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RESTAURANT REVIEW
Mars 2112

Elaine Richardson

To enter this restaurant, located near the Lord & Taylor end of Woodfield Mall, you have to go through a gift shop and get on a fake space ship that bumps you around as you take your imaginary trip to Mars. After all that bumping and a trip through the restaurant—done up in red rock, purple chairs and flashing lasers—it's hard to work up the enthusiasm to eat. The food is OK, not great, not terrible—just overpriced. When you've been malling with the kiddies all day, the last thing you want is to pay $18 for medium-level "themed" foods like Crispy Duck Deimosian or the Promethean Pork Chop ("stuffed with a blend of apple and gorgonzola cheese with a Napa Valley red wine and sage jus"). You can't help but suspect that the tasteless $10.95 Olympus Mons Chicken Caesar salad would be cheaper and better at the Cheesecake Factory, while the kid-fave Polar Pizza, just doesn't look worth its $7.95 price tag. Large and juicy, Big Joe's Burger and fries (for $8.95) is probably your best bet—but not worth a special trip.

Woodfield Shopping Center, Schaumburg, (847)885-2112. Mon-Wed 11am-9pm, Thu 11am-6:30pm (club hours 9pm-1am), Fri-Sat 11am-10pm, Sun 11am-8pm. $$/All major CCs.

(2001-05-24)

Also by Elaine Richardson

EVIL DEEDS
"Conspiracy," HBO's look at the secret meeting where the "final solution" was supposedly hammered out, may be one of the most horrifying things I've ever seen.
(2001-05-17)

HOT AIR
This is not an easy program to watch—especially when you see the police photos of all the blood at the crime scene.
(2001-05-17)

FLOAT AWAY
Thankfully, the City of Big Shoulders, in its continual move toward culinary excellence, hasn't forgotten what's important: Summers are hot and people need ice cream. Yes, need. Whether for comfort, cooling (sure, ice water works too, but you can drink that later) or craving, ice cream is a summer staple food and this area offers some of the best.
(2001-05-17)

SWEPT AWAY
Sweeps are the devil. As if every few months a TV exec wakes up and realizes that they can't just promise ratings, they have to deliver and then thinks up every gimmick possible to get Joe Public to flip on their network—and stay there.
(2001-05-03)

PLAY BALL
(2001-04-26)

FRAKENFOOD?
(2001-04-19)

HOT AIR
(2001-04-12)

CASE OF THE X
(2001-04-12)

POOR HOUSE
(2001-04-12)

ON DELIVERY
(2001-04-05)

HOT AIR
(2001-03-29)

THE ART OF WAR
(2001-03-29)



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