uwink review
I always wanted to try this new concept restaurant, www.uwink.com, and I finally got brave enough to try it for lunch today. It wasn't bad.
We arrived at the restaurant and were promptly seated. The hostess explained to us how the computer screen worked and gave us a card to swipe when the computer requested it. You order everything and get serviced by making requests on the computer screen.I scrolled through the menu, and there were pictures next to almost every item, which is good because I like to know how my food looks like. I went to the non-alcoholic beverage section and ordered a glass of tap water. Someone carried that out. I later found out that you can modify the tap water on the screen to get one without ice and with lime or lemon. Pretty cool.
I then proceeded to order the tortilla soup and quesadilla. You can customize everything, so this restaurant is great for picky eaters. I ordered tortilla soup with tortilla strips on the side. I ordered the quesadilla without the cream and with extra salsa and guacamole. It took a little while for the food to come out, but the soup was surprisingly good. The quesadilla came out good also.
I used the computer to order extra napkins. You can also use it to get condiments (ketchup to ranch sauce), get extra plates, get refills on your drink, or get a to go box.
Throughout the meal, you can use the computer screen to play games or get your palm read or look through panoramas of various countries. It was quite entertaining. We ended up staying much longer than anticipated because it was entertaining. I can see kids who are old enough to read loving this place.
When it came time to pay, you can split the bill (which splits it in half), and it calculates the tip for you based on the percentage you want to give. My rec for those with a big party is to request extra cards to keep track of individual tabs, since I couldn't find a feature where you can make the tab calculate only the item you ordered.
Overall, the restaurant is very interesting, and it was cool making all the requests on your computer. The food was decent and better than I expected. Of course, don't expect gourmet food here, but I would say the food is better than Applebee's, Coco's, TGIFs, or other restaurants like that.
Go, if you want to do something different or if you have kids who can read and work on a computer screen. The food is not bad but not great. If it weren't for the whole computer thing, the food would definitely not be worth it.
By WHills
on Feb 13, 2007 06:19 PM
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I think their web site says it all: "...uWink, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: UWNK) is a publicly-held digital entertainment company based in Los Angeles, California that has created a new entertainment dining experience that you can’t get anywhere else." Sounds like a new iteration of Chucky Cheese.
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In fact, the owner is the original founder of Chuck E. Cheese as well as Atari video games. I saw him on Your LA one morning, and UWink is indeed supposed to be the adult CEC.
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I must say that their food is a lot better than Chuck E. Cheese.
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But is that saying much? ;-) I do appreciate that you have taken one for the team and checked this joint out, but it sounds like it does not aspire to being a dining destination as opposed to just another franchise gimmick in search of investors.
I think we would all be wise to take your last paragraph to heart: "Go, if you want to do something different or if you have kids who can read and work on a computer screen. The food is not bad but not great. If it weren't for the whole computer thing, the food would definitely not be worth it."
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WHills - I just wanted to let you know I appreciated the time it took to write this review. While not all places are going to reveiwed positively, it's nice to see people take the time to lay everything out for you. Thanks again!
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Ditto on this sentiment. I've been very curious about UWink as well.
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Wanted to share my 2 cents on uwink....I have been there about 5 times with my two girls ages 5 and 7....my husband travels for work so it has been fun taking the girls there to play games, etc. Last nite was really busy as it was a saturday nite around 5:30 .....my kids got their food and I got my wine but not my food.....I tried to get that resolved but there was a big bday party next to us and things were really hectic. I went up front to pay my bill and had to go thru a manager who was extremely rude to me.....all I wanted was a "gee, I am sorry about the mix up and the bill is on us. Instead I was told too bad our take out box with our leftovers were taken by waiter when I took kids to the restroom (I had left car keys to show we hadn't left and my swipe card as I hadn't paid bill yet). Anyway, no apologies and made me pay the $25 bill with quite a wait up front as it was busy.....most of the people there have been so nice and responsive and she was like the manager from hell....she was so trying to blame our waiter and that is not what I wanted....an apology from management is what I wanted .....anyway, kids still really like the place but that was a bit of a hassle for us to get out....and not sure when we will be back....I will make sure she is not on staff that nite...................
Sorry about the ranting!!!! I am usually really good about mix ups, etc.
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