Magic Time Machine

The last time we were here was 6 years ago my kids really enjoyed the Mad Hatter but it has gone downhill. The booth fabric is very dirty you can see food stains and it’s falling apart, the carpet looks the same and both could use replacing. The characters they pick could be a lot better, we had Wednesday and the best parts were the dry ice in a cup (fog) and the bubbling drinks. Our children wished someone else would come to the table that was more into their character like the lemur from Madagascar. Three of my children got the chicken stripes which was only two of them with a side and my fourth ordered pizza which turned out to be a Totino’s frozen party pizza. I do understand you are paying for the atmosphere but $ 105 for lunch in a restaurant that needs updating was too much. After waiting for our food for quite some time we found out that our food ticket got lost and that is why it took so long to get our food out to us. We will not be back unless they make some major improvements and do a complete turnaround.
***A manager contacted me the same day regarding this same information that I wrote into them. If you have any issues and you let them know they will address it. I was told they will be doing renovating & we will gladly go back once completed. They are going over to vinyl seating and might remove the carpet all together since the restaurant is drawing more children than adults.***

This place is the bee’s knees! My wife and I were in town for a day and had no idea what to expect from this place. We found a brochure in the lobby of our hotel and it was just cryptic enough to catch our interest. It’s located right off I-​410 so it’s easy to get to and parking was ample. Once we got inside it became very clear that someone decided back in the early 70’s to take a little bit of money, a boatload of acid, and run with an amazing idea for a steak house. King Julian was our server and he was fantastic. He handled 6 tables full of families like a pro. On our field trip to the salad CAR (a brilliant functional, sculptural pun worthy of entry into the canon of Dadaist artwork), King Julian danced with a group of ladies and shook his tail at the tables we passed. We never had to wait for anything and he even took the time to chat with us because we love lemurs.
I got the bacon-​wrapped grilled shrimp, bacon-​wrapped steak with broccoli on the side. The shrimp was HEAVENLY. I had to bite my tongue so as to not let out a passionate whimper of delight. The steak was also cooked to perfection. Even the broccoli was bright green, still slightly crunchy and seasoned with a pinch of Parmesan. All around the meal was divine and having it served to us by the king of the lemurs just made it a perfect experience.
If you are in San Antonio and you want to eat the best tasting bacon-​wrapped shrimp a lemur will ever serve you, you could do worse than MAGIC TIME MACHINE!!!
Thank you MTM

The atmosphere here is truly unique and amazing. Great place to take the kids for a special treats. Every trip is a new experience with different characters (waiters) so you won’t get bored anytime soon.
The food is mediocre at best which is what holds them back. While the price is high remember you are paying for the atmosphere & experience not necessarily the food. The high price & mediocre food is what keeps this place from getting 5-​stars from everyone but you owe it to yourself & family to try this place atleast once!

The food is good and the atmosphere is great. Kids and adults have a great time. Highly recommend this place.

The Magic Time Machine is a fun filled extravaganza. Lots of atmosphere. Crazy characters. Love love looooove Capt Jack Sparrow, Dr Evil & Ace Ventura. Food could be alot better. Its been better.(note to mgmt pay attention… you could do ALOT better. You’re getting lazy. Step up your game! !! Your goal for the next three months should be to improve this restaurant. Shake up staff in the kitchen. Hire some new people. The food prep should be better than it is right now. Someone isn’t doing their job pal. Quality control! Pay. attention to details bc this is affecting YOUR reputation. Comprende??? In the end… the patrons will be happier, the wait staff will be happier getting higher & better tips from customers, the kitchen will be run better, you will have a better restaurant overall. Its a win-​win. This SHOULD be a top rated restaurant. It once was a top rated restaurant… it could be again with a little work)
Still…its worth coming here for a night of entertainment.

