uWink

I was in Los Angeles over the weekend and had a pre-show snack and cocktail over at the Hollywood and Highland Mall in Hollywood. We ended up in uWink, because it looked interesting. The restaurant was clean, not crowded and with our 45 minute time limit, seemed like a good bet. uWink proved to be a good choice. I ordered the Bacardi Razberri Mojito for my drink. The drink was small, but packed a punch. I could taste the alcohol. Many places put more filler than actual alcohol content. I would recommend a cocktail at uWink. For my snack I ordered the hummus platter. The platter came with an assortment of carrot sticks, broccoli, cucumber slices and pita bread, grilled to perfection. There was even enough pita for dipping and enough left over to spoon out and eat. That never happens. Usually you're left with too many "dippers" and not enough "dip". Not the case at uWink. The service was great - we were immediately greeted and seated, our food and drinks came quickly after they were ordered and our "server" for lack of a better term, came to the table right away and explained how uWink works. That's where it gets a little odd. uWink definitely does not promote socializing. Right in the center of the table is monstrous screen where you place your orders and can then play games. The screen takes up a very large portion of the table, making sharing food items extremely difficult, the order screen and variety of games found on promotes anti-socialism. If the screen were pushed down into the table so you could easily see and communicate (and share!) with the person you're with, it would be great. I will say, the layout did keep the two tables full of children quiet. When we were being seated and I saw hoards of children around us, I expected the typical unpleasant dining experience, parents who won't control their children, running, screaming, food everywhere, you know the disasters I'm talking about. Not the case, in fact, except for the music playing (I recall "My Humps" from the Black Eyed Peas), the place was very quiet because everyone nobody was talking to anyone - they were all focused on their touch screens. As an adult wanting to socialize with my companions, I did not like the touch screen factor. As an adult wanting to dine without unruly children about, I loved it!