Eating Out: Uno Chicago Grill

Last night, my fiance (M.) and I went to Uno Chicago Grill in Worcester, MA with one of M.'s co-workers. This particular Uno's is right across from the DCU Center, so it gets busy when there's an event there. We happened to luck out last night, arriving right after a hockey game started at the DCU, so the restaurant had pretty much cleared out.

We had decided to go to Uno's because I discovered last night that they had a gluten-free menu, including gluten-free pizza (which I will have to try at some point, to compare to The Boynton, which is a post for another day). Our waitress was somewhat on the incompetent side, and our first clue was how long it took me to get a gluten-free menu. I asked for one when we ordered our drinks, and she brought our drinks (and no gluten-free menu), left, then came back and asked if we were ready to order. I asked again, and five minutes later actually got the menu.

I waffled on whether I should order the pizza or the steak, since I was really in the mood for steak, but also love pizza. I've noticed that on some gluten-free menus, the restaurants will write tips like "Order without the bun," or "Order without sauce." I've found that these restaurants tend to be the ones that are better about providing food that is safe for me to eat. Uno's did not indicate anything like this.

Out of curiosity, I opened the regular menu and compared the gluten-free steak to the regular menu steak. They were exactly the same, but the regular menu indicated that the steak came with a breadstick. I voiced my concern to my dinner companions, and M. said if it's on the gluten-free menu, it shouldn't come with a breadstick, and if that's the only thing keeping me from ordering the steak, that's silly. I agreed on both counts, and decided to order the steak. I didn't mention the breadstick, hoping for the best, and figuring that I wasn't starving, so if I had to send it back, so be it.

When our food came out, I realized that trust was a poor choice. Surprise, surprise, my steak had a breadstick on it. I told my waitress that I couldn't eat it, since I ordered gluten-free and there was a breadstick on the plate. She took the plate and told me she'd be right back. A few minutes later, she came back and said it would be about five minutes (which was fine by me, since that meant they were giving me a fresh steak rather than throwing the contaminated one back on the grill). A while later, someone who I would guess was a manager came out with my plate, said, "Here's your breadstick-free steak," and left.

I must say that the food was delicious. I had mashed potatoes and broccoli, which were both yummy, and the steak was juicy and wonderful. It would have been nice, however, to eat with M. and D., rather than after. We finished up our meal, got the bill, paid, and left. At that point I realized that I never got a single apology. Not one person said they were sorry or asked if they could do anything else for me or my companions. They also didn't offer to comp anything on our bill to make up for the fact that I had to sit and watch M. and D. eat for 10 minutes. I'm not looking for free food, but I think that offering to take a drink off our bill or give us a coupon is a good way to encourage someone who has had a less-than-ideal experience to come back. I used to work at a chain restaurant, and I saw that happen all the time. Maybe I would have gotten a different reaction if I had been irate about it, but that's just not my style.

I will likely order from Uno's again, if not just to try the pizza, but I will be somewhat more wary in the future. One of my adventures is finding the right balance between not saying anything and annoying the waitstaff by saying it so many times. Clearly, just ordering off the gluten-free menu is not enough at Uno's, and I'll remember that in the future.