Pizzeria Uno.. (Chicago, Lisle: living, places to eat, suburban)

[Gramercy]

My first deep dish pizza was Uno's and it was bought at a supermarket in CT. It wasn't in the regular frozen food aisle, but in the more sort of "upscale" area where they put the "better" convenience foods. That's how it was viewed then. This was several years ago. Over the years, I ate at the NE area Uno's and just assumed at the time it was a US chain. I didn't pay much attention until my first trip to Chicago when I learned the original spot was actually a big deal and it wasn't like the other Uno's. I still love the chain as I'm in NYC and I love deep dish pizza. I get my fix when I'm in Chicago, which is frequently, but I like to try other places as well.

[baileyvpotter]

Even though I was born and raised in Chicago, it wasn't until I was a teenager did I have a deep dish
at Uno's. Even though there are some other good deep dish places, I always enjoy Uno's. Someone
mentioned frozen pizza, well there is also Gino's (small size) in many areas. It's pretty good if you have
a craving where Chicago deep dish is not available.
History Uno's company profile.

Uno Restaurant Holdings Corporation Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on Uno Restaurant Holdings Corporation

[Drover]

Originally Posted by MassVt

After reading numerous conversations about Chicago deep dish pizza, I thought I'd look at Pizzeria Uno's website, and check the various locations.

A bit surprising. Uno's is a chain, but not really a national chain, at all. It's heavily tilted towards the eastern seaboard, with 27 locations within Mass alone , and 23 more in New York. Chicago, and Illinois, have only 4, total. There are no Uno's franchises on the Great Plains, a couple in the Rockies, and only a few south of Virginia. The enormous states of Texas and California have 3, combined, and there are none in LA, SF, SD, Portland or Seattle. Nothing in St. Louis, Kansas City, Minneapolis or Cleveland.

I know that Chicago has other deep dish options, but still surprised that this chain has only 2 in Chicago ( on the same block), one out in Schaumberg, and one up in Gurnee, near the WI border..

And here I though that Uno's was everywhere, as it is in Boston..

The only "real" Uno locations are the Uno and Due in River North. The rest are owned by a different company that licenses the name "Uno Chicago Grill," and they are universally terrible. BTW I believe the company that owns the fake chain is based in the Boston area which would explain why there are so many in your area. The fact that they're universally terrible would also explain why there are so few here, since we know better than to eat that schlock. Kinda like the Denver-based Old Chicago pizza chain only dared to put one location in the Chicago area, which subsequently closed.

The Old Chicago folks are also responsible for foisting the Rock Bottom brewpub chain on the nation.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by steeps

Contrary to popular belief.... Chicago Deep Dish Pizza is really not common in the cities neighborhoods. A Thin but CHRISPY crust pizza that is cut into small squares is. Some might call a party-cut style? Though there are some neighborhood Pizzerias that advertise Chicago-Style.

Pretty much any mom-and-pop pizza joint here offers deep-dish or stuffed, even if it's only 10% of their business volume. So yeah, it's widely available in the outer neighborhoods too, even if it's not "common."

[Chuckity]

I grew up writing on Uno's walls a couple of times a month ... loved that place.

But they knocked down the Uno's in Merrillville in favor of a Chick-fil-a ... I still haven't gotten over it.

Bastards.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by Drover

The only "real" Uno locations are the Uno and Due in River North. The rest are owned by a different company that licenses the name "Uno Chicago Grill," and they are universally terrible. BTW I believe the company that owns the fake chain is based in the Boston area which would explain why there are so many in your area. The fact that they're universally terrible would also explain why there are so few here, since we know better than to eat that schlock. Kinda like the Denver-based Old Chicago pizza chain only dared to put one location in the Chicago area, which subsequently closed.

The Old Chicago folks are also responsible for foisting the Rock Bottom brewpub chain on the nation.

bailyvpotter's link lays out the details that debunk the above falsehoods --

1943:
Ike Sewell and Ric Riccardo open Pizzeria Uno in Chicago.
1955:
A second restaurant, named Pizzeria Due, is opened.
1965:
Sewell opens a third restaurant in Chicago, an upscale Mexican restaurant named Su Casa.
1979:
Aaron Spencer signs a full franchise deal with Sewell and creates a company (Pizzeria Uno) to manage his own restaurants in Boston and Uno Restaurants, Inc. to manage all other franchised units.
...

1992:
Uno Restaurant Corp. acquires all of the outstanding shares of the three original restaurants in Chicago.

...


Read more: Uno Restaurant Holdings Corporation Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on Uno Restaurant Holdings Corporation

[nana053]

Uno just came to the Houston area in The Woodlands. It's too far for me to bother with. I am waiting for Giordano's and hoping they will come to the Galleria area which is much closer to me. I much prefer Giordano to either Uno or Due, but I also have found that Uno in other cities is just not as good as the Chicago downtown location.

[via chicago]

Originally Posted by Drover

Pretty much any mom-and-pop pizza joint here offers deep-dish or stuffed, even if it's only 10% of their business volume. So yeah, it's widely available in the outer neighborhoods too, even if it's not "common."

Quite honestly, i think its much harder to find a good bar style crust these days. im talking about something in the vein of Vito and Nicks or Villa Nova. Theres a handful of places that specialize in it, but depending on what neighborhood youre in its quite possible theres no-one nearby that does it well. Show me a place on the north side in the vein of those two (hint: Ive tried and not found one)

Furthermore, any perusal of a "best of" list will demonstrate that we live in a city where you can get almost any style of pizza done pretty well and the notion that the entire city either eats cracker crust or deep dish is extremely antiquated. The average Chicagoan is just as likely to get Neopolitan (Coalfire/Spacca Napoli/Apart), New Haven (Piece), NY Style (Dantes/Jimmys), or pan pizza (Freddys)...or some variation on all of those.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by via chicago

Quite honestly, i think its much harder to find a good bar style crust these days. im talking about something in the vein of Vito and Nicks or Villa Nova. Theres a handful of places that specialize in it, but depending on what neighborhood youre in its quite possible theres no-one nearby that does it well. Show me a place on the north side in the vein of those two (hint: Ive tried and not found one)

Furthermore, any perusal of a "best of" list will demonstrate that we live in a city where you can get almost any style of pizza done pretty well and the notion that the entire city either eats cracker crust or deep dish is extremely antiquated. The average Chicagoan is just as likely to get Neopolitan (Coalfire/Spacca Napoli/Apart), New Haven (Piece), NY Style (Dantes/Jimmys), or pan pizza (Freddys)...or some variation on all of those.

I suspect that the data from any of the "pizza industry publications" would show that, given the dominance of non-deep dish chains and local places (that include a whole spectrum of thin-ish crusts, from more "pub-style" joints like Fox's to the pizza specialists like Home Run Inn or Beggars or whatever that there are truly far more tons of "Chicago style non-deep dish" consumed than anything else.

Further the relative success of places like Lou Malnatti, Giordanos, Superrosa, Edwardos, Connies, Gino's East and other locally dominant chains would almost certainly confirm that the "average Chicagoan" is far more likely to be eating thousands of pounds more deep dish than any "non local speciality pizza" be that some authentically Italian version or an other "US regional speciality"which except for a few relatively affluent Chicago neighborhoods where outsiders are common just have no native following...

[rzzzz]

probably more Lil Ceaser's HOT 'N' READYs are eaten in Chicagoland than either deep dish or coal fired neapolitan