tomato red. Yep. That was so much fun…
Anyway, the experience was great… and I’ll have to check it out another time.

i was here on saturday night to celebrate two of my friends’ birthdays.
i’m not sure why its got such low rating but I sure had a lot of fun. This was my first Murder Mystery Dinner and I had a blast. The actors were great — especially the detectives. I laughed throughout the night — personally I think they did a great job of improv acting.
the food, i’ll admit, was just average at its best. The salmon was too fishy, but the teriyaki sauce was good. The chicken was too dry.
Yes, if you look at the price, it’s expensive. BUT if you look at it as a whole package; it’s really not that bad! You get a four course meal and a show! The total even was about 4hrs long.
They totally get people involved, which i love!
Whoever can solve the crime gets a special prize! Yay! to Eric L. who got won it!
I definitely recommend this dinner + show event to everyone to try it, at least once. I think it’s more fun to go with a big group (plus you get a group discount that way).