uWink

Sucks, that they closed. I had a chance to try this place out when it was open.
Yea the food is mediocore. The coolness factor is high when you first try it out.
However, at the end of your first dining experience, reality will kick in and let you know it was just ok.
Ultimately I believe the location led to its demise. They needed to open this in a dense location full of minorities IMO. They don’t get to really experience technological stuff.
For people in Mountain View, whom I’m sure are familiar with the tech times, the games on the machines were lacking and sucked.
There are more games, more fun at that, on those machines that you see at Q-​cup and Tapioca Express.
I went to U-​Wink twice, the 2^nd time a few months after, only to see nothing has been changed in the variety of the content on the machines.
The ordering system was cool and I enjoyed that.
The food as I may have mentioned was mediocore FOR THE PRICE. Good happy hour deals though on drinks.
Where it failed miserably was what the main attraction was – the entertainment factor of those touchscreen machines, because it lacked of it. Combined with the probable bad location, and their claim of the economy did it to them.
I highly doubt it was the economy though. There was horrible marketing. Hardly anybody in the San Jose area knew about this place.
If they had opened this in San Jose, had some better marketing, update the games, it would still be open.

I am so sad to hear that UWink closed, I drove by it the other day and noticed that they weren’t open, but didn’t actually know that they closed until further researching it online. I
loved the concept of this restaurant… it was something entertaining to do, that was cheaper than D&B, and closer. I loved the fact that I didn’t have to deal with incompetence of a server or waiter… I could just blame myself for forgetting to select extra sauce… and I didn’t have to feel pressured into leaving a large tip because the server never had to do anything more than bring our food.
It’s pretty much pointless for me to be updating my review since they aren’t open any more, but yaaaa know… it’s still too bad they had to close. I had just finally found a restaurant to take my boyfriends, very finikie parents who like to make lots of requests (no pickles, no onions, no lettuce, no this… no that…, can I have this on the side…), and not be embarrassed by their sometimes rude table manors, now where am I going to take them?! I guess it’s back to being embarrassed and paying extra gratuity to compensate for my boyfriend’s parents (I don’t like this, this isn’t what I order last time) inconvenience.

With a name like uWink, one would expect some aspect of interaction among people or patrons. In fact, I thought I had read a review that stated that you would able to virtually wink at a customer at another table or even buy them a drink.
Alas, it was not meant to be. Maybe that was Las Vegas or NYC I had read about. Instead, uWink is a bit of an aberration among the ethnic food scene of downtown Castro. The best place to explain it is touchscreen computer screens at each table, along with bar fare.
We went mainly for the novelty factor and the place had a diverse crowd. Families and children playing touchscreen games together, the teenager crowds, and older couples trying games across from each other.
The technology behind the touchscreen computers works fairly well. You use it for everything. You swipe your credit card to start the interaction and then can order drinks (including alcohol), appetizers, entrees, and, of course, play games.
The games, while ok for a touchscreen computer, don’t really compare to similar places like Chuck E. Cheese or Dave and Buster’s. But the food does. Burgers, fries, hot wings, etc. are all served in mediocre fashion.
We stuck to safe choices by going with the avocado dip and chip entrée and the appetizer sampler. While the avocado dip had a ton of avocados and so-​so chips, the appetizer sampler left a lot more to be desired. The chicken wings were dry inside and soaked outside with both hot and sweet sauce. The sliders were overcooked mini burgers with not much taste. The one decent item was the onion fries.
As for the games (all free), it’s a bit strange to see people on dates yet staring at computer screens instead of each other. MY and I enjoyed the break from having to look at each other. :) While there are some couple games like truth or dare, they really are so-​PC that you might as well play Taboo at home.
The Group Games are slightly better and largely involve trivia based games in which you compete against other patrons. But there’s not much way to interact with patrons other than that. You can’t IM a cute customer across the way or hi-​five someone who spanked you in US History. As such, I don’t see much appeal for singles or the teenage crowds either.
uWink is an interesting concept but they really need to develop killer apps of interactivity and really really improve their food if they want to survive downtown Mountain View and the bad economy we’re now having…
uWink takes American Express.

