Mystery Cafe Dinner Theater

I enjoyed the night with wife. Salmon was great. Chicken somewhat dry. Actors excellent. Laughed tons. We will go again.

What an exciting and fun weekend activity for you and your friends or family. The cast is incredibly talented. They work hard to bring you a stellar performance and their mix of scripted lines and improv keep you on your toes. The dinner is fantastic. I recommend the short ribs. Incredibly tender. There is a full service bar and they even serve dessert. Don’t forget to pay attention. You can win prizes! It’s incredibly obvious that the owners, Mary and Shawn put their heart and soul into this production. I have been to two different productions and they are both incredibly well written and very very funny. I highly recommend this show to anyone looking to do something different and you are sure to have an incredibly entertaining evening! Two thumbs up!

I reserved a date that was eventually cancelled (not by the Mystery Café Dinner Theater) but by the venue they were using. I had planned this dinner for my husbands 35^th birthday, needless to say I was pretty bummed about the cancellation. Mary emailed me about the cancellation and my options. I emailed back, pretty frustrated and wanted a refund and did not want to reschedule. She was very gracious and professional in her response. Very apologetic, as it was out of their control. She processed my refund ASAP and also gave me complimentary tickets to come see their show at a later date. I was very impressed with Mary’s patience and responses throughout our correspondence. And I will attend a show in the future. Good people, small family run business and they mean well. Sometimes things just happen. But the communication was top notch!

The cast was hilarious! The dinner was amazing! We had the best time. Thank you to the new owners for helping my friend put together a wonderful anniversary surprise for me and my husband. We will def be back!

The play «Nobody’s got a Clue «was really fumny. We’ve been to the Mystery Café years ago, but this script and actors was really funny. ALL the audience participation was hilarious. Even the sound effects were so funny.

Had a wonderful time seeing the show «Where There’s a Will, There’s a Wake» recently. The atmosphere was nicely vintage and the actors were very entertaining! Would definitely recommend and go back soon!

It was an awesome show, very entertaining. The staff was very fun and friendly. They interact with the audience quite a lot.
Bring cash to tip your server/​character. They deserve it.
The food was really good too. I recommend the braised beef.

One of San Diego’s hidden dinner joints you gotta check out… Mystery Café. Grab some friends, drinks and laugh yourself into tears. Great dinner options too. Venue space is small but there isn’t a bad seat that’s the plus.
Bored of the same old weekend dinner night out? Not this place. Theater sits inside a building near Balboa Park with history and character. After your dinner step right into the bar for great evening wrap up drink.
#sdnightout

Great comedy show! We had such a good time. It was a fun evening out. The actors did a great job entertaining the group as well as engaging us. It was funny to see the ad-​libbing that happening especially when the audience said something out loud. It was hysterical when the actors got the giggles because of the impromptu comments.
I got so caught up in the comedy and acting that I forgot to pay attention to the mystery so I was not able to solve it.
The only reason I can’t give this a 5 star rating is because the food was just okay. The only meal that looked appealing was the chicken nuggets which I will order next time! I am a picky eater.
I will definitely attend another show, I’m glad they change the show content so you can return.

Fun time with folks visiting from out of town. Most of the cast was dripping in fun witticisms that kept everyone howling – young tall guy had it rockin. The main performer drops waaaaaaaay too many tired, cliché comments comparing blondes to barbie dolls and dispenses vastly too many racially inflammatory remarks about minorities (dude just isn’t very clever/​current with his tired snarks about asians). Food was good and the actors functioning as your servers makes it even more fun. Good time.

We hosted a company party here for the holidays and I can not express how much fun we had. Working with The owners was a delight, they were flexible with dates and times, the allowed us flexibility to distribute company awards and went above and beyond to accommodate us in anyway possible.
The food was good and they allowed us some substitutions in our contract for personal preferences and dietary restrictions. We gave the company choice of chicken, beef, or vegetarian lasagna.
The show was fantastic. I saw that not because the actual story made sense (our employees spent so much time laughing we could barely hear the show!) but the audience participation and jokes catered to our office made it a roaring good time. The impromptu pieces were hilarious and the coordinated with us to include some of it executives and seasoned staff members.
All in all for a private event, it was fantastic. If you’re going to «win» and figure out «who dun it» don’t bother, you will get thrown for a total loop.

We had a great time at the show. The actors interacted with the audience and it was just nice to attend a live performance. I laughed a lot and really enjoyed myself.

