Merlins Magic & Comedy Dinner Theatre

Got the deal through living social for my wife and I night out. Had a great time, magic was decent, jokes were fun and clean (mostly)…
food was just okay, especially for a place with ribs in the title, I prefer the the kind you can by cooked at costco.
That’s the only reason it’s 4 and not 5 stars, maybe the chicken choice is better ?
Otherwise the overall experience I’d recommend!

Entertaining show and friendly staff. Portions were more than enough. Dinner included soup, pork ribs, chicken, corn bread, baked beans, and cole slaw. I didn’t care for the ribs but found the chicken to be decent. I enjoyed the baked beans the most. Overall a great experience.

If you are expecting a vegas style magic show– you couldn’t be more wrong… the whole place is completely outdated. The «lounge area» looks like the inside of a Dennys Restaurant.
That being said… if you take it for what it’s worth you will have a great time. I wouldn’t recommend paying full price for this. We bought a groupon for 4 dinners and it was around $ 40 all together.
The food was very tasty and the portions were perfect. Ribs and coleslaw were delicious… Beware you must pay tax on the original dinner price and the Groupon does not come with drinks.
Great place for family outing just don’t expect a Vegas version of magic

I admit I expected more. It is geared more toward children rather than adults. If I brought my 6 year old son, I would have enjoyed it more because I know he would love it.
Also, I was seated in the very back where it was harder to see.
In short, good for kids, not for adults.
The servers were attentive so kudos for that and the food was cafeteria quality.

Look at Unilocal,the reviews are accurate! We bought tickets from livingsocial but looked at the reviews first so I was not expecting an ultra private show. Sitting family style is not so bad, and there is definitely enough space at the tables to sit comfortably. The food was great and it came out fairly quickly, but Merlin stops the show while you eat. Maybe it’s just me but with a room full of antsy kids I think they should keep the show going. The magic tricks were ok, however for our two Tweens I think the whole experience was 3 stars at best, much better for younger children. Merlin does come around to talk to each table individually that was a great way to break up the evening and he was funny. I don’t think I would return, but was worth the livingsocial price.

Great show for my 5 year old… the magician was interactive with a lot of the audience, if you really want to participate then you probably will be able to, which was cool. The food was pretty good and the servers were friendly. Not a bad deal if you can get a groupon or whatnot. For a place to bring your kids this could be a 5 star because of how much they will love it, but if i were just going with another adult it might have been a tad bit cheesy and not as entertaining, which is why i gave it the 4

I thought this was gonna be great. The menu was … Ehhh but the clincher was the hair BAKED IN TO MY BREAD! nobody Said sorry or offered to discount the bill, the waitress was all dramatic like I did something wrong by being disgusted by the hair. They removed it from the table and moved on like it didn’t happen. It wasn’t taken off the bill and the waitress cried bc someone implied she didn’t deserve the tip that was added to our tab. I felt bad and gave $ 20 extra tip to make it less awkward yet I didn’t eat bc there was a HAIR in my bread. WOW. Ended up costing $ 130 for Crappy chicken legs and lame magic… Happy Friday

This show is great for kids and adults. The food was definitely better than expected. The kids chicken strips are freshly made and juicy but needed a tad more salt. The ribs and chicken were perfectly glazed with BBQ sauce and the baked beans were actually good! Merlin was entertaining and the kids really enjoyed his magic tricks (I have a 7and 13 year old).
The only complaint I have is that I was asked to move my daughter a seat over to accommodate a party of five that was too cheap to pay for the extra guest (they purchased the Groupon for four, took an extra adult and wanted to sit a 4 year old on their lap to avoid the extra charge). So now my daughter is sitting across a stranger… not cool. I did tell the waitress that I wasn’t too fond of her request and she just smiled… the same smile I gave her as I left without leaving a tip.

As many mentioned, there are deals out there via Groupon or LivingSocial. I also purchased one of the deals and overall had a great experience.
I called 6 weeks in advance for a Saturday at 5pm dinner/​show. Upon arrival, the hostess did her best to seat the bf and I with other adults. About ²⁄₃ of the 5pm show were kids.
The waitress started everyone with a veggie soup, which I really enjoyed as I thought the ingredients were plentiful and fresh. The broth had a natural taste. Everyone pretty much had the same entrée of chicken and a rib with cornbread and cole slaw. I didn’t care for any of the sides except for the cornbread, which had a hint of sweet and tasted great by itself. The chicken was tender and juicy, but I thought the rib was just ok.
The show in itself was entertaining at face value. Merlin included a lot of «old school» magic tricks that were interactive with adults and kids volunteering to be in the show. Service was pretty good.
I just want to note that the coupon deals does not include tax, tip, or drinks. The coupon just deducts the entrees after everything else is calculated. Either way, I felt I got my money’s worth for almost 2 hours of entertainment and food.

