Vermicelli?

Anyone who attempts to dine at Union Station is well aware of the "service" at Uno's. It's spotty at best and you'd better not have somewhere to be, because your pizza or burger is going to take at least an hour. Be sure to be ready with your meal choice when the surly waitstaff comes for your drink order, and you might as well ask for the check at that point, too. Seriously.

But as I had a long day and nothing more than spaghettios and meatballs at home (not that I don't love spaghettios and meatballs, because I most certainly do), I decided to stop in and place an order for carryout. I had money remaining on a gift card (thanks, Lady!), so it was going to be free. Besides, I could shop around while I waited.

I walked in and was immediately greeted by Penay (I'm sure that's spelled incorrectly, but I'm trying). It was shocking, mostly because he was happy and smiley and super nice. Certainly a change from the other employees, like the hostess who stared down a couple for a good minute before asking if they were "waitin' for a table?" Penay was definitely trying to get his employees pumped up for the dinner rush. His enthusiasm and happiness wasn't really rubbing off on anyone, but at least he got people as soon as they walked in the door. The sad thing was that he seemed genuinely surprised when I was happy and smiley, too. I don't know how you couldn't respond in kind with this guy, but I guess that some people just have food on their minds when they walk into a restaurant.

Right. So I ordered something strange - a chicken salad (salad meaning spring greens, red peppers, tomatoes, cheese, bacon, and tons of other yummy stuff), honey mustard, and then... vermicelli. Pasta? And salad? Weird! But sooooo good. And it's quite filling as well, what with the strange addition of carbs and whatnot. Lovely.

I walked home over the ridiculously frozen-over sidewalks, almost fell on my ass in the alley, and definitely almost slipped backwards off of my porch steps a la Joe Pesci in Home Alone. I settled myself in the living room, wrapped around the space heater, and started eating. But something was wrong.

No chicken.

I considered just dealing with it and having a nice salad, but I was hungry! I called, and Penay remembered me. He had a new salad waiting for me after I hauled my ass back there, and added double the chicken so that I could have two salads. Two salads? Awesome. He then won me over by adding a few extra containers of honey mustard. Bitchin'!

Anyway, I don't know what the moral of this story is, except that ordering carryout from Uno's is a much better idea than dining in. Oh, and being nice is contagious. For some people. At least, that's what I like to think.