The Asian With Chopsticks: Uno

On our trip down to Boston, we visited a place that was at the New Hampshire outlet mall we were shopping at. Hungry after a good haul shopping, we wanted to find someplace decent, but close for lunch. In the parking lot was the place called Uno. I had never heard of it, but some further research shows that this is a pretty decent size chain across the US.

We walk in, and for us, it felt like a combination of Kelsey's, crossed with a Chicago version of East Side's. It was bright and had a buzz from the large number of people there eating. We got seated pretty quick and took a look at the menu. The menu has a huge selection, maybe a little too much, but I guess they want to cater to a larger audience. The boss ordered the veggie black bean burger with the skinless bake on the side. The veggie burger was actually quite flavourful. I am not one who usually likes veggie burgers, but there was a good mix of spices and flavour in it. The side was quite good, but I think because of how bad it is for you. It is one of those guilty pleasure things. Our friends ordered the steak and the avocado eggrolls. Both of which were also very good. The steak was cooked well, and marinated for extra flavour. Since this restaurant is from Chicago, I had to have their deep dish pizza. The pizza was good, the sauce had a good combination of spices, but I felt that it was lacking....cheese for a deep dish pizza. The one other time I had a deep dish pizza was in Chicago, and that pizza was loaded, heavy and delicious. I could only eat two slices. This pizza, was good, but it just did not seem like a deep dish pizza.

The server we had was excellent. She dropped by often to make sure we were happy with our food, and she had a huge smile on her face the entire time. To be honest, it felt like she was too happy, and it was a little creepy. I would still rather deal with that then a down-trodden server.

Overall, we had a good time there, the food was pretty good, the prices were reasonable, and the service was great. I would have to classify this place as being better than Kelsey's on the quality and selection of food level in the "family sit down restaurant" chain category. We were happy with the place and we would go back.

Review (out of 5):

Food: * * * 1/2
Value: * * * * (we went for lunch)
Atmosphere: * * * *
Service: * * * *
Price (dinner): $7 - $20
Website: http://unos.com/