Murder By Chocolate

We went to this as part of a group of 16 that some friends organized. It was at Birra Poretti's downtown (which should have been a red flag), in the basement room and started at 8 p.m. and went until 10 p.m. There was very little that happened until 9:15, which was when we actually got our dinner. For a dinner event starting at 8 p.m., that was not what we expected, and we were fairly cranky and hungry. So fair warning to have a snack first. The restaurant was sweltering hot, but this is the fault of the venue, not Murder by Chocolate. There is actually no entertainment while waiting to get dinner, other than a guy has you pick a card with a number, that they then calls out numbers to determine that your table can then go to the buffet. It seemed that they could have sped that up.

The food at Birra Porettii's was, as expected, not good. Dry chicken in lasagna, fettuccine and bread - must love carbs). And there was a small, chocolate mousse that was so-so, but wouldn't you expect more at an event called Murder by Chocolate?

There is one actress that  runs the show. The actual murder/mystery show was kind of cute. The guests read parts and are the other actors, and the tables vote at the end to see if they can guess who did it. This was campy and fairly entertaining, but was only about 30 minutes of the evening.

I think the quality of the food, the warm temperatures, and the absurd wait for dinner played a huge part in the experience. The actress that led it was charming and funny, and did a good job with the show portion. The event is supposed to be $120 a couple, which I do not believe is worth the experience. We went for $60 on a Living Social deal, and that seems reasonable for what you get.

So manage your expectations based on the venue, that you will likely not eat until after 9, and expect a fairly cheesy, must-love-campy experience.

This was the first time we have ever done any type of dinner theater and we had a blast!

I can only review based on the entertainment provided seeing as the food and location were provided by a restaurant downtown.

It seemed that only two people from the actual venue were present and they really pulled it off.  The main emcee of the evening (Dr. Dobad) checked everyone in and sat us and was very entertaining.  As the evening went on he pulled different people out and they were characters in the show (our friend was chosen) and they all had their own parts.  It was very entertaining and I would definitely go again!

The second person that was involved in the show was I guess you would say the DJ; played music while we ate, etc. off the computer and this might have been just as good if not better than the theater part of the evening.  He played lots of 80s hits from Pat Benetar to Michael Jackson and Men at Work - if I had a few more drinks in me I probably would have gotten up and danced.

Give it a chance, especially if it's something you've never tried before, it's semi cheesy but extremely entertaining providing lots of laughs!

We liked this place because it was fun and different than the normal things we do.
We arrived about an hour and a half before they closed to play some Clue in the Clue- themed coffee shop/mystery dinner theater. When we climbed to the top of the stairs we walked in a door where there was a bookcase with a sign that said ring the bell for entry. When we rang the bell, the bookcase opened and there it was. The owner was the only one there working and gave us the grand tour. Each room was themed from the Clue board game and it gave it a fun touch. They had stacks of board games and even a little scavenger hunt you can do for a free cookie. We ordered some of their different coffee drinks that were also themed and delicious. It's a fun place to give a try, but since we live in Galveston it's a little bit of a long haul for us.