UNO Pizzeria & Grill — Restaurant in Maryland

I've never believed in the tipping system of restaurants. I believe it is demeaning to be dependent on a person's whim whether to be paid for the services that they render. It is especially because of this that I make sure that I never short change the servers, because they are not to be blamed for the system that we have. I bring this up because when your own child works in the system, you notice more things. Serving is hard work. You are on your feet the entire time constantly moving and carrying things, talking and engaging with customers even though you are mentally and physically tired. My child tells me of his work and all of the things that happen to him. To my shock, he tells me of how often people leave without leaving any tips at all. I am sure most people know that servers make couple of dollars an hour from the restaurant and the rest is made in tips. If you are unaware of that, I am not sure what world you live in. Almost without fail, there is at least one table (usually a decent size one) that leaves without leaving a single penny every night. Some, just $1. It's not due to lack of service either as they usually thank him as they leave. Pretty amazing that this happens so often. Even while we were there, there was a family with a bill over $120 and they left without leaving a tip. I am not sure how he keeps his smile on his face and continue to serve all night after being snubbed in such a way

Having said all of that, we had a great time eating there being served by a handsome and charismatic young server. We order a deep dish pizza, some wings, and a pitcher of beer. The pitcher of Fat Tire beer I believe cost $15 and came in a rather large pitcher. I realized that there appears to be a frozen metal container in the middle of the pitcher that makes the volume of the beer to look more than it actually is. It did keep the beer cold throughout the meal and we got 5 full cups out of it so that was great. The pizza came out nice and hot and it was delicious. We ordered the Numero Uno deep dish pizza. I asked my son for the style of wings recommendation. He recommended something but I thought it was weak in terms of the spiciness level. He should know me better. Not sure where I went wrong in his upbringing. But the crispiness and texture was good! It was a double order and needless to say, we did not leave any wings behind. So that would explain the 4 instead of 5 stars. If they added an extra spicy level to their wings, I would...

We had a party of 14 come in around 6pm on April 23, 2017 for my sons birthday. Our server was Melanie J (I hope I spelled that correctly) and she gave us the best service I have ever had at this location. Before our visit, I had a terrible experience at this location and the columbia mall location (I don't leave bad reviews, I should but I don't. I leave that to all of the other folks who never have anything nice to say) and had decided to give up on the entire chain altogether. Uno's is my son's favorite so I had to give it another shot. Melanie was very attentive and she handled our group like a true industry veteran. We asked for 3 separate checks and she didn't blink an eye (we had coupons too), drinks were re-filled on time, food was correctly sent back to the kitchen and delivered on time (not by Melanie) we ran her ragged and she didn't show it. Very polite and professional. The reason for 4 stars and not 5- I called the Wednesday before for "call ahead seating" I was told to call back and give a headcount and it wouldn't be a problem. I called back on Friday afternoon with a head count and made the "reservation" I was told that "It's not a reservation, it's call ahead seating but we will do our best to be ready for your group." fair enough I suppose. I arrived a few minutes early and there was no record of my "call ahead seating" request. I thought "well, this isn't going to be good" but they put some tables together real quick to accommodate without any wait time. Regardless, if they would have been busier, I would have been waiting or out of luck because they "had no record of my call". Maybe look into a better message or "call ahead seating" system so everyone is on the same page. Anyway, one small blip for a 100% turnaround from the last time I visited the location. I hope we took good care of Melanie and I hope you do as well....

I took my daughter to this location recently for her 16th birthday. Her first UNO experience. It won't be the last!

First, the entire location was immaculate. I'm talking exterior & landscaping, interior, up, down, here, there, and everywhere. Not a speck out of place. (Nice change from being at home with our black long-haired cat who leaves that stuff all over like it's her JOB, but I digress.) The place was pristine.

The place wasn't terribly busy during our Sunday evening visit, but I'm convinced that we still would have received the stellar service that we did that night, regardless. From the delightful woman who greeted us at the front door with a big smile and a genuine welcome to our server and food runners & bussers, every contact with the team was a pleasure.

For instance, I had whispered to our server that I'd brought my daughter there for her big day, and I asked if they did anything special for the occasion, sang happy birthday, etc. (I apologize to him and the crew as I am horrible at remembering names, but we did chat with them awhile and learned that he was from Ghana - which was why he didn't really know the happy birthday song.) They did come out and give it the ol' college try, and it was so sweet and charming!

As for the food, we "just" ordered some cheesy breadsticks and a cheese pizza, since only two of us came that time, but my noob daughter agreed it was "the bomb." Of course it was. Everybody knows this. That's why you have restaurants all over the place. We'll be back - with reinforcements!

All told, it was a treasured time just for mama and daughter, which are becoming fewer and farther apart as she approaches adulthood. Apart from the dynamic between the two of us, everything that happened in that restaurant that night served to enhance an...