uWink, Inc. (stock symbol: UWKI) was a publicly traded

digital entertainment Digital entertainment Industry includes, but is not restricted to, any combination of the following industries (that themselves have a considerable degree of overlap): *digital media *new media *video on demand *video games *interactive entertainmen ...

company based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The company was founded in 2000 by

Nolan Bushnell Nolan Kay Bushnell (born February 5, 1943) is an American businessman and electrical engineer. He established Atari, Inc. and the Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre chain. He has been inducted into the Video Game Hall of Fame and the Consu ...

, the co-founder and former CEO of both

Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French holding company Atari SA (formerly Infogrames) and its focus is on "video games, consumer hardware, licensing and bl ...

and Chuck E. Cheese. After little success developing interactive entertainment for restaurants, bars and mobile devices for several years in 2006 the company changed focus to their uWink Bistro concept, which it describes as an "entertainment dining experience which leverages its proprietary network and entertainment software, including the uWink Game Library". uWink's stock opened at $4.75 on July 31, 2007. By December 2012 it was trading at less than one cent. UWink-MtView-CA-interior 2009-01-19

Locations, expansions, and closures

* Woodland Hills, California, opened on October 16, 2006 in Westfield Promenade and closed in January, 2010. It received mixed to favorable reviews. *

Hollywood and Highland Center Ovation Hollywood (formerly Hollywood & Highland) is a shopping center and entertainment complex at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. The shopp ...

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

, California, opened on June 27, 2008 and closed on September 12, 2010. *

Mountain View, California Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the population was 82,376 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Mountain V ...

, opened on September 15, 2008, closed April 21, 2009, in the Castro Street space formerly occupied by California Roadhouse. On June 11, 2007, uWink announced its first franchise locations would be opened in the Miami, Florida area via an agreement with OCC Partners, LLC. Under the Area Development Agreement, up to three franchised uWink restaurants were expected to be built in the

Miami-Dade County Miami-Dade County () is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most-populous coun ...

area over the next four years. On June 25, 2007, uWink announced its first

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

with

venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...

firm Jefferson Partners to open uWink locations in Canada. Their first bistro was expected to open in Canada by early spring 2008. During February, 2009, uWink delisted itself from the NASDAQ. During April, 2009, uWink closed its third restaurant in Mountain View, California. uWink blamed the closure on the location's high rent and general difficulties in the American economy. Two restaurants in southern California remained open. In January, 2010, uWink closed its first restaurant in Woodland Hills, California. On September 12, 2010, uWink announced that they were closing all their stores and would be selling their computer services to other food establishments under the name Tapcode.

Legacy

A uWink Eyecom, believed to be an unlaunched model, is held in the collection of

The Centre for Computing History The Centre for Computing History is a computer museum in Cambridge, England, established to create a permanent public exhibition telling the story of the Information Age. Overview The museum acts as a repository for vintage computers and rela ...

in Cambridge, UK.

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

uWink Bistro Detailed Report
– The Stinger Report Companies based in Los Angeles American companies established in 2000 Entertainment companies of the United States Regional restaurant chains in the United States Restaurants in Los Angeles