I was invited to try out a new restaurant within Fashion Valley called Stacked a few weeks ago and I’m finally getting around to the review! Stacked restaurants are the first ever, fully integrated restaurant experience based on the iPad. Jake’s kids loved this place, simply because of the iPad. The iPad allows you to be in complete control of your meal.
The CEO of the company sat with us and went over exactly how to use the menu, what some options were and showed us some photos of a few creations that other guests had created.
You get a visualization of what you’re ordering and the ability to control things just the way you want it. You can put sauces on the side, choose your toppings, buns, types of meat – everything is in your hands! The other cool thing about this setup is that you pay for exactly what you order.
Only want meat on a bun? It’ll be under $6 and vary depending on whether you pick beef, chicken, turkey, etc. Want to add lettuce? It’ll cost an additional $0.02 cents. Every item has it’s own price and so the price of your sandwiches will vary, depending on what toppings you put on.
Another good idea is to order drinks right when you sit down so they come out first. You order when you’re ready for your next course and the items come out of the kitchen shortly after ordering (they aim for getting orders out in 10 minutes or less).
We decided on having a round of appetizers first. We got the Chili Cheese Fries, as is, with some sauces on the side. The fries were my least favorite part of the meal – they weren’t crunchy or crispy and were very limp fries. The chili was just okay and the cheese quickly hardened into a tough, cheesy mess.
These Homemade Potato Chips were much better though. They weren’t hot, so I suspect they were made earlier in the day. They had a nice, good crunch and paired really well with some ranch. You can totally order these on a sandwich as a topping.
Onion Strings. My favorite! I always love the sweetness and crunch of a good onion strings and these were no exception.
Jake wanted us to try a few things even though I knew there was no possible way we could eat all of this food, but oh boy did we give it the old college try. We got this little pizza to share. We started with the Cheese Pizza (Mozzarella Cheese / Asiago Cheese / Feta Cheese/ Fresh Parmesan Cheese, no tomato sauce) and added pesto, bacon and garlic to the pizza. It came out pipping out and delicious looking… and then we made a boo-boo.
Jake will say that it was out fault, but I still feel that I was mostly to blame for knocking a whole soda over onto the freshly made pizza. I felt so bad since we hadn’t taken one bite and suddenly had ice and soda all over the pizza plate.
The CEO had just come by to check on us and then had a server clear the ruined pizza and ice cubes and had another pizza ordered and brought out to us. I joked that we were “testing their servers” that day with my clumsy antics.
When we got the pizza again, we all had bites – and it was quite good. The crust was decent and the amount of cheeses were good, though I’d probably leave off the feta in future pizzas as it was a bit of a sharp flavor within the pizza.
We also split a couple of plain sausages just to try them: Basil & Pesto Chicken Sausage with the Pork Andouille in the background. Good flavor on the sausages. The Andouille was a little spicy. Jake’s son, T, thought it was very spicy and wouldn’t eat it. I had a bit and didn’t think it was super spicy, but I could see it getting spicier with each bite.
T’s pulled pork sandwich.
My burger with lot’s of onion strings! Jake’s looks almost exactly like mine, except he got the pretzel bun the first time. I really like that you can customize and pay for exactly what you get. The burgers themselves were cooked the way you specify. Jake gave me a bite of his pretzel bun and I loved it, immediately jealous that I also did not get it.
I fixed that on our second visit though; this is my Chicken Sandwich with pretzel bun from the 2nd time we went. I love the pretzel bun because it’s got a really good chew to it. The outside tastes much like a soft pretzel – chewy with a good bite. They also grill the edges so it’s got the perfect crunch to it. Pretzel bun is the way to go here!
I didn’t put Jake’s burger here because it just looks like another burger with a huge stack of onion strings. If you can’t tell, we really like onion strings around here.
Back to first visit foods! I got a pretty little salad. I thought it was cool to pick my own toppings. They have so many different toppings to choose from, it may seem daunting at first. They do have “pre-stacked” items though if the choices are too much for you. I did a simple salad of mixed greens, carrots, tomatoes, blue cheese, onions, chives, and croutons. I also got a couple of different dressings on the side to choose which I liked (I ended up with ranch). The salad was very fresh and I enjoyed a few bites of it (among the many other things we had).
Dessert time! They have cookies and ice cream here – which can translate into having plain cookies, ice cream sandwiches, ice creams and shakes.
I opted to make my own ice cream sandwich and made it with two different cookies – Peanut Butter Reese’s Pieces cookie and a Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookie with Fudge Swirl ice cream. It was delicious.
Jake and T got milkshakes – Jake got a strawberry one and T got a “pre-stacked” one the “Caramel Apple Pie” with Apple Pie, Caramel, and Whipped Cream. It tasted just like an apple pie, but in milkshake form!
The moment Jake told his other two kids about this place, they wanted to go, which was why we visited again very soon after our first visit. They really loved it as well – totally enamored by using the iPad to order and being able to make their own creations. I can very much see us coming back for future visits and think that this is a totally unique idea for a restaurant!
I was invited for a complimentary preview for Stacked. Our first meal was entirely paid for. All opinions are my own. Thanks to Barbara of Caruso Communications for setting up the preview and to Stacked for accommodating us for this great meal!
Stacked
(inside Fashion Valley)
7007 Friars Road
San Diego, CA 92108
619-225-7900
I’ve been having my eye on this place wanting to try it out. It seems like a better concept than The Counter and the food looks (and sounds) much better with a wider variety. Did you find that it took longer for the food to be delivered since everything was customized?
I keep hearing good things about their burgers, and of course I want to play with the iPad ordering. And, I want a pretzel bun.
So, do you order the appetizer and then order your burger when you’re halfway through the first course? It seems like you’d end up waiting quite a bit if you finish one course before ordering the next. It IS kind of cool, though, that you can pace your meal however you want.
Hi Darlene! I like this place better than the Counter. It ran much more smoothly than our visit to the Counter with no mistaken orders! The food did not take very long to come out, it was actually a good turn around time. Probably 10 minutes or less after ordering.
Hi Leanne! The pretzel bun is so good! I had my doubts, but after trying it I was pretty convinced of its greatness. To get the timing down, you would probably order your burgers halfway through appetizers, or whenever you’re ready to eat. Didn’t take very long for us to get our food, but I’m sure that varies depending on the crowd. It’s nice that you get to decide the pace.
Sounds quite cool – my daughter would love playing with the iPad but for a techtard like me, not so much, heh heh. if only fashion valley weren’t such a B%^&H to get to. Those onion strings are calling my name!
Hello! Love your blog as I am a foodie and newbie blogger! Funny story – I clicked on the “Stacked” link while I was at work and our sever blocked the webpage due to “pornographic/explicit content.” Hehe. “Stacked.” Regardless, I look forward to trying it out! Thanks for your thorough review!
Hi CC – I guarantee your daughter would love the iPad. Yeah, Fashion Valley is a bitch. We bowed down to the man and paid to park in the garage right across from the restaurant.
Hi Tiffany – Thanks for stopping by! That is funny about the webpage blockage… silly censors!