This review is a strong 3 stars.
High tech, meet casual dining. Casual dining, meet high tech.
It’s a new dining experience complete with ordering «online», paying «online», and doing things you’re mother always told you NEVER to do… play at the dinner table.
Perhaps it was the company I was with, I actually had a lot of fun playing the group games and trying out some of the other ones. We had a really big party (over 10 of us) but there were only enough chairs for 8. I got stuck at the end so I didn’t really get to «play» with the computers but was still part of the interaction.
The food was equivalent to «Chili’s» style food. Nothing fabulous but tasty enough. Watch what you order though, with all the «toppings» and sauces you’re bill can get pretty high. But, if you go through the ordering process carefully, you can still get a decent meal for an affordable price.
The service was great. Our server was very attentive and the response time was immediate. I was impressed!
I’ll come here again, but since I’m in front of the ‘puter all the time already, I think I’ll stick to the traditional style of dining; interacting with other human beings.

Eve you put my pic and scores up? Hhhaaaa!
Thanks for joining me for lunch Eve and Julie. I hope you guys had fun! I know Eve you are running out of places to Unilocal and need some new places to go too.
The dining experience here is interesting. Its very hands off and everything is through the computer screen in front of you. If you want your water refilled or to order food you have go through the computer. Our waitress was nice and friendly. She did come by and check up on us but no to often. I end up ordering a sweet potato fries and a salad here. The fries are good but the Caesar salad was okay. As for the games, the kiddie and trivia games are much more fun. The group games that you play with other diners in the restaurant are not bad either. Tuesday night is movie night, so they have projectors and show different movies each week.
Overall it was an interesting experience. I think I miss the interaction with your dining partners because all you do is play games and not really talk to each other. I think this might be a good place to go for a first date, even if you don’t have much to talk about there is always games to play.

It’s a unique dining experience. After i arrived Donna taught me how to use the screen to order my beverage.
It’s fun ordering from the touchscreen but it will annoy me if i was extremely hungry.
I ordered the Chicken and Pesto Carbonara which was quite good and had a bit of sweet potato fries.
The fun factor was figuring out a a good game to play and playing a game with 2 other people in the restaurant. The kiddie games were quite fun but the scenic travel thing was lame.
Also enjoyed their music and they have a movie night coming up soon.
But a difficult factor was being placed in the farthest table and getting a water/waitress’s attention. I wished there was a button on our touchscreen to
Another fun factor was seeing Donna Y playing the balloon game seeing her attack her screen and shaking our table.
Thanks to Donna Y for the recommendation to try this place out and to Julie for making it a great experience. :)

Hi Unilocalers!
It was my turn to plan «date day», where once a month we take turns planning a whole day on a budget of $ 200 to take the other out without first discussing where or what we were going to do. :) It keeps the fun in the relationship with the hubby, and it feels good being blindly led somewhere fun. :)
My friend told me about uWink, a restaurant where every table had few touchscreen monitors for ordering and game playing. I looked on
, and sure enough, there was a $ 25 gc for uWink. It was perfect for part of «date day» because it was interactive eating.
When we walked in, the place looked really large, clean and modern. It was Saturday around 1:30, so the place was not that crowded. We were seated by a really nice host who explained the concept for us. You are given 1 hour of free play, and after that you had to buy credits. He let us know the managers are doing a special, where we can have unlimited free game time, and would not be charged for playing. Perfect!
Our booth had 2 screens. My hubby really enjoyed ordering from the touch screen. You can even ask for more napkins or ketchup from the touchscreen, without having to flag down a waitress. While he was ordering, I was able to play video games, read comics, etc on the 2^nd monitor. The most fun was playing the group games, where you play against everyone in the restaurant.
You could also sit across from your date, and play games against each other, or sit next to each other and play 2 player games. Depends if you want to hand hold and cuddle or not. :) They even have a game called «First Date», where it asks you a series of questions you could ask each other, to keep the conversation moving along. :) So cute!
My hubby ordered the sampler appetizer and the short ribs for us to share. The sampler was pretty good, but the short ribs were really really bland. We also got a side of the sweet potato french fries which were pretty good. Along with 2 20oz beers, and using our
gc, our total bill was $ 20. (yay! I still had $ 180 left to spend on 2 1-​hr massages at Perfect Day Spa ($ 80), dinner for two at Menera Morroccan with belly dancing for entertainment ($ 60), and tickets for 2 at the Improv to see Harland Williams of Half-​Baked ($ 22). Resourceful little Asian chicky, eh?
I would come back again, and would recommend it to my friends. But I would only order the appetizers and alcohol. Stay away from the entrees. :) This is a great place for both kids and adults.

