Pei Wei

We went out for dinner tonight at a place that just opened down at 12 & Mound. It's a Chinese restaurant called Pei Wei, run by the people who run P.F. Chang's. It was pretty good.

It's a small restaurant fashioned with modern decorations, some like those you would see in a coffee shop or bistro. I guess it is a bistro in a sort of way, just an Asian bistro. The grill is out in the open, rather than behind closed doors and in the back. That's always kind of nice, though sometimes noisy (seemed like they dropped several things back there, though probably just putting them down). Other than the grill, the rest of the kitchen was in back. It was a little chilly in there, but lots of places seem to have the air cranked up during the summer. I'm sure they keep the temperature down for the chefs too - it probably gets quite hot working at those grills all day/night.

One of the coolest things at Pei Wei was the menu. It doesn't have a whole lot of variety, but the food itself was good and there were enough choices at least to satisfy. You basically order when you walk in and before you sit down. They have these three tall...I don't know what you would really call them...screens with the menus. Never seen that before. Once you've decided what you want, you go to the counter to order, take a numbered disc and go sit down. You put the disc in a little clip and they find you and bring out your food when it's ready. The staff is pretty friendly as well, but I guess that could vary, so who really knows?

I had the Honey Seared w/Crispy Chicken entrée. It was sort of similar to almond chicken, which is what I had a little craving for when we were deciding where to eat tonight. It comes on rice sticks, which were like those fried noodles, except white and not quite as crunchy.

So, that's my little review of Pei Wei. It was pretty good! And definitely a good deal, as I got a decent-sized dinner for $7.50 - the prices are rather affordable for a dinner. It's hard to judge a restaurant on one meal, but I'd say this would be a recommendation to try it out.