3/1/2002

Our local Cucina Cucina branch is located in Redmond Town Center. On a Saturday night it's busy, but less busy than some of the other restaurants around, like Claim Jumper. It makes a good backup restaurant if you don't want to put up with the long waits at other places.

We tried a common combination - a salad and a pizza. The Bay Shrimp Salad was smaller and heavier than expected, but also more flavorful with chunks of blue cheese and red onions. Our goat cheese pizza was also good, with sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, etc. Good, but not your standard pizza, as it didn't have any sauce and not much cheese. Service was spotty, but satisfactory.

Bottom Line: Decent "know what to expect" chain Italian food.