The Dinner Detective

Austin, United States

3.7

Closed now

13 reviews

Contacts

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Telephone:
+1 800-421-7305
Website:
www.thedinnerdetective.com
Address:
The Marriott's Rio Grande Ballroom 300 E 4th St, Austin, TX, 78701
Downtown
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
460 ftDowntown
0.6 mi5th/Rio Grande
0.7 miCongress and Riverside
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Bussiness info

Good for Kids
No

Today

Today 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Closed now
Local time (Austin) 00:40 Tuesday, 24 June 2025

Business hours

Monday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Tuesday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Wednesday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Thursday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Friday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Saturday –
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

With origins in Chicago and Los Angeles, The Dinner Detective is the première murder mystery experience. By hiding our actors among the customers, everyone is a suspect in this thrilling and hilarious evening out. Our show is designed so that everyone in the audience has a chance to be involved and compete for the prize at the end for our top sleuth. This unique brand of entertainment is perfect for date nights, birthday parties, corporate events, club functions, or just a night out with friends. We are located in the Rio Grande Ballroom at the Marriott Austin Downtown on 4th street — minutes away from bars, restaurants, and Austin’s Live Music scene. Group discounts available. Private shows welcome. Admission includes 4-​Course Meal, Dinner Show, and more!

History

Established in 2004.

Since our Los Angeles grand opening in November 2004, The Dinner Detective Murder Mystery Dinner Show has been at the forefront of interactive dinner show entertainment. Specializing in everything from Fortune 500 company parties to individuals celebrating their birthdays and anniversaries. Now the largest murder mystery dinner show in the United States, The Dinner Detective was voted 2007, 2008 and 2009 «Best Dinner Show» in Los Angeles and Denver. In 2010, The Dinner Detective had it’s largest year of expansion thus far, opening in San Diego, Chicago, San Francisco, and Austin.

Meet the Business Owner

Mike M.

Business Owner

Mike McLendon is an actor, writer, and producer who currently divides his time between Los Angeles and Austin. Mike is a graduate of the University of Texas’ radio-​tv-​film program and an alumni of the Teach For America program. In Los Angeles, Mike teaches improv and sketch comedy and performs nightly in various comedy clubs across the city. He was also the face of several national campaigns for 7-​Eleven and has toured across the world with the famed comedy giant The Second City.

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13 reviews of The Dinner Detective