I haven’t had any of the entrée food, but the drinks are normal (friends say the beer on tap is fresh) and the sweet potato fries are good.
I think this place is fun! Love the concept of playing games while you hang out. Double dated with friends here and we had a fun time playing their version of «taboo» and the sketching game that’s like pictionary. It’s also fun to play group trivia games against random people there.
Our waitress was friendly and nice and gave us each $ 5 off coupons for next time! They played good music and it’s a nice laid-​back atmosphere. It wasn’t too crowded on a Friday evening, but definitely a fun place to hang out! I mean, there really aren’t that many places around here to hang out late at night if you don’t feel like going to a bar! Their kitchen closed at 10pm on Friday night.
We didn’t have any computer glitches and it was super easy and efficient to check out and pay! Fun place if you like to play games like me… I’ll be back!

If you’re reading this review you already know about the little «stations» at each seat where you can order food/​drink/​play games.
What I am going to do is to tell you about THE GAME to play while you are at uwink. It’s the zillionaire game. The one based off the «Who wants to be a millionaire?» game show. The game is so fun even Lil Wayne made a song that you probably here on the radio a couple million times a day called A zilli.
Anyways, the key here is to bet whoever you are with a drink to see who can get the highest score. It’s always funny to see some of the answers people pick after a couple of drinks.
This is the bar if you are in the year 2039.

So I finally came here for dinner the other night with a friend and used our 2 for 1 coupon that was found in the Metro paper.
The restaurant inside looks modern and clean. There are large white canvases on the walls where they project movies and commericals. The bathrooms are small and dirty.
I personally feel that the whole point of eating out is to get away from work/​computer. I already sit in front of the computer 8 hrs a day, and yet I have to sit in front of another one when I eat?
The monitors are quite large and obstruct my view of the person across from me. It was a little confusing to navigate around on their computers. I wish the user interface was more consistent and I felt I had to press harder on some parts of the screens than others. It was annoying. I had fun playing the usketch with my friend. It kinda reminds me of pictionary. There was another feature on the computer of panorama images of the different scenes looked fake. Half the games didn’t have instructions on how to play them or just made me not want to play them.
The food here is a bit over priced. I got the chicken pesto carbonara and all I tasted was the pesto and olive oil. The mac and cheese wasn’t worth $ 8. The sampler appetizer was ok, but I’d only pay $ 7 and not $ 13. The sauces that they served were weird. The bbq sauce and the ranch was REALLY watery, dijon mustard was nasty, smoked paprika aioli was pretty good, couldn’t taste anything in the basil pesto sauce, and sweet chili sauce was ok.
It was difficult to eat and do stuff on the computer simeltaneously. I felt like my food was getting cold because of this. I ended up hardly touching my food. Overall, eating here didn’t feel very personable at all. Sometimes you do need some human interaction and not a computer to request something you need.

In short, order and play interactive games on screens in the comfort of your booth.
Come here if:
1. You need to show visitors how techie Silicon Valley can be.
2. If you’re 12 years old and like to play flash-​based games on the Internet.
3. You’re with a group of friends and want to try something new – Pictionary was fun.
4. Decent place for a first date –First Date Game where they pose platonic or more spicy questions. Good ice breaker.
Price, food genre and quality similar to D&B’s and Chili’s.
We had:
Sliders — nothing special.
Chicken Pasta — good.
Napa Valley Chicken Sandwich — good. Dijon mayo was more mayo.
Sweet potato fries — oily, but good.
Although you order on the screen, service was excellent. Servers still come by to check on you.