If you are looking for something straight out of Alice in Wonderland, this is the place for you. The staff is dressed in costumes from various movies, stories, myths, etc. They engage you in nonsensical fun while you wait for your food and drinks. The seating is limited, but each seating area is semi-​private and separately themed. It was a fun dinner out with my daughter. This is NOT the place to take someone for a quiet romantic dinner.

Visiting San Antonio for a few days with my family and wanted to find a fun place to take my 5 year old son.
I really liked the restaurant itself although it hasn’t been updated in any way since the 70’s but that’s kind of the allure. It’s like walking through someone’s old house.
We had King Julian (from Madagascar) and Capt. Jack Sparrow as our waiters.
They were both really nice but we had very little interaction as they focused 90% of there time on a large birthday party group at the table next to us. I know this place isn’t dinner theater but based on all the reviews I was expecting a more engaging and fun experience then we got.
The food was ok. I got the steak, my wife got Shrimp Scampi and my son a pizza. All were about as good as any chain restaurant, nothing special but not bad either. My son did get a kick out of the bubbly hand wash they bring you at the end.
In short… it was kind of worth checking it out if you don’t mind having an average meal but it’s not as fun as you would think it would be. BTW… check out
, they have a couple of good coupons for this place.

Loud, LOUD restaurant. The food wasn’t that great and is WAY overpriced. The entertainment was mediocre and I couldn’t even identify half of the characters. There’s a fine line between being funny and being a douchebag, and most of these characters crossed it. Don’t go here if you don’t want to be embarrassed, because these characters will somehow… SOMEWAY put you in an uncomfortable situation. Waste of time, waste of money. The waiters weren’t very attentive and I never got a refill. The place is huge and crowded so it’s super easy to get lost. But two stars for the potion drinks and the recycled vinyl records/​picture sleeves hanging on the wall.

* Review for Geek Girl Brunch San Antonio (
)
When we decided to have our Disney Brunch, every one of the officer unanimously jumped at the chance to have our brunch here. Getting in touch early, the bosses even agreed to give our girls Disney-​themes serves so long as we kept our own use of costuming to a minimum for that day, and it paid off in spades: having Anna (from Frozen) and Jack (from Pirates), as well as appearances by other Disney Characters through the event (Elsa, Pocahontas, and Han Solo).
The food was great with endless commentary, bread rolls pulled from swords, a salad served out of a classic car, loud and laughter filled trips to the bathroom, and rum-​heavy dry ice bubbling drinks. The girls had an amazing time, the give and take on the business end for the officers was beautiful, and we will definitely be coming back as themes inspire us to!
A++ Food
A++ Enviroment
A++ Service
A++ Business Parternship

Walking in I was extremely skeptical, but I must admit that the wacky set up instantly put me in a happy mood. The ribs are cooked to perfection and my server made me feel as if I was truly served by Shrek. The fact that the drinks are actually more liquor than anything else made this a 5 star review!!!

Great place! Exactly like how I remember the one in Austin from my childhood. FUN, FUN, FUN! I come here now with my own kids and they have as much fun as I do. Sure the food is average (on par with Chili’s or something similar) and its a tad pricey, but remember; you’re paying for atmosphere too.
The place is decked out like a big carnival fun house with each table and room having its own theme. The waiters are all in costume and stay in character too. And the salad bar is built into an old car.
A great place for fun, family traditions!

Wife just said «best dinner ever»
11 year old daughter said «loved the magic potion drinks»
7 year old son «5 stars is not enough, I give it 100 stars»
Literally everything was great: food, look, service and Buddy the Elf
Take your family here if you love them and they are being good

This place is okay, the inside of the restaurant and and staff are pretty awesome.
The food is sub-​par and entirely WAY TOO EXPENSIVE for what you get.
It is good to go here at least once just to see the creative side of it but try not to to order a lot of stuff… your bill will be over 200 $ with just 2 people.

