Toby’s Dinner Theatre

The food isn’t great, but there’s A LOT of it! You won’t leave hungry! The shows are hit or miss. It’s a long night so be prepared for that. I recommend getting a subscription for the year to save a fair amount of money! Sometimes I see tickets on Goldstar, too. Worth checking out!

I wasn’t sure what to expect when a friend invited me to come see the opening night of South Pacific with her last week, since I’ve never been to a dinner theater before. I had a good time overall, food is served buffet style and you go up when your table is called. They start off with a salad bar, then dinner (large
selection) and an ice cream bar/​dresser is also served. They had just over 70 tables, so the wait was long, as was the clean up after wards, but it wasn’t horrible. Food was a bit bland, but for 300 people, it’s to be expected. The waitstaff are also the actors for the evening, so during intermission they’re running around refilling drinks and clearing out remaining plates. We were there for about 5 hours between dinner and the show, and I’d definitely go back; it was a great value and a very entertaining evening, plus the actors did a really good job. Also, if you order a specialty drink, you also get a glass cup to take home with the logo of the play that you’re seeing that night. My only grievance is the seats; they’re not very comfortable and after sitting for five hours I was definitely ready to get up and stretch. If they invested in better seats, I’d definitely give Toby’s 5 stars.

There used to be five dinner theaters to my count in Maryland and Northern Virginia. Now there is sadly only one: Toby’s dinner theater.
I have frequented Toby’s for a long time. I just attended their performance of «It’s A Wonderful Life.» it was GREAT. It was very, well done. Actors were great and just about everyone sang very well. I am amazed at the talent that they get.
Also, I normally don’ t like the food at Toby’s. However, both I and everyone in my party was pleasantly surprised. They had a great salad. The bread was fabulous and hot. The offerings for the most part were very good for mass produced food. For example, they had a stuffed chicken dish that was great. Even the Turkey was pretty good, although I prefer a real bird and not some cooked pressed meat. The roast beef was decent but was a bit fatty and full of veins. However, I happen to like chewy well done roast beef.
They had a good spinach pie, varied amount of vegetables and even decent pasta. Their desserts were terrific. They offered a choice between chocolate cake that was scrumptious and cheese cake that was good but not great. They also offered a nice ice cream bar with lots of toppings. Toby’s even offers sugar free jello for those people watching their sugar intake, which is nice. I do wish, however, that they had sugar free ice cream and some sugar free topping.
Bottom line: Great shows, very good acting and very good, plentiful food. It is no wonder that Toby’s Dinner Theater is the last «man» standing among the dinner theaters.

Food could be better though. It was away from all traffic-​generating neighborhoods. I appreciated that.

I totally love this place. It is always a treat to go here every time I fly back to visit family.
The food is always excellent and the performances are also wonderful.

Recently saw Adams Family. What a great show. The food is always good and the staff very friendly. I would highly recommend going.

This was my first and last visit to toby’s the food was bad and the play was 3 hours of complete boredom. Don’t recommend it.

Wonderful food, superb staff. Best production of an off Broadway show we’ve seen in 30 years. YES! Literally 30 years!

Dinner theater. They start you off with salad, then call by table number for the main course buffet. We were here for a matinée so the food was brunch type. There is also a make your own sunday bar. All the waitstaff ate part of the show. Whether it be actor or tech. Be sure to tip user waiter.

This was my first visit to Toby’s Dinner Theatre to see the play Memphis, and it was amazing.
The cast puts on such an amazing and capturing performance and it is literally right in front of your eyes, since the stage is right in the middle of the floor just a matter of feet away from you. I’ve never been to Toby’s and had always wanted to see a show there and the Memphis performance was definitely a great first show to see. The singing and performances by all of the actors and actresses was phenominal. The cast was upbeat, energetic, and hilarious Job well done. Only con is the seating is ridiculously tight, so it’s not the be best experience during dinner when you have to continue repositioning yourself to let people get through. But the fact that you got a buffet dinner along with your show and an ice cream bar makes the night better.
The Toby’s menu was filled with items that reflected to the Memphis area, such as ribs, jambalya, and creole fish. The food was really tasty but my star items for the night was definitely the cabbage with greens, the creamy mash potatoes and the creole fish. After our bellies were overstuffed and ready to explode, the show began. And what a show it was.
I will definitely be returning to Toby’s Dinner Theatre in the future to see another production. It’s a great way to have a good meal and an amazing show with friends and family.