I have to admit, the whole concept of uWink is brilliant. connecting customers with our technology age is a very cool idea.
My friends & I discovered this place while having dinner on Castro. The place is very visible at night b/​c it’s so bright that’ll just draws you in. Their service was really good and seated my group promptly.
Everything here is done electronically on the computers provided at each table… We had 3 at ours. You can order food, drinks & play games on them. Our group favorite was the «adult version» of truth or dare. (My dare was to walk around the restaurant like a fierce model walking at a runway. My friend had to go up to a complete stranger & play rock paper scissors.) Even the waiters joined us when we asked him if he wanted to do a dare. This place is an adventure.
With that said, the only reason I give it a 3 star is because their technology needs to be better. Being that technology is their main concept, I was disappointed to find that there’s only a limited amount of games. We also had trouble w/​our computers syncing up. My group couldnt get our computers connected, so we all had to play in single mode for the group games that were offered. If they fixed this problem, then I’d definitely will upgrade my rating. Also, their website doesn’t do them justice…
But overall, this is definitely a worthy place of check out, have fun & be adventureous :)

uWink is more like uVomit.
Came here for the second time today. I ordered the «Hawaiian pork sandwich.» The sandwich was HORRIBLE. It was fatty pork that had no flavor, not even pulled pork. It had a little bit of weird tasting sauce on it and onion rings. It looked NOTHING like the picture in the computer and it was served cold. The french fries were also served cold.
The service was random and crappy, just like the last time I came here. I gave them a 2-​star review last time because they had just opened. They’ve been open for a while now, there’s no excuse for their service to still be this bad.

First off, they’re not showing Sharks games — wtf?! That alone is a good reason to not go here — all those TVs, tuned to out-​of-​town sporting events. Feh.
Ordering via the touchscreen was relatively painless (though it’s a very confusing UI), but the service itself was incredibly slow and incomplete. They completely forgot my entrée, and then when they did bring it out (after I asked about it), it was incorrect (why bother asking me if I want the dressing on the side if you’re not going to do that?).
Overall, I thought it was overpriced and underwhelming. Some of the games were ok, but the group games were too spaced apart and my friends’ console crashed so they couldn’t even play with us.

After realizing our first choice was closed on a Sunday (thank you Casa Lupe :(), I decided to scope out this place. I’m a total geek, my boyfriend is a total football fan and my friend was game for anything (get it, haha?).
We got there and it had a spattering of people around. Touchscreens everywhere, football games that were practically lifesize on the walls. Lots of fun to order on the touchscreen but there wasn’t much selection. We found out later that the prices were a little expensive for what they offered.
The best part of the experience was the owner (I think) asking my bf if he wanted the wall next to him changed (it was projecting ads). Boy said yes! and he even got to choose which game he wanted. Excellent.
I had the fish tacos, boyfriend had the mac and cheese and friend had the cobb salad. Fish tacos were yummy but in retrospect, it was kind of gross to be touching a touchscreen thats probably been used by everyone and their mom before me (germs!) and then eating my food. I tried the boy’s mac and cheese and it was pretty good but he mentioned that there was not enough chicken. It was like specks of chicken instead of CHICKEN.
My friend and I particularly enjoyed the Zillionaire game which was a trivia game confined to our own station. The group game was more fun; you got to compete against other tables and your friends on other touchscreens. Fun until I realized the winner was «LYNNSUX». Thanks boyfriend.
Very fun atmosphere. I’d definitely go to watch the Sharks play or football or something. But as for food, I’d save my appetite for somewhere else along Castro.

People were really hard on this place when they first opened but they’ve improved a lot since their first few weeks. I think it rocks now. I’ve been a couple of times now for dinner, desserts or drinks and it’s always been good food and a fun time. I love playing with all their puters and getting to order my food and pay ‘online’. Uwink is sure to be a unique pleaser for a group of friends.
I’ve tried — mac and cheese which was great, the southwestern caesar salad which was tasty and the appetizer sampler which was good except the calamari was a lil too greasy. There are other things but I can’t remember now. Oh and, our bill total was less than 20 $ per person. I was really happy with how attentive the staff, even though you summon them through your computer. haha
You will barely noticed the time between order and food arrival because you’ll be laughing and trying to win games against your table. The games were simple but fun. I really liked the trivia and word games but they also have tetris-​like games and panoramic videos of different places around the world.
To top off this experience, they have HUGE screen of sports broadcasts so on one trip, we were able to catch the Rays beat the Red Socks for a chance at the World Series… such excitement in the place.
I really liked Uwink and will definitely go back, especially to entertain friends who like sports or high-​tech stuff! The place is just cool.
See ya there!

