Bradenton murder-mystery dinner company expands to Sarasota

The mystery of "whodunit" is spreading into the greater Sarasota area as Pineapple Kitchen, a hospitality company, expands its adult interactive murder-mystery dinner locations to keep up with demand. 

The Bradenton-based company, which also provides culinary education and gourmet products, will start hosting the murder mystery dinners at the Even Hotel Sarasota–Lakewood Ranch and Hotel Indigo in downtown Sarasota beginning in November. Currently, the dinners are only available at its Lena Road location in Bradenton.

Since the dinner shows have been selling out two to three months in advance, Jenny Schenk, the owner and co-founder, decided it was time to expand. 

“It will allow us to offer our unique dining experience to more guests, while keeping the same level of interactive entertainment and intimate feel that our mystery fans have come to appreciate,” she says in a statement. 

Guests become characters and suspects during the three-hour dinner show as they race to figure out who committed the hypothetical murder while eating a four-course meal. The theme at the hotels will be called Pineapple’s Speakeasy where guests are encouraged to dress as gangsters and flappers, according to the press release.

Pineapple Kitchen was created in 2019 by Schenk and her husband, Mike, as a company that sold appetizers, snacks and dips. Since then, the brand has expanded into catering and now has a market, tasting room and culinary theater, which is host to Pineapple Kitchen's educational programs and culinary experiences including the murder mystery dinner shows.