PIZZA MEETING #48 Pizzeria UNO (River North) 29 E Ohio St (@ N Wabash) Parking: Meters, Discounted Garage CTA Trains: Grand-Red 0.08 mi, Brown Purple Merchandise Mart 0.44 mi, Brown Green Orange Pink Purple State/Lake 0.47 mi CTA Busses: 2, 3, 10, 22, 26, 29, 36, 37, 65, 66, 120, 121, 125, 143, 146, 147, 148, 151, 156, 157, 850, 851, 855 The first Unos was established in 1943 by former University of Texas football star Ike Sewell and his friend, former World War II G.I. Ric Riccardo, in the River North neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Sewell originally intended to open a Mexican restaurant because there wasnt a really decent Mexican restaurant in Chicago then. While Sewell and Riccardo are known as the owners of the original restaurant, a 1956 article from the Chicago Daily News asserts that the original deep-dish pizza recipe was created by chef Rudy Malnati Sr., the father of Lou Malnati.[citation needed] Pizzeria Uno claims to have originated the deep dish pizza. Sewell opened two additional restaurants in response to Pizzeria Unos popularity. Pizzeria Due opened one block north of the original Pizzeria Uno location in 1955. (Uno is Italian for one, due for two.) This was followed by the launch of Su Casa, an upscale Mexican restaurant, in 1965. Su Casa is located adjacent to Pizzeria Due. Ike Sewell first franchised the name and concept of the restaurant to the Uno Restaurant Holdings Corporation in 1979. Beginning with four restaurants in Massachusetts, the chain rapidly expanded over the next decade. After Ike Sewells death in 1990, his widow Florence sold the original properties (Uno, Due, and Su Casa) to the Boston-based corporation. CEO Aaron Spencer promised not to tamper with pizza at the original locations. Ironically, the restaurant chain does not have a major presence in the Chicago Metropolitan Area, with only two locations in the region excluding the original Uno, Due, and Su Casa restaurants in River North. As of 2011, Massachusetts, with 29, had the most Uno restaurants. The company began franchising in 1980. As of 2014 the company has 140 Uno Pizzeria & Grill restaurants located in 24 U.S. states. Some regions have been more favorable to Uno than others. The East Coast/Midwest region continues to see growth. However, despite an aggressive push into the Southern and Western markets in the 1990s, those gains were greatly reduced as many locations closed. Franchises are also located in Puerto Rico, Honduras, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Pakistan. In addition to the traditional Uno restaurants, Uno offers a limited menu (mostly its pizzas) at stadiums, service plazas, and airports. Uno-branded pizzas, both thin-crust and deep-dish, are available in both fresh and frozen forms in many US supermarkets. In 1997, Pizzeria Uno changed its name to Pizzeria Uno, Chicago Bar & Grill; it later simplified the name to Uno Chicago Grill.
Posted on: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 17:39:51 +0000
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