The Murder Mystery Company in San Jose

Food was awful. Murder mystery was ok.

I bought this from Groupon for my fiancée and I to try on, which seems interesting and fun. We were there 10 mins before it starts and was readily seated, actually in the front. Nice! We were seated with a group of 6 people which were all nice and chatty.
The event didn’t start till 15 – 20 mins after 5, which is Ok, learning about the characters and how we will play the game.
Over all, kudos to all the actors! The murder mystery game was played very well!
The downside of this event is the food. I’d rather pay for the game, good drinks and choose from the menu. The pasta was really bad. My fiancée, who doesn’t waste food, after 1 bite, pushed the plate right away. My plate looking at it was not so good either and was confirmed after a couple of bites. The couple by my side, hardly touched theirs as well. Sad to say that this event is done at Spaghetti Factory, which specialty is pasta.
I will recommend this event because of the mystery murder game and how it is superbly conducted by the actors, but NEVER the food.

Organized a birthday dinner for my sister and our friends. This was a lot of fun. The actors stayed in character and the audience members that were chosen got into it as well. They were very interactive with every table and we got lucky enough to have a few of our guests participate. We brought masks for the masquerade theme and bought the souvenir photo. Worth the $ 10, especially since it was a special occasion.
The only gripe I have is the food. I have never really been a fan of the Old Spaghetti Factory, although the spinach ravioli’s they served weren’t bad (it could have been due to the alcohol numbing my taste buds though). I would recommend this to others as a fun alternative to just having dinner.

We went to a Murder Mystery Dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Redwood City a few months ago and had a really fun time although they are kind of expensive ($ 60 per person). So we were happy to see that there was a half priced LivingSocial deal for the San Jose dinner. However every time we pick a date and try to make a reservation the MMD sales person says that the dates are already full EXCEPT if we want to pay extra and buy their premium «Gold Circle» package (there are only 3 of us so it’s not like we are trying to make a reservation for a huge group). If you try making reservations online they also charge you an extra $ 2.95 reservation fee. Why is that? Shouldn’t it cost them less since they are saving the cost of talking to a real person? I’ll tell you why — it’s because the «salesman» on the phone keeps trying to pressure you into the «upgrade.» And apparently they only have a limited number of seats available for people with vouchers — it says that right on their website! I really hate businesses that use these kinds of «bait and switch» tactics.

My husband and I attended the «Murder at the Masquerade» dinner (which took place at the Old Spaghetti Factory in downtown San Jose) a few weeks ago, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The evening started off with the actors/​actresses checking us in (already in character) and explaining how the game would work: a «murder» would take place, we would be given clues, and would then be tasked with trying to figure out whodunnit.
The acting of the Murder Mystery Company team was decent enough (they are definitely skilled at improv), but what I really appreciated is that they picked random audience members to play act as well (and become part of the show). These audience members were given details as to how they were to act, what they needed to say throughout the night, etc. The night I attended, most of the selected audience members did well acting their part, but some didn’t get as into their character (and may have even forgotten they were part of the show) — which I suppose is a downside of casting audience members on the spot. I wish they had picked me! :)
Even if you aren’t one of the chosen few, this can be a highly interactive game. You team up with your table mates to try to solve the mystery together, and there are a few opportunities to mingle with the characters/​suspects to interview and even bribe them for information to help you solve the mystery. If you aren’t as into mingling with strangers or just want to enjoy the meal and show, then you can choose not to participate — but what fun would that be?
All in all, we had a lot of fun playing along (even though we got the wrong answer). The mystery itself was challenging, but not too challenging, as there were a few teams that guessed correctly. Also, some fun awards were given out, like «best actor» and «worst solution». I think the Murder Mystery Company did a nice job!
P. S. Another plus is that the venue validated parking.