Dinner for Two : Uno Chicago Grill

HERS

We went to Uno Chicago Grill this time for our date, because our first choice was under construction. We picked Uno, because we like the food, and Jay wasn't in the mood for pasta. We were seated in the lounge, which isn't the nicest part of the restaurant, which has a nostalgia decoration theme everywhere. The bar area is filled with sports photos and such, which I don't know anything about. But it was okay, because we were relatively secluded.

The three things I love at Uno are their pizza skins, which are mashed potatoes covered in cheese and bacon bits in a deep dish, their flatbread pizzas, which don't have traditional sauce or crusts but still taste amazing, and the Uno Deep Dish Sundae, which is a deep dish chocolate chip cookie with a dollop of ice cream. Jay doesn't have that large of an appetite, so we could either have an appetizer (pizza skins) or dessert (amazing cookie). I picked to have dessert, because there is no contest between giant warm cookie and the pizza skins.

We had a hard time deciding what to eat, partly because Jay mentioned he had never seen me order anything that wasn't a flatbread pizza before. I decided that to show him that I eat other things, I would try one of their pastas. I ended up ordering the Chicken Spinoccoli, which had pesto covered penne topped with a chicken breast filled with mozzarella, feta and Parmesan cheeses, spinach, broccoli, tomatoes, garlic and basil. Jay ordered the mini sliders, which are three tiny burgers.

The service this night was a bit unbalanced. Our waitress was very attentive while we were poring over the menu, but we didn't get our dinners for a while. Jay blamed my chicken things, because it doesn't take too long to make burgers.

Once we got our food, I was surprised that my pesto-covered penne also had tomato sauce right under the chicken. It didn't taste too bad, but wasn't what I was expecting. The chicken part was really good. I noticed Jay eating his skinless baked potato, which was mashed potatoes covered with cheese and bacon bits in a cute little dish, which was interesting because he used to not like mashed potatoes. By used to, I mean before we started dating.

Is Uno a great place for a date? Since their specialties are pizza related, it's not really a fancy date place. But it has a good variety of foods and it's voted the healthiest chain restaurant, so you don't have to feel guilty about eating there. The waiters and waitresses have button down shirts with striped ties so it looks a bit fancier. I don't mind that it as a casual date, but it's not anniversary worthy.

Uno has moderately nice prices. My meal was over ten dollars, but Jay's wasn't. I'm not sure whether or not it was worth the extra cost. It wasn't too much for the two meals and the dessert, so it's not bad for a college budget. However, adding a dessert to a meal bumps up the cost a bit. But it's a sacrifice we can make for this amazing dessert.

Imagine a personal size deep-dish pan with a warm chocolate chip cookie inside. Now, imagine eating it. I'm weird when it comes to ice cream and hot desserts. I like to eat them separately, and try to eat the ice cream before it melts or completely cools down the cookie. Jay and I normally divide the cookie in half just by eating from separate sides. They even make the dessert bigger, for more than two people, or if you want a really big cookie.

Harmony's Ratings Food: A- Service: B+ Price: B+ Date Appeal B-

His

This week Harmony and I were met with disappointment. The ultimate goal was to get sushi, but our selected location (Cherry Garden of Keene) was closed for renovations. You see, we like to go to local places, because you basically know what you're getting when you go to a chain; but when the local location is closed, a chain makes for a great quick-decision replacement. So you might have heard of this week's restaurant, Uno Chicago Bar and Grill.

Just because I said that you know what you get when you go to a chain, doesn't mean I don't like what I get. In this case, what I got was the best replacement for sushi: sliders. A little bit more cooked than raw fish, but that's a good thing in this case. Mini-burgers seem to be a big (ha-ha) thing at the chains lately, but Uno's are the best. There's some variety of delicious sauce, and the cheese is spicy. Alongside my burgers was (due to a shortage of french fries) what amounts to a baked potato, but mashed, which will become my regular side for every meal at Uno. Harmony got some variety of chicken and pasta that wasn't raw fish wrapped in seaweed. The best part of the meal, and I must admit, the only portion that sushi wouldn't have made better, was dessert. Uno's specializes in deep dish pizzas, but their desserts also come in a deep dish, and a giant cookie with whipped cream and ice cream is amazing.

The food was good, but it sure did take a long time to get to the table. Now, let's think about that for a minute. I had burgers. You cook one side of the burger, you cook the other, throw some cheese on it, and put it all on a bun with some sauce. Harmony had some crazy chicken meal. Who knows what you have to do to cook that? Either we didn't have good service, or Harmony got a complicated meal. Still, that's one time, and when it comes to chains, the service always changes from terrible to awesome.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the price. In fact, it turns out that the dessert isn't the only thing better than sushi. At $9 for my burgers, it was a lot cheaper than what I expect the sushi to be. Considering we had dessert, the bill came out to a pretty decent thirty something dollars; not bad.

For a date, Uno makes for a decent casual date. There was a bar next to us, and TVs showing the news all around. I don't consider it the best way to impress a lady, but the menu is unique, and it tastes good too. Go to Uno when you want dinner, get sushi when you want a nice date.

I sounded a bit bitter throughout this, and I kept it brief. My apologies to Uno, but I really wanted sushi. Still, I have to give credit where it is due. For a chain restaurant, Uno has a lot going for it. Their menu is unique, and the service is usually pretty good. To top it all off, they're were voted the healthiest chain restaurant in 2007; where other restaurants have after dinner mints, they have apples.

Fun Fact: Cherry Garden will be open for the next installment of Dinner For Two. Yay for sushi!

Jay's scores Food: A Service: C Price: B+ Date Appeal: B-