Libby

Alissa,

I visited the restaurant today and was incredibly disappointed. I'm a woman in my early 30s. You say I am your target demographic yet there was not much to appeal to me. Most women my age are on special diets and there's no information on ingredients on the food. There is some kind of "green sauce" on one dish. I had to ask the "runner" what was in it and she didn't know. There is no way I'm ordering something with a mystery green sauce on it when a) I don't eat dairy products and b) I don't eat dairy products. Please be more sensitive to food allergies and special diets by listing ingredients in your mystery sauces. If not, don't pretend to cater to women.

There was only one game on the computer that allowed me to play a game with my tablemates. This was a trivia game and it didn't work. After two questions the screen went blank and crapped out.

At the end of the meal we were ready to swipe our credit card and pay but it said we had to go to the cashier and pay. Er, isn't the point of uWink the ability to swipe and pay? Okay, so we were disappointed with that. Might as well go to Denny's. So we went up front to pay and the cashiers took 10 minutes to figure out how to tally our bill.

Another gripe: I was given a big fat NO when I asked for a specific substitution. "Not yet," said the runner. Well, I'm a paying customer now and it would take absolutely no effort for you to accomodate my request. I simply wanted salmon on my salad instead of chicken. uWink's response: "No, not yet."

As far as the decor: it's sterile and masculine. Nothing warm or inviting about it whatsoever. There should be booths. It literally feels like an airport cafeteria. As for the pictures being projected on the walls, they weren't even artistic or interesting.

I hope something changes, otherwise this restaurant will fail and it's a great concept.

How to make it succeed:

*Allow diners to play more than just trivia against other table members.
*Allow substitutions of any kind, not just the substitutions YOU think we should be allowed. Many people in L.A. are on unusual diets - accommodate them.
*Allow me to order a gin martini or any other drink on the computer without having to ask the runner. Contrary to popular belief, the world does not begin and end with vodka.
*Allow an empty box where diners can add specific, special instructions to their order instead of forcing us to choose from predertimed options.
*Add something comfortable for the love of God. A booth or two.
*Tell the bartender to smile at least once in a 2 hour span.
*List all ingredients on the computer so we don't have to ask the runners who clearly know nothing.
*Allow us to pay at the table so we don't have to wait 10 minutes while the cashier tries to understand our bill. Isn't the point of the computers to streamline these things? Today, it seemed to complicate everything.
*Provide a sandwich bread other than ciabiatta bread. For those on low carb diets, make wraps available.
*Provide bread at the tables. It also would've been nice to have some water?

I think the concept is great - it just isn't ready for the public and needs a LOT of work.