Purchased the groupon for the magic show for my family and I. Our party consisted of about 30 people total. Being the big party that we were, the waitress was very patient when trying to organize all the group ons together. The kids seemed to have enjoyed the magic show very much, definitely recommend. The reason I’m giving this place 3 stars and not 5 is due to the time wait for the food. Half out party got their food on time while the rest of us waited 25 minutes after to finally get ours. We had 3 different servers come up to us and apologize saying «the food is on its way.» Their standard meal from the groupon was a vegetable soup, ribs, chicken, coleslaw, beans and corn bread which was all delicious! They also had a separate meal for the kids which consisted of, French fries, chicken tenders and fruit.

Went with a groupon. It is NOT for dates. It’s ghetto. It’s casual. It’s loud. There are 3 long tables in a tiny room, with people sitting literally right next to you, and right in front if you. Literally. It’s assigned seating. There’s a good chance loud children will be right next to you on your «romantic date».
They give you each of the courses when they want to. Food, magic, food, magic. I felt like I was at a homeless shelter waiting for our food. Me and my man got 2 non-​alcoholic bev, we ended up paying $ 15. THEN, they bring the check back and ask you to pay a surprise tip based on the ORIGINAL cost of food (like $ 70 they claim is the cost for thier basic food). Wait didn’t I just pay for food included in the coupon? I felt scammed. They surprise you with this bill of tipping for original cost of food, when you dont know what the original cost of the food is to begin with! Should’ve been the coupon cost cuz thats what I paid for food, right? Nope! Well NO ONE would spend 70 bucks on the food they give there. I felt like I was pretty much obligated to tip for a cost I never agreed to for the bad food.
Either way we tipped full because we aren’t aholes and don’t mind tipping, but we spent double the cost of the coupon which I felt what was the point and felt we spent way too much for thier basic surprise food cost and shitty ambience.
Could’ve spent the same amount at a nice classy restaurant with awesome food.

Came here for a birthday celebration.
Ordered the zucchini sticks for an appetizer which were pretty good. Nice crunch on the batter and seasoned well.
I ordered the chicken sandwich with baked beans and fruit which was average tasting, beans tasted like they were from a can. My boyfriend ordered the tri tip which was tender and seasoned well. He also liked the mashed potatoes.
The service was average, and the food took quite awhile to be delivered to our table.

Food was pretty delicious and Merlin very entertaining. I took off a star because they would not accept a last minute reservation using a groupon. So I ended up booking online and paying full price (it was my birthday and couldn’t decide on anything else to do last minute). With drinks (soda and coffee) at $ 3 each, it came to over $ 100 for two people. So it is a bit pricey. But it was a good time with good food. Not sure what the deal is with all the bad Unilocal reviews. It is not the magic castle but it is very tasty bbq with good entertainment.

Okay okay I loveeeee Magic n comedy. But here’s the thing Merlin magic n show was fun if u bring kids with u and seeing the kids enjoy it makes it fun. One thing was they automatically add 18% gratuity to my bill. With groupon we still had to pay $ 250 on top. This goes to drinks tax n gratuity. Expect to pay more groupon deal was a joke but still I had a fun. Enjoy n eat them bbq ribs n chicken. Service was great n I enjoy the comedy not so much the magic but it was entertaining TIPS: just get your groupon n don’t order anything else cos they do charge up the ASS UP IN THERE. Water all the way around n you’ll b okay lol

The place was pretty great! Loved the magic/​comedy show! And the food was absolutely wonderful! The chicken soup absolutely the best. THEY GAVE ME WHOLE CHICKEN!
As for all the negative reviews, this place is setup in an old fashioned family/​gathering theme. You don’t sit by your. You sit on a role table next to everyone else. It Forces you to be social, I kinda like that. But maybe not so good an arrangement if someone brings a lot of loud kids. Other than that, will definitely be going back! WASEL!

Groupon, Amazon, Livingsocial all have deals for this place and are a great value.
BE WARNED THOUGH there is some Seriously messed up «Magic» on the bill at the end of the night!
First they use what you thought was a ticket as a COUPON. They charge you the original cost of the night ($ 30 per person) and Tax and Gratuity are CHARGED TO YOU on that number (Forced tip at 18.5% of THE FULL PRICE OR 37% ON THE VALUE PRICE… The true value of anything from food to a car is whatever a person is willing to pay.) and there Were a few «Random» charges (open bar charge???) on the bill too but we were out with friends and fighting a bill over a few bucks is a surefire way to put a bad spin on an otherwise great night.
GREAT NIGHT… I WOULD HAVE SPENT ALL THIS TIME TELLING THE STORY OF THE GREAT NIGHT DRINKING WITH GOOD FRIENDS (AND AN EWOK LOL!) We probably would have gone back to the bar and had another drink with Josh the bartender after the show… But they played the pencil whip game.

