Suspects Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre, Sacramento

It seemed the only ones really into the mediocre show were the people who came much too early and had much to drink...and what isn't entertaining at that point? The show was so drawn out it was criminal, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when the food was fit for a prison. Steak was overcooked at best, vegetarian to my right couldn't eat more than one mouthful and left in a huff...Chicken was better but very ordinary for the price. The show was too much improv with a lot of repetition and filler. Fine for drunks but a waste of time if you like good food and want to be entertained. The venue rivaled that of a prison hold. If it was any stuffier we would have passed out from oxygen deprivation.

First, the "pros": The show and dinner take place on the Delta King, a stern wheel riverboat built in 1923 to shuttle passengers back and forth between San Francisco and Sacramento. It looks much older, reminiscent of the ante bellum riverboats used on the Mississippi river and is fun to explore. The food that accompanies the Murder Mystery show is not spectacular but not bad: a decent salad, a main course (either chicken, steak, or a vegetarian) with vegetables, and a dessert. We ordered the chicken breast, expecting it to be dry and tasteless; it turned out to be moist and flavorful. Those ordering the steak were told it could only be cooked medium. It turned out to be well done, but our fellow diners reported that it was "surprisingly good." We never got to dessert because we left early, which leads us to the "cons" of this experience. "Cons": The show is weak--weak story, weak execution, weak jokes. We've been to other comedy dinner shows before, and they were more carefully scripted with better humor. The MC was a flamboyantly gay man (or a straight man acting very gay) and he kept the action going with his antics. However, even these became tiresome after the first half hour or so. Others in the cast, and those in the audience pre-selected for different roles, were not much better. We never got to start eating our entrees until 9:30 PM, so we were glad we had ordered appetizers while waiting in the lounge upstairs. The show seemed to drag on and on to the point that we discretely left (not easy to do with action constantly going on) before dessert. In fairness, I have to say that many in the audience were laughing throughout the show. I guess it all depends what you're expecting. My group of four were all in our early 60s, so maybe this is just a generational thing that younger attendees would appreciate. Anyway, forewarned is forearmed. We were so glad when we stepped outside and were free again!

My yusband and I decided to try this dinner theatre out, my sister in laws joined us. Not knowing what to expect from the time we arrived the drinks and Calamari were delicious, the matrede was a very extravagant man, wonderfully delightful and full of energy. You definitely need to take your sense of humor. The entire evening was so much fun, even if you have no idea who did what and why!! LOL the food was delicious!! And the waiters/waitresses were extremely friendly and attentive. The actors were hilarious. I would recommend this to anyone!! We are already making plans for out next visit!!

I went with a group of 5 couples. We were instructed to arrive between 6:30 and 7:00 as seating for dinner was at 7:30. Once there we picked up our tickets (which their website adds tax and gratuity on to, so we paid $46 per person for $39.50 tickets) and told to go up to the bar at the Delta King and wait. We were to wait until the host came up and announced that everyone go down to get seated. We were not called to go down until 8:00 and of course realized at that point that they want you to sit up there as long as possible and drink. Not thinking too much about it because we were too hungry to think about anything else, we finally got seated, expecting dinner shortly thereafter. From the minute we were seated, the service was terrible, the show was so bad we were embarassed for the cast. The noise level in the room was intolerable as was their PA system. The show is exactly the same as it was 15 years ago with the same references to 21 Jump Street. wow! The waiter we had was pretty incompetent. Took one drink order, went to get it, took the next person's etc. I ordered a bottle of white wine and he was surprised that I complained that it was warm! He wondered why we didn't like it a room temperature. It was around 8:30 when we got a bread basket which had one roll per person. We asked for more and were told no, we only get one per person. At 9:00 we got a salad. The entree was chicken, short ribs or pasta. The food was decent. Not sure if it's because we were so hungry that anything would have been good at that point but at least it was warm. Then the waiter handed me a bill for my $27 bottle of wine and the total was $38. Each couple at the table experienced the same thing but in all different quantities and were told that it is a "service charge". The couple next to us ordered a $38 bottle of wine and were charged $44 so not sure why my less expensive bottle had a "service charge" of $11 and their more expensive bottle only had a $6 charge. When we asked for a detailed receipt we were told they don't have those. We insisted and found that they tacked on their designated service charge and then taxed us on the gratuity. Their explanation was that we had a group of more than 5 which is pretty normal but still didn't make sense why all of our service charges weren't for the same percentages. This was the case all for all 5 couples. Each check had a different service charge. I will never recommend this show to anyone. There are plenty of good times to be had for the money we spent on tickets, drinks, parking and their "service charge". Like I said the show was the worst I have ever experienced. Everyone at the table said they, like us, were highly disappointed. Delta King has a nice bar and restaurant and I would go back there but will never do the Suspects Dinner Theater ever again!