My husband and I went to the Magic Time Machine for a friend’s birthday celebration. The place has lost much of its luster and excitement since 1973. This once 70’s entertainment destination is now a tired relic. Tradition aside, a good cleaning is in order.
The salad bar is bizarre. Lettuce, cheese, tomatoes and onions are the only selections. Remnants of croutons in a bowl alongside messy salad dressings, one of which looks like watery white stuff, are your selection. The soup was OK. The entrée we ordered and split was 3 X 4, three items heaped on mashed potatoes. The steak was all right, the shrimp was rubbery and wrapped in under cooked bacon, and the chicken breast was the proverbial hockey puck, tough and tasteless.
I could never identify the character of our ‘entertainer/​waiter.’ He graced the celebrant with a special birthday dance of strange gymnastic movements which should have never been allowed in such a constricted area. He flung his legs (and I mean full force into the air) and writhed, almost hitting me in the face with his foot, which I’m sure would have given me a broken nose. Sing, tell jokes, but don’t flail your bod wildly around in the proximity of guests. Many of the decorations were the stuff of any Dollar Store. The place was empty by 9:30 on a Saturday night.
I would NEVER go back.

The reviews are all over the place. In reality you don’t come here for the food but for the characters. I give the food a 3 and our service a 5 which evens out to a 4.
We have heard about this place for quite sometime and finally had the chance to come on a spur of the moment. We were celebrating my son’s 11^th bday at six flags. We popped in and were in for quite the surprise. Allladin led us on a fun trip to our table where Sweeney Tod became our server. He was a great mixture of fun, quirky and at the same time stayed in his character. Captain Jack Sparrow came by to feed us fries and even our food by our own forks. The bubbly potion drinks were too sweet but a hit with the kids. We had pizza, chicken dinners, salmon and shrimp Alfredo. Food was fine and not horrible. Again, the entertainment is what you pay for. Great time had and the kids want to go again.

The five stars is really for the customer service.
I’m a theatre teacher and brought 24 students after our field trip to Six Flags. My kids are pretty crazy and loved the antics that the characters had up their sleeves. We got a lot of attention since we were such a big party. Thank you Nacho Libre, Jack Sparrow, and Frankenstein’s Bride (?).
We called ahead for reservations and got held up in traffic during rush hour and called to check in. They were very understanding and called in the middle of the day to ensure we were still on schedule. Their service was really quick with such a large group.
The space seemed pretty dated but that kinda plays into the atmosphere. I would give 3.5 stars for food quality, but hey, I wasn’t expecting the best. The prices were a bit ridiculous for dishes but you get a BIG portion. We could (and should) have split entrees. I would have preferred to pay less for food and tip more. Because that’s what we’re REALLY paying for – the experience.
I probably wouldn’t recommend this place unless you have a good sense of humor and know what you’re going into. We enjoyed our time!

Last year my son turned 5 and since he’s obsessed with super heroes and I’d had a fantastic experience 10 years prior with Batgirl, we decided to have a family celebration at the Time machine.
We were NOT disappointed! Spider-​man went above and beyond! From chit chat about the other superheroes to lifting both boys up for a photo op and making them feel SO special.
The food was okay, but you really go for the experience… besides, who could focus on eating when Nacho Libre is making you laugh so hard you may aspirate.
We will for sure be coming back this year!!!

A normal person can learn to cope with things like seeing their dead grandmother crawling up their leg with a knife in her teeth. But no one should be asked to handle this trip.
You will be asked to pose. For a $ 12 photograph so you can remember your time here. But there is nothing about this place that I will forget any time soon.
Oh and the food sucks!

If you are a foodie and looking for mouth watering food, this place is not for you.
I personally did not like the food but I would definitely go back to this restaurant. Most likely in costume for drinks and dessert. I loved the décor. It was festive and fun. I loved that the staff are in costumes. I would give 5 stars for the entertainment, originality, and for family fun. This would be a great place to have a birthday party or celebration.

This quirky place has decent food but the real reason is to see an homage Miss Havisham. All the décor is random and interesting.
A little pricey, but in general it is fun.
Try the smoking lemonade for kids.