My friends and I went last night and had so much fun! The show was hilarious, the food was great, and the actors were complete goofballs. It’s really fun because the actors also serve your food, so you get to interact with them while that’s happening. Also, make sure you brush up on your knowledge of famous people during the 1920’s – there’s a trivia sheet and if you win, your whole table gets a dessert upgrade!
If you are looking for a fun way to spend a Friday or Saturday evening (and are okay with possibly getting pulled up onstage!), you will love Mystery Café. Can’t wait to come back!

My girlfriend and I loved the show. The actors were having lots of fun, especially when people got up to use the bathroom -
Be prepared to be picked on and embarrassed !!
The meal was simple, don’t expect to be filled up — the dessert was «not» to die for.
Was surprised to have to pay extra $ 5 per person before being seated — pissed me off
And if you get the discount tickets, buyer beware — you sit away from the center stage farthest from the play.
Lastly, they really push the little envelope for gratuities, as if you didn’t pay enough to get through the doors

I LOVE the show! I have had the chance to see these guys perform and every time I do its awesome. The show is entertaining and fun for all. However, I do recommend people when you do attend to pay attention because you don’t want to miss anything and there is NOTHING worse than the people sitting next to you either talking through it about something totally irrelevant then when they miss something, start talkking again to say. «ok, what just happened?»
The food is just fine as well. It may seem like your paying a lot but you have to understand its a dinner show and thats what your also paying for is the entertainment.
I will say that this show is not for everyone. You have to have an open mind and a winningness to participate. If your an introverted person I wouldn’t recommend this for you.
Enjoy the show!

One of the funnest times I’ve ever had on a date. My girlfriend took me here for a surprise bday dinner. What a treat. The actors were funny, and my face hurt from laughing so much. Such a fun time. Thanks to the actors and staff for a great birthday!

The shows I have seen at my kids school are streaks ahead of this one in professionalism.
This show is amateur and slapstick. The «actors» keep laughing hysterically and uncontrollably at their own jokes which gets quite irritating, and the boring, ridiculous show just seems to go on and on forever. I hated it.
I would have left early but they trap you by doing most of the show by the front door, and I was with a party of 6.
The food was awful. Tasteless and thrown on the plate. I’m glad we got the tickets at a discounted rate, but even for free it would not have been worth it because I seriously feel like I wasted 3 hours of my life while enduring this experience. Thank goodness for Candy Crush — that helped me pass the time a bit.
At the end they asked us to fill out a survey and I did so honestly. The guy who took it from me read it and then told me that I obviously didn’t order enough alcohol!

We went with a group (4 couples) for a fun night out. We have never been to a murder mystery dinner before and really wanted to try one. Imperial House is down the street for most of us so it was very convenient and parking is easy if you need to drive. I was surprised how decent the food was given I didn’t think that was really a priority (it’s more about the show). I had the stuffed chicken and really enjoyed it, also the dessert was delicious.
The show itself was hysterical! I was crying from laughter when they called my friend out as Malibu Barbie. Or our other friend as G.I. Joe. The interaction was so great. I really enjoyed the fact that all the actors seemed to be having a really fun time as well. One actor was returning to the show after a hiatus and kept forgetting his lines. We don’t know if it was accidentally or on purpose, but it made the show even funnier because they would call him out on it.
All in all it was a great experience and fun night and I would highly recommend everyone checking it out! Living Social and Groupon also have deals so it’s a really inexpensive entertaining evening!

Went there for my birthday… not my first time…
Was having fun until I was approached for hackling by the owner and told to be quiet. Considering it is an «inter-​action» play it really surprised me and just ruined my birthday.
I was having fun up until i was signaled out, even though there was other people doing the same thing. They need to get their shit together if they want to get people in. Defintiely lacks customer servixe.
Would not return. I .very pissed off.

My fiancé and I came here last night; her sister bought her tickets for her birthday. We honestly didn’t know what to expect. For the money, I’d say it was well worth it, we had a great time.
The show was about two hours long and is a mixture of a play, comedy, mystery show and impromptu stand up comedy with a good deal of audience interaction. You get what you put into the performance in many ways and there is a lot of interaction with the cast members as well as other patrons at your table.
Other Unilocalers have left bad reviews and I think this is a product of having a rowdy audience who tends to take the show off track too far. A few tipsy people can make the show fun, too many drunk people can derail it. So it definitely depends on who is in attendance. These are actors after all with a script — albeit much of it is impromptu — so it’s not fair to them to derail their performance. Overall the acting was really good.
We had a great time and are looking to return next year with a new mystery show.
The only downside was the food selections. The food is mediocre at best but there’s a full bar with craft beer selections so that definitely makes up for it.
Come here with an open mind and good attitude and you’ll have a great time.