Now, wait just a gosh darn minute! Too many people are rating this place a mere 2 stars (or less!). Either they missed out on the good experience I had, or I simply lucked out.
Regardless, let’s start with the idea of the place itself. Dunno about anyone else, but I am a FAN of removing the need for interacting with servers. It’s only partially complete here in that servers still, well, SERVE the food, but all the ordering is performed through the touch screens.
Anyway, I was hesitant about going to the place because the advertiser was raving about hamburgers. Looking for something more savvy than hamburgers (and knowing more savvy stuff exists on Castro Street), I only became happy when looking through their menu. Hamburgers were just a small portion; I much preferred their selection for Appetizers and Chef Specials, like their Rock and Roll Shrimp Quesadillas.
Until entering uWink, my day was not so great. After being seated and learning how to use the easy touch screens (and perhaps ordering a Raspberry Mojito), the day became much better. I did not have a problem with the screens’ existence on the table, as it was simple enough to scoot chairs and rotate screens in order to see my girlfriend’s face.
Now, the games that were on the screen were only subpar, I must agree. Some were fun, particularly the idea of group games, but they could use a little work. But, they certainly didn’t make the experience «worse,» nor did it take long to receive our food.
The food was great, by the way.
Perhaps a «uWink 2.0» will come along with pressurized tube like many banks transfer money through to serve tables with, or maybe the food will rise through the center of the table… The best is yet to come.

The idea is rather unique and interesting, so I will give this place two stars instead of one. If everything went smoothly, this place would definitely get 4 – 5 stars because I believe it’s a pretty cool idea. However, nothing really went well.
The food was horrible and pricy for what you get. The appetizer and entrees all arrived at the same time. We orderer spinach dip, and it was still cold at the bottom. All we wanted them to do was reheat it, but instead they gave us a new one, which was nice. However, it was still rather cold.
The pasta was mediocre, as well as the burger. Drinks were small and pricy. Nothing really stood out and on top of that…
There were glitches in many of the games. Our computer crashed on us once, so we needed to have it reset. It took incredibly long to have the food ordered.
Only up-​side might be the servers did come quick when we asked for them.

The food is horrible! We were all hungry, we sat down. and 5 minutes into eating we all felt like going elsewhere to get some real food. There is zero focus on healthy wholesome food. The food is white bread, greasy fries, tons of thousand island sauce. just zero emphasis on quality. Also, apparently their macaroni is too creamy as well.
You’re better off only ordering a beer or a coffee and eating elsewhere!
As for the computers. I really loved the novelty but I didn’t like this:
— We were 3 people and they only let you play in 2 teams max
— The games were really dumbed down. The sketch game had us draw stuff like a window, house, ball etc.
— There is no internet access (would be nice if they offered that)
I would have liked a trivia or intellectual or somewhat challenging games
The food was soo gross. I just had to re-​emphasize that. And, the selection was minimal.

From the guy that brought you Atari and Chuck E Cheese, Nolan Bushnell, comes his next big idea: technology interactive dining. It’s an interesting concept getting people to socialize with certain interactive games and actually minimizing the interaction with wait staff on the ordering front.
A friend and I came here to check it out and also watch the Cowboys/​Eagles MNF game while we were at it. One thing Castro does lack is a sports bar type venue and this might just fill the niche. Tons of projectors which display digital art but could be easily switched to show tons of sports games (as some of did for MNF). During commercial breaks you can use your interactive screen to play either single or group games in addition to ordering your food. With the latter, I’ve experienced many times where you go into a crowded bar to watch a game and no one shows up to serve you for a damn long time. Here, you swipe your card and order as you please, then someone from the back brings your food. There are still wait staff who ask you how you’re doing and bring you refills and such. With this being opening day (minus the soft openings starting last Fri) they were eager to please.
Another group this would fit would be a family where kids could be entertained while the family enjoys a casual meal. The last group might be larger groups that want to do a game style night (some interesting booth setups) and also get loaded as there is a full bar and they’re open late.
The caveats? The food is somewhat expensive for what you get at comparable places without the technorific gear. The food is the same par as any other casual sit down dining chain, so that’s not really distinguished.
We only found a few problems with the screens; lots of swiping of my credit card for each item ordered — some weird bar only interaction, and sometimes it wouldn’t recognize it. The strangest of all is if you sit at the counter there are no screens at all and it’s just your normal bar. I guess the concept has matured somewhat because there was a very entertaining writeup by a software guy who experienced the original Uwink in SoCal:
Ill probably come back and test the waters for more sporting events and see what happens during playoffs. 3.5 stars.