The dinner show at the Rib Trader was definitely an experience. As a lot of people have mentioned & have taken advantage of, they offer (ed) an awesome online deal via popular promo site. I called in to RSVP with plenty of space (25+ were their exact words) still available since another couple wanted to tag along. They didn’t have anymore seats for them when they called a few days later, but no worries. I figured that with a great deal, they can hardly do any wrong.
So, to spare you the details that everyone else mentions about the space & show itself. I’ll try to give different feedback. With all the space still available at the time I booked, we were still stashed at the furthest point possible. I wasn’t trippin’ though. I literally could not see a thing with everyone’s heads in the way, so I just listened. The girl serving our soup spilled it all over my man (ouch!), ran off, and never came back to give us any. I had to flag someone down only to get two half bowls of cold bottom of the pot servings. Also, the way they serve the main meal really isn’t very efficient. Those that order outside the norm «ribs & chicken» will get their plate dead last. So, everyone around us were finished or finishing up their dinner before ours even hit the table.
Needless to say, my man was a little peeved that he got spilled on, had to quickly down his cold soup before they cleared the table, & watch everyone eat around him. With 45mins left, I asked for boxes, paid our tab since we grabbed extras, & headed out the door. It just wasn’t clicking for us. Too many people crammed into one room just makes for awkward serving situations that lead to the what we experienced. After it was all said and done, the price was right yet it just didn’t seem worth getting a sitter lined up for the kids and driving to the location. Kind of a bummer!

My brother and I came for the 5 o clock show and it ended around 7. We sat down towards the back, seating is based on when you made your reservation (not first come, first served)
Now onto the food. On the menu they offer vegetarian upon request, which means you expect vegetarians to be in your audience eating with everyone. When it came time for the soup they served everyone chicken noodle so I could not participate and just sat there. I would recommend serving minestrone, tomato, lentil or vegetable soup so vegetarians can participate.
When I did receive my vegetarian dinner it was just veggies and rice with some cheese on it. I kinda felt put in the dark… there can easily be more creativity in vegetarian meals such adding fruit, beans, baked potato, roasted potatoes, pasta with marinara sauce but just rice and veggies? I ended up eating my brothers veggies.
The show was funny! The Merlin was really funny, he kept the evening going and the servers were very nice. I feel this place needs to improve their food.

Definitely a solid 4 stars. Sure, the food is just mediocre and the jokes are kind of lame, but you’re going for the experience! I had a really fun time. Would I go back? Probably not since I’ve already been, but I do recommend it to others who are looking for something different for a weekend outing.
The show is only Thursday-​Sunday. Other times it’s just a regular restaurant (Rib Trader). We got there early and decided to have drinks at the bar. The restaurant was pretty empty for a Saturday night, but the show was completely booked! Most attendees were armed with a Living Social or Groupon deal, which was really worth it since tickets are normally about $ 30/​person (dinner included). The deal pretty much made it BOGO. To be honest, I doubt I would pay regular price for this.
The show is about 2 hours long with two breaks (one for the soup course and the other for dinner). Keep in mind that everybody is seated together in 3 long tables so you’ll be eating with others. The food was nothing to rave about. Each person gets a bowl of vegetable soup as well as a BBQ dinner plate which came with ribs, chicken, coleslaw, BBQ beans, and cornbread. The soup was a bit too salty and the beans a bit too sweet, but overall, I enjoyed everything. With all these deals floating around, they probably make their money off alcohol since a bottle of beer was about $ 5.
Heads up, seating isn’t first come first serve. It’s based on when you made your reservation. The earlier you reserve, the closer you are to the stage. I reserved about 2 weeks in advance and got seated near the front. Also, Merlin does randomly pick audience members to help with his tricks. Typically kids, but adults too! Fun times! :)

My BF purchased a groupon deal for the dinner and show and called in last minute for a seat at the 5pm show last night.
The seating was arranged by the order of reservations, not first come, first serve.
There were 3 parts to the show. Before the show, during soup and after dinner.
The soup was a veggie, chicken and rice. It was so sour. I had to add a bunch of salt to pepper to it.
The meal itself was a preset menu: BBQ chicken thigh, 3 BBQ ribs, corn bread, and a side of coleslaw and baked beans. The coleslaw was better and no sweet. The chicken and ribs were normal, nothing special. The baked brand and corn bread were the best.
The show itself was very rehearsed but it was good. I felt like some of it was too adult for the kids. Hopefully they didn’t get the jokes.
It was a good deal for the groupon price. The tax is about $ 5 and isn’t included in the groupon.
Overall, the show was good for a night out but once is enough.