Saw Memphis today at Toby’s. Great production, excellent acting and singing. This show is a must see! Today’s buffet had a Memphis theme and as always the food was outstanding. Our server Lance was polite and cordial.
The only drawback is too close seating and the inability to use restrooms during the show, if needed.

My very first time here, and it was great. My wife took me to see the show Memphis. I enjoyed the show it was excellent. Was surprised that the waiters and waitresses was in the show. This made me tip extra because, they were working extra hard. Food was good enjoyed the buffett. The only down side is my seat was by the side of the stage so I didnt have a great view.

Yesterday afternoon, we saw «Shrek the Musical». It was so good. The acting was great. The singing was great. The play was so funny. And the food was amazing

We had a very good experience. The food was good, and while I did not love the show (Shrek) it had nothing to do with the actors or production. They were great.
Everyone in our group (including kids) were pleased with the buffet. There was a full salad bar with most of the popular/​standard options. And the lettuce was better than the average iceberg.
The actual food was quite good. Now all you foodies should just brown bag a helping of locally grown and prepared chicken marsala where you went to the farm to be introduced to the bird, like on Portlandia. The rest of us proletarians will line up for the regular grub.
There were numerous sides – I really liked the potatoes. The only thing I did not love was the roast beef… kind of dried out. But the carved turkey was good, as was the fish. I really ate way too much and did not go back for seconds. They also have an ice-​cream sunday bar, which was good, plus cake!
The show is in the round, so you are right there with the actors. There are 3 tiers – floor, and two others. We were on the floor and I think I’d rather have been up higher.
It was a lot of fun and we will be back.

Five stars all day long.
I’ve been going here for a while when they have shows I like. I took my mom (in pic) for the first time for her birthday and she fell in love with Toby’s.
The staff is friendly and will bend over backwards to make sure you are satisfied. *clenches heart* and the people who put on the show are fantastic… so talented.
I LOVE that they give you cups that have the production picture on it and good quality. If you ask for more then one they will give you 4… it’s great. I have a nice little collection of Toby cups.

I’ve always looked at dinner theaters like sofa beds, which aren’t really good sofas, and are even worse beds. But this dinner theater was a good dinner and an excellent show.
I took my two teenage sons to see «Spamalot» at Toby’s (the wife has an aversion to British comedy.) We had a great time and got more than our money’s worth. Having taken advantage of their subscription package, the Friday night tickets were only about $ 35 before drinks and tip.
The production value was exceptional. What they lacked in scenery they made up in talent and costumes. (The buffet dinner is served on the same floor they use for the stage, so they can’t really have semi-​permanent scenery.) Our view was semi-​obstructed by a staircase, so I have already booked our tickets for «Memphis» in the fall, as the seats are assigned according to how far in advance you book.
I particularly liked that Toby’s spent the money for a live pit band (although they were raised up on the side, so it wasn’t technically a pit.) Too many dinner theaters are cheaping out with music tracks, creating kind of a theatrical karaōke. Spamalot was a little too gay for my taste, creating an awkward moment during Sir Lancelot’s disco «coming out» song when he donned a fruited hat and my son asked, «That’s not really supposed to look like a banana sticking out of the top of his head, is it?»
The food was better-​than-​average with lots of choices, a separate salad bar, a cheese platter, and a carving station. They were kind of obvious with portion control with their lunch-​size dinner plates. But they did invite folks back for seconds at the end. By then we were too filled with ice cream from the sundae bar. The specialty drinks were reasonably priced, of hefty portion if not hefty alcohol content. And the souvenir take-​home show glasses were a nice touch.
The only reason I gave it four and not five stars was that they servers were also the actors. Ours did a fine job, but the fact was he had other things to do. We had a 15 – 20 minute wait after we were seated to be greeted, have our drink orders taken, and being given permission to use the salad bar. There was almost an hour between when dinner was over and the show started, and intermission was a half-​hour.
And they not-​so-​subtly conveyed the message that tips were expected to be based on the total cost of drinks, the buffet dinner, and the show. I didn’t have a huge problem with this, as I felt the cost of the subscription was undervalued. But I probably would have paid a little more for servers who weren’t doing double-​duty. And it was a little awkward at the end to see the star of the show, Larry «King Arthur» Munsey, going around from table to table picking up trash.
It was an all-​around good dinner, great show, and high value. We will be back.