We enjoyed the food, the murder mystery was alot of fun. A little loud for some, but great fun was had by our entire table. Waiter was great, service was very prompt. We really had a wonderful evening.

Experience very long and drawn out, 3 hours for much to do about nothing entertainment wise, and the food.......oh my. We regularly dine at the Delta King restaurant and have great food and experiences, but we thought a clarification needed to be made between the Delta King's Pilothouse restaurant and the Murder Mystery Theater boxed food. The Pilothouse restaurant is wonderful, never had a bad meal there at all, but the Delta King promotes the Murder Mystery dinner on-board, and it is billed as having great Delta King food. This is NOT the case at all. Save your money now! Not one person at our table of 20 could finish their meal, and I could only take 2 bites. They said all steaks come (medium) no options, but the steaks actually came out so overdone and burned beyond belief it was inedible, as was the chicken. I watched people at the table behind us send their food back it was so bad. This was absolutely NOT Delta King food, but had to be Stouffer's and heated in a microwave. Management actually had the gall to say that they have never received a complaint, well, maybe no one has taken the time to pick up the phone and call you to let you know, but to have over 30+ people in one sitting that I know of say it sucked, there is a problem. I'll encourage you to dine in your own restaurant, Pilothouse, and then walk downstairs into the kitchen for the theater and sample a plate. You will be awfully surprised and what you experience. It is clear that the majority of the money is going to the actors of the theater and the crumbs are being spent on the food. You would be wise to NOT bill this event as providing Delta King quality food in the future, as it was clearly not up to par with what one would expect.

I just want to say that I did not drink and I laughed until I was crying. We had such a great time. I love the audience participation and I normally am a very shy person. Everyone was a star that night! I highly recommend this dinner show. The food was great. If you did not care for the show then I recommend you go back because things must have changed. I honestly have never had so much fun in my life.

If not for my friend’s bachelorette party, I never would have gone to this place. The show was hokey, the food was as you might expect…fair. I paid for my ticket a month in advance, and received a confirmation, yet when I arrived they didn’t have a ticket for me. They apologized, but they weren’t capable of finding me a seat. One of the girls actually went home and gave me her ticket(!), and now Suspects won’t refund my money! I didn’t have high hopes to begin with, but dealing with Suspects staff made this experience a total bummer, and a waste of money.

First of all, they recommend to get there early. There is no need, because you are seated at assigned tables. It became obvious why they wanted us there an hour early...to hang out at the bar. They count on you to get buzzed in order to appreciate the show! The food was cold and so was our server. I don't even remember her giving us her name. The most fun I had was singing "Goodbye" to those who had died in the murder mystery.

I LOVED this! My husband surprised me with this and I was a bit nervous and didn't know what to expect. Robert O'brien did such an amazing job. I laughed so hard for so long. He was absolutley histerical. It is because of his performance that I want to do it again. The food was great although the bread was harder than a rock! Someone should fix that. The drinks were a reasonable price too. My husband only paid $4.00 for a corona instead of $6.50! That was unexpected too. The whole evening was amazing. The lady at our table solved the murder! Everyone at our table were good sports and loved playing along. I really look forward to doing it again. Great time!!