Cloak & Dagger Dinner Theatre, Columbus

Cloak and Dagger was very disappointing, and after reading all of the reviews around the web I should have known better. For $50/ person I would expect something more than a frozen dinner, and unfortunately that is what I received. I ordered the eggplant parmesan and it was gross, literally gross. The meal resembled two breaded patties, sauce and cheese manufactured to resemble some kind of a food product. My friend and I ate virtually nothing, the server clearly could see we were dissatisfied, but she never said a word. She never asked us how the meal was. The play was entertaining, but for the cost I could find about a million other things to do in Columbus, I suggest you do too!

I can completely understand why there were so many good reviews up to a point. As a Columbus resident, I frequented the Cloak and Dagger regularly for years. The Cloak and Dagger Dinner Theatre used to be a really good evening out up until about 2005. Scripts were well written and often parodied popular television shows& movies (The Honeymooners, The Producers, The Sopranos, Indiana Jones) or were written by well known interactive muder mystery companies(Murder at Cafe Noir, Death and Taxes, A Deadly Briefcase, Murder in the Heirs) It was around '05 that the ownership changed hands and went from a professional production company with talented actors run by Bill Saunders(a man that knew what he was doing as a producer/director) to a turnkey business run by Ket Rajamountry (a man that has no concept of what running a professional theatre or restaurant entails). Long story short, the current owner opts to take quanity over quality, and production levels and food quality dropped dramatically. Many of the skilled actors that once worked there were either disgusted by the way things were being done and left, or were replaced by community theatre level actors with very little professional training/experience. It is really very sad to see what once was a Columbus entertainment staple be reduced to little more than a glorified community theatre that serves mediocre food at inflated prices.

I've always wanted to do a murder/mystery dinner theater. My girlfriend talked about a cool "gangster-like" dinner theater she went to in Chicago so I started looking around Columbus and found Cloak and Dagger. Considering the price, I was expecting a good evening out. The food was passable...you can read the other reviews as they are spot on with the descriptions. I agree with other posters that the plot was very difficult to follow and the explanation of the mystery was pretty ridiculous. The fact that the actors serve you as well is kind of cheesy. How can I believe you're the Devil if you're asking me if I want more water? If this would have been like $20/person, it would have been a better review. I actually ended up winning the prize for guessing correctly...the prize? A buy one-get one free for another performance. Thanks, but no thanks,

The prime rib was cooked to order and was great. The rest of the food was good too. I read a lot of bad reviews so I wasn't expecting gourmet cuisine, but I was very happy with everything. The play was kinda silly but definitely more entertaining than your average night out to dinner!

So I was skeptical about going b/c of some of the bad reviews, but I had a wonderful evening! The food was good (not 5 star quality, but I wasn't expecting that) and the entertainment was great. If you are going into it expecting a broadway production you will be disappointed, but if you are going for a fun, different experience, you will love it. The price ($40 per person) seemed steep to me, but when you figure in what you will pay for dinner (3 courses) and entertainment in Columbus, you will definitely spend more! The food (some are saying it was horrible) was good for us. I didn't like the soup, think it was canned, but everything else was great (I had salmon, my husband had chicken and the cheesecake was good as well). The actors do serve you and stay in character which I thought was hilarious (you get some interesting tidbits along the way from them!). The only drawback for me was that i was at a table with 6 other people. Luckily I was fortunate to have interesting, funny people at mine so all was well. Bartender did a great job with drinks (you get tea and water with your meal but can order drinks at the bar for an added charge). I loved that the actors got everyone involved in what was going on. As I said, if you go into this thinking you are getting 5 star quality food and a broadway production you will definitely leave disappointed. But if you are going for a fun, unique experience you will love it! I highly recommend!

This place is awful. Oh god, it is terrible. Seriously.

Ok, you need to STOP calling it 'Fine Dining". This is Columbus, Ohio where Fine Dining ABOUNDS. Cloak & Dagger "ain't it". Call it what it IS: Bulk food, low-budget catering. Since the move to German Village, my expectations rose a bit - hoping for an upgrade in the dinner and show, as well. I was wrong. The actors are not of Columbus theater quality... we have some great theater companies, but this is a really poor sampling of actors. Plays are 'out of the box', poorly written and grade school formulaic, with little plot or motive. This caliber of experience (that of a 1975 church basement spagheti dinner production- no offense to my childhood church) is way over priced and unsatisfying. We all left feeling robbed of our money, our dignity and the valuable time we could have spent in enjoyment most any place else. Those who give this venue a high score need to broaden their Columbus experiences, in my opinion. They will be beautifully enlightened. ~ Sad, sad, sad.

Thoroughly enjoyed our evening! Annual girls weekend landed us in Columbus. The prime rib was very tender and juicy; wouldn't complain about anything served to us. Loved the play and the interaction with the audience members. Would definitely attend again. Only felt bad the actors had to "double" as servers. It's not the Ritz, but didn't expect it to be for the price!

To begin, I should let you know what I expected from this experience before going. At a total of $80.00 plus for an evening out, I expected pretty decent food in a nice intimate atmosphere, where drinks would be brought by servers and my date and I would be able to take in an entertaining show. None of these expectations were fulfilled. Upon reading some of the other reviews, I am astonished that so much positive feedback has been left. Further, it leads me to believe that the Cloak and Dagger owners or those with a stake in the success of the business may be writing all of these fantastic reviews.....here is why: 1. The atmosphere is atrocious. Seating is at round tables which accommodate 8-10 people. There is no intimacy, you are thrown in a table with strangers (some of which are better characters than those portrayed in the play), and you find yourself asking... Mr. and Mrs. Hillbilly, would you please pass me the runny ranch dressing. 2. The food is awful. Starts with GFS rolls and soup....bad and bad. Followed by salad, which was lettuce bolstered by a strategically placed tomato and cucumber. Bad dressing. Cash bar, including paying for pop. Your other options include water, and watery iced tea. We actually stayed through the first two acts to get to dinner as we were starving. I ordered prime rib, my date...salmon. The prime rib portion was large, but it was covered in GRAVY. Who does that? Now I know you may be thinking....well that was surely au jus. It wasn't. I took one bite. My date didn't touch her salmon....as it was coated in a rather thick hollandaise sauce. 3. The acting was awful. Honestly, terrible. 4. We left without eating the food served for dinner and before the fourth act....ordered Donatos and picked it up on the way home. -Don't make the same mistake we did. Avoid like the plague.

Because the entertainment was exceptional, I thought that the food might be "average". It was a nice surprise to find every part of the meal was as good as my favorite steakhouses. Soup, salad, prime rib and dessert were all excellent. My wife and I recently made the trip to Columbus to celebrate our anniversary. I wanted to surprise her with something different this year. It was a very good choice. We both had a great time and plan to go back and see another show soon.