Talk about a good play! My wife and I went here for the first time last week (16NOV2013) and walked out with a sense of enjoyment.
First of all, the seating arrangement was not as I expected and was kind of awkward. I got the last 2 tickets that were available for the show. When I went to our seat a couple were sitting with their backs to the wall so they both would be able to see the show when it started, without moving. My guest and I had to sit with our backs to the staging area, so when the show started we had to turn around. My complaint with this is the couple should have sat facing each other instead of side by side. This was not fault of the restaurant, but merely mentioned to set your expectation. It may take a while for them to call your table number considering the amount of people and which table number you may be seated at.
Food:
Point blank, it a buffet. Don’t expect a gourmet meal. The chicken cordon bleu was the best thing they had aside from the salad bar. The food wasn’t seasoned too much considering they had a large, diverse crowd. It tasted good for what it was. No real complaints on the food. I just wouldn’t come here expected a 5 star meal. My overall opinion of the food is 3 stars.
Service:
The service was exceptional. What made this service stand out the most was the actors double as your servers. I give those men and women the utmost respect for putting on a flawless show and provided flawless service.
Overall, I would go back to check out more shows. It was well worth the money, my wife thoroughly enjoyed it, and I had a good time.

Visited Tony’s this past Saturday with friends to see Les Mis. We had a wonderful evening — the buffet was pretty good with lots of options, and the performace was WONDERFUL! We were all so suprised that they pulled off on this production in the space with such ease and grace. The actors work so hard and also do the serving, and Paul, our waiter was so nice and helpful. We will be back!
My only nit was with the ticketing mess when the doors first opened. The line was out of control and barely moving which created a mess at the entrance. Also, one of the representatives at the box office was really rude. She shooed me out of the way to go to the (younger, much nicer) representative next to her and then when that lady said I should have gone back to the other one, she rudely commented «well they didn’t me THAT» in a really snarky voice. It was a unorganized mess so she didn’t have to be rude. Awesome customer service…
All in all, we had a good time and will be back. Expect to spend 4 – 5 hours there, just a heads up!

Have passed Toby’s for years but never considered going. If I’m really interested in seeing a production I will go up to New York (my hometown). It was the last week for «In the Heights» and I had a coupon that I wanted to use.
From the outside, the venue looks small. When you walk into the theatre you’re not sure where the production is going to take place because the food carts are in the middle of the room. We were seated quickly, got our salads and before you know it, our table was called for our meal. I will get to the meal in a second.
The production itself, was great. Those young performers are sharping their craft. Folks, this isn’t Broadway but to be a local establishment, I was impressed. We really enjoyed the show.
The food was very good. I wasn’t expecting 5 stars, therefore, I wasn’t disappointed. It was tasty and fresh. String beans, braised cabbage, spinach with cheese, steamed broccoli, baked chicken, ribs, baked tilapia and carved roast beef, I didn’t try everything but what I did have, it was very good.
I would definitely go again based on whether it’s a show I want to see.

We went to Toby’s last weekend to see In the Heights. The production was excellent. The singing, dancing, and acting were all wonderful. They also made great use of the space in the theatre. I didn’t know much about the play before going to see it, and I’m so happy I saw it. The theatre is centrally located (right near the Columbia mall) and parking is free and easy.
I was really pleased with everything about the experience… except for the food. The dinner is served buffet-​style. There’s a salad bar, which was fine, and a hot food bar. The salad bar was stocked with fresh lettuce (iceberg, but at least it was fresh) and a good variety of veggies. There was also a caesar salad, which wasn’t very good, accompanied by a bowl full of dried-​out-​looking anchovies. Not exactly appetizing. The presentation of food in the hot food buffet was pretty unappetizing, as well. It pretty much looked like cafeteria slop, and didn’t taste much better. The meats in the carving station, with the exception of the roast beef, were in small chunks and looked all dried out. I’m pretty sure they were left over from an earlier show. Dessert choices were chocolate cake and cheesecake, as well as a build-​your-​own-​sundae bar. The chocolate cake was ok, but nothing to write home about. The ice cream in the sundae bar was half-​melted.
So, long story short, go for the production, not the food.