No registration required
Place rating: 2
Austin, TX
With what’s written here it makes me wonder how many of these reviews were faked. My overall experience left me feeling swindled out of a good chunk of money.
The murder mystery itself was a total joke, essentially you have only two cop actors throwing clues at you forcefully at the end of each round. The other actors are all clumped up leaving you to solve what’s basically a word game on paper. The crude humor was expected, but it was in such a vast amount it left some at the table feeling put off.
$ 6 for Texas beer, $ 8 – 10 for mediocre wine, and $ 9 for what they consider top shelf liquor drinks. Bar is *cash only* — which isn’t as explicit as it should be.
That out-​of-​the-​way, the food is poor quality even for a hotel. Considering this IS in Austin I was expecting at least somewhat decent fair, but instead you’re offered Rice-​A-​Roni & previously frozen steamed vegetables with your choice of chicken breast doused with an excuse for some sort of red sauce, previous frozen tilapia, or a veggie wellington.
I wouldn’t have minded the Vegas priced drinks and reheated TV dinners if the venue was at least interesting, I think the thing that made everything fall apart the most was the location & presentation. Being in a bright auxiliary hotel room with no music/​fanfare during the dining experience killed the mood. I felt like I was at one of the corporate events I’m sometimes forced to go to.
To put a positive spin on this for the people running this (who did genuinely seem interested in putting on a decent show): Don’t gouge patrons on the drink prices. (The show would go a lot smoother if people were at least inclined to drink a bit) — Get out of the hotel, run it at some restaurant or local venue, and create more of a theatrical experience beyond the B-​movie buddy cop shtick that is currently a majority of the show.
Place rating: 1
Austin, TX
Don’t waste your money! They don’t want you to actually solve the murder. Food is boring hotel food. Humor is not very good. Actors are terrible. And what the real clincher was when I got Into the mystery and tried to solve it, I went around to each table to learn their pseudonyms by introducing myself and asking them or just reading their name tags. I was told that someone spoke to them about it and implied I should not. So you ask us to go around and talk to people to learn who the murderer is, you ask us to try to solve it, and then you ask them to stop. Thanks. Btw 2 other people did the same later (went around trying to learn people’s names). Why didn’t you tell them to stop?
Place rating: 4
Joaquin, TX
Went to the Dinner Detective on our 35th wedding Anniversary. Food was good. They took our anniversary and incorporated it not the plot of the murder. Loy’s of people wanted to know what we had to pay to have that done. They wanted to do the same. The cost was nothing they just incorporated it into the plot. Actors were good, it was very entertaining. Would do it again.
Place rating: 5
Austin, TX
Great fun. I was enjoying the talking to my table mates so much I really did not start focusing on solving the case until the last ten minutes. Don’t forget that piece because it was a bit of a puzzler. Lots of comedy and if you don’t want to be a part of a group interactive experience you might want to stay home and just watch Columbo. Hint… be sure to talk to people, be sure you like comedy, be sure you want to have fun, be sure you don’t get offended by slightly off color humor, be sure you are ready to be a part of the show.
Place rating: 1
Austin, TX
As a previous reviewer mentioned, there is a lot of insult comedy used in this show which may be your preference. They did not mention, however, that the main actors (or the script used) are aggressive and bullying and very demeaning to women. I was extremely uncomfortable for most of the show, feeling like I was never sure when I would be singled out and mocked or bullied into doing something embarrassing or uncomfortable. Here are some objective examples:
Actor threw a guest’s chair across the room while yelling, «Rookies don’t get chairs!»
Actor sent another guest around the room to find out which women were with their significant other and which were «willing to stray.»
Actor told a woman to «twerk across the room» and mocked her when she politely claimed she didn’t know how.
Actor joked about police brutality saying that he puts a phone book on top of someone before he beats them so as not to leave bruises.
Out of a room that was maybe 15% African-​American, actor picked an African-​American man as the first person who «looked shady.»
Actors rubbed a large pair of mens briefs on several guests’ heads without warning or consent.
I wish we had known better what we were getting into, so I hope these examples will help someone make a more informed choice.
Note: I was also «top sleuth» of the night and the prize was an XL Dinner Detective t-​shirt, a Dinner Detective mug, and a reusable Dinner Detective bag.
Place rating: 4
Wimberley, TX
My daughter and I went to this show in Austin as an 18th birthday present for her, as she is a mystery fan. The dinner is held in a Marriot Hotel conference room. The tables are set up for 10 per table, and when you arrive you are assigned to a particular table. You are also asked to create a pseudonym for a paper name tag. BTW, they don’t stay on very well, and you might make sure you wear something that has space for a name tag. The head waiter Nicky is a hoot, and shortly began bringing around some appetizers. After a welcome speech with rules, you are «encouraged» to walk around and interrogate your fellow diners. Not sure that is necessary, but it breaks the ice. The rest of the evening follows with 3 courses (limp salad, decent entrée, and cheesecake) interspersed with two «police detectives» trying to figure out what’s going on. They frequently pull members of the audience into it, and everybody seems to have fun with that. All in all, the actors and dinner servers did a great job, the food was eh, but we had a fun time. I would go again.
