Uno Pizzeria (review)

  We do eat out not as often as we used to and that's good!  However if your going to eat out you might as well have fun with it.  We walked around the mall tonight and decided to eat at Uno's Pizzeria.  I hadn't been here in awhile and only remember I liked the pizza.

  Well they are more than just a pizzeria.  I started my meal out with a delicious goat cheese and walnut side salad.  The menu had a variety of salads, appetizers and sandwiches.  The kids menus have some creativity and variety as well.

  They have safari nuggets; which means they have exotic shaped nuggets.  I am almost sure even though I didn't taste them that these nuggets have got to taste better than plain old round nuggets.  The kids menu also has a build your own pizza! Ahh, hello I would like to make my own pizza!

The waitress brings out an apron and a pizza that you cover with sauce, cheese and pepperonis.

She had a lot of fun assembling her own pizza.  I must admit we didn't have as much patience as she did in this process but oh well on us.

I swear 15 minutes later if not longer we were finally able to help her top it off and get it sent out to cook.

Your name is written on a popsicle stick in order to keep the personally made pizzas together.  She was happy to see her masterpiece pizza returned to her.

  This table side entertainment by our very own family member made this meal one of my favorites.  She had fun and we had fun.  Dinner doesn't have to be a boring sit down and talk amongst yourselves.  It's nice to have a little entertainment while you dine.

  The overall restaurant was a comfortable environment for families.  There was a variety of tables and boothes.  Enough wait staff was hustling the floor.  Our drinks were topped off regularly and our waitress answered all our inquiries about the menu.  We will visit again soon.  They even have a make your own pizza birthday party!  What a nice treat that would be for a child and the friends!

  With such a broad menu in addition to the pizza selection this is a good place to visit.  They offer daily lunch specials as well as a pick a 2 item for $12 per person option.  Check them out and witness that they are more than just a pizzeria!

http://www.unos.com/

A Customer Service Decline

  Remember when you went out to dinner and had great service.  You were seated at a table.  Drink orders taken then brought back.  Appetizer and entrees orders taken and brought to the table in a timely manner.

   One restaurant we have gone too has new computers on the tables.  We have gone a few times so I am used to seeing it.  You can order your meals, play games or trivia on these tablet like devices.  It never found it impersonal as I didn't pay much attention to it until it has showed up in a bother restaurant.  First at Chili's now at Olive Garden.

We ate out the other night at Olive Garden and the devices were there.  One table I observed a child playing on it ( I was told as I was seated games were unlimited for $1.99)the whole duration I was there.  Another table that was sat after me immediately passed it over to their toddler.  

My waiter instructed us when we ordered that we needed to put our kids meal request in the system. But he was standing there and just took all our other orders!  He preceded to attempt to use the machine but failed horribly.  So he took pen to paper and went back to old school order taking to complete our order.

At the end of our meal we again were directed to the device to pay our bill.  That didn't work our well again.  With a swipe of the card and no response we still handed over the card to be ran through the original register.  

Bottom line is what is the point of these devices?  To speed the process up? To entertain people young and old which leads to happier patrons overall?  To free up waitstaff to do their job more quickly and efficient?  To make things less personal between a restaurant, the waitstaff and their customers?

I personally as a customer like the interaction.  People need to talk.  Some of us have special requests, our kids certainly don't need to be trained to play games (for entertainment or shushed up) at the table, are we tipping for half the service if we are placing our order on a computer making us do half the work?  

I hope this is just a phase and the devices will go away.  Bring back the waitstaff so that we can chat.

What is in your wallet? Membership cards part 2

  Continuing on my series of what's in your wallet.  My second card is almost as loved as my first card with the Botanical Gardens.  This is my card to the Norfolk virginiazoo.

This card was the second year of a 2 year subscription.  Again with all these membership cards come perks that are only privy to the members.  The zoo offers special discounts throughout the park to include the gift shop, and restaurant.  Another zoo perk is early or extended admission.  Special night programs after the zoo is closed are a great benefit.  Summer camps or school holiday camps are offered at a discount to members as well.  They also have a special story and an animal hour not just for members that my daughter loved she had her first up close encounter with an

  We hold a family plus one visit to this establishment.  Meaning we can bring our entire family plus an additional person.  This is great for when an out of town visitor is with us.  It is good for anyone and not any particular one.  From grandma to cousin or even a friend of one of the children. (One friend is plenty since I have 4 kids I can't imagine everyone taking someone).

  This zoo has several areas to explore.  There is the nocturnal area where you may catch sight of a sloth or porcupine.  The reptiles building where the snakes

 are slithering on an unlucky day.  I prefer to see them just laying around and less active.  Outside areas are spread out where you travel to areas such as Asia to see a tiger

or to spy an Ostrich

 in Africa.

  Pick up a token for the train that takes you around the grounds and through a tunnel for an exciting time!

  There is a lot of information on the website and from several visits and the ever lovely pinterest.  I made up several different scavenger hunts for my youngest to do throughout the park.  She enjoyed the zoo more that day as she was able to check things off.

  I printed off hunts for finding different colors,  keeping track of quantities such as 1 fire hydrant, 2 flowers, 3 camels.  There was one for animals and it was still fun even if all the animals were not at our zoo.


  As I stated with my gardens pass I have gotten so much more from this membership well past the price of the pass.  This is another membership that just keeps on giving.  Check out your zoo and see what kind of rates they have and then think about it.  You have all year to use, throughout the seasons and the learning that comes from a visit regardless of the ages.