Place rating: 5
Austin, TX
I learned about this place after purchasing the deal on Groupon. Before I bought the deal I read some of their reviews first. After reading through some decent reviews I figured I’d try something new for my boyfriend’s birthday. Honestly I didn’t regret my choice! I had some issues at first purchasing tickets for four other friends but Mike –who was standing in for the office manager– took great care of me. He answered a lot of my questions and the staff was excellent. The show overall was great. My group and I had a lot of fun. My beloved boyfriend thought it was awesome! The food wasn’t as good as the show but it was good enough for me. There was a bar available as well. The only down side was that the bar did not accept cards so you had to pay by cash. Other than that it was a splendid night and we all had fun watching the actors included the guests –including my boyfriend– into the show. If anyone is looking for something different I would suggest this for a night.
Oh yes a word of caution for those who do not like being made fun of, there is an actor makes fun of people often. If you don’t like being call names or made of fun by weight, looks, or what you’re wearing then I would not advise going to this show. He doesn’t do it just to put you down. It’s all in good humor. We all have our laughs about it. Don’t take it seriously. Just laugh and proceed on the show.
Place rating: 5
Austin, TX
What a fun and different experience in Austin! The actors who play the detectives are insanely hilarious. The dinner was delicious as well. If you are looking for something other then the typical, this is a great and entertaining experience that we throughly enjoyed!
Place rating: 4
Winsted, CT
Took a friend here as a Birthday Gift. Neither one of us had ever been to something like this. It was so much fun. Food was average to above average. Wait staff was fun as were all the characters in the show. I thought I’d be good because of all the crime dramas I watch. I was sadly mistaken, although my theory seemed to make a whole lot more sense as the table agreed with my «vision». Haha. I would definitely recommend for a birthday or unique first date. You definitely will not leave disappointed.
Place rating: 4
Austin, TX
I’m not trying to be paranoid, but TRUST NO ONE!
No, really. Don’t.
One of the suspects could be at your table!
I was given The Experience as a gift. (I don’t think I’d buy it for myself)
The website said that the game would start as soon as you walked in. I jokingly (or not; I’ll never tell) grilled everyone in line as we we waited to check in. Oh, and come up with your pseudonym now so you don’t have to think of one under pressure. Everyone has a name tag and «fake» name. See? You don’t know if those other guys are using real names or not! I was Miss Understood.
After awhile, we were seated and given a paper to take notes. A murder happened in front of our faces and the races were on. A scene or two would happen and then there’d be some down time as food was served or as we ate. We were told not to get up during the performances.
Yeah, it’s in a hotel conference room, so that means it’s hotel food. No, it’s not the best food ever, but I wasn’t there for the food. And there’s a cash bar, with a few choices, but there’s plenty of stuff in walking distance should you want to go drinking afterwards. And you could potentially have a drink in the hotel lobby bar beforehand if you wanted to.
In all reality, I don’t think I’d have bought this for myself, but sure did enjoy the night. It was fun taking on a different persona (I think I said I was a veterinarian, while the guy next to me said he started the Ramen empire) and meeting new people.
Place rating: 3
Denver, CO
I really wish I could be more positive about my experience. I guess I just expected something different. I envisioned more of a dinner theater setting… you know, actors on stage… small tables around, dimly lit, servers providing food/​drink. Or perhaps in an old mansion where the house is as much a character in the story as the actors. The setting of a brightly lit conference room in a hotel with ZERO theatrical décor was underwhelming. It kept me from getting into the story and wanting to figure out who the killer was. With that said, the actors really did a good job… the two «cops» did a good job of keeping everyone laughing and helping the night stay entertaining. There wasn’t much of acting out a plot in order to figure out the mystery. Clues were handed out at the breaks and we were left to figure things out on our own. This had a somewhat anti-​climactic effect as most people at our table had trouble figuring out the mystery which left us less than engaged in the show. The food was bad. Cafeteria quality and cold. Drinks were super expensive.
To sum up, I liked the actors and their energy for the production. I think they could do something great but need a new venue, better food and a little more of acting out the plot to better engage the interest of the audience. Right now, it’s not worth the price.
Place rating: 5
Alexandria, VA
You won’t realize 3 hrs past! So entertaining and funny.
Place rating: 5
Austin, TX
Had a fabulous time opening weekend of The Dinner Detective. Think of it as a dinner and show except you are basically sitting in the middle of the show! The cast is hilarious and believable and keeps you laughing. It’s crazy how you can enter a room of 80 people, most of which you probably don’t know, but leave feeling like you just shared a secret show with a big group of friends. Having lived in Austin for 10+ years, I’ve never experienced anything quite like it. So next time you are thinking of an out-​of-​ordinary date or group celebration, look these guys up. Plus you are short walking distance from the downtown festivities for your post show merriment.