type private industry restaurants founded chicago illinois u.s. 1943 ; 73 years ago 1943 founders ike sewell g.i. ric riccardo headquarters boston massachusetts u.s. parent uno restaurant holdings corporation website unos.com uno restaurant revere massachusetts night view uno pizzeria & grill formerly pizzeria uno and uno chicago grill or more informally as unos is the title for a franchised pizzeria restaurant chain under the parent company uno restaurant holdings corporation . ike sewell opened the first pizzeria uno in 1943 . contents 1 history 1.1 founding and original locations 1.2 franchising and expansion 1.3 format changes 1.4 thinzettas controversy 1.5 bankruptcy 1.6 uno due go 2 see also 3 references 4 external links history edit founding and original locations edit pizzeria uno and due one block apart . the first uno s 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 . 1 sewell originally intended to open a mexican restaurant because there wasn t a really decent mexican restaurant in chicago then . 2 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 uno s popularity . pizzeria due opened one block north of the original pizzeria uno location in 1955 uno and due are italian for one and two . this was followed by the launch of su casa an upscale mexican restaurant in 1965 . su casa is located adjacent to pizzeria due . 3 franchising and expansion edit the interior of the pizzeria uno in harmon meadow plaza in secaucus new jersey . ike sewell first franchised the name and concept of the restaurant to the uno restaurant holdings corporation in 1978 in the boston area . 4 beginning with four restaurants in massachusetts the chain rapidly expanded over the next decade . after ike sewell s 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 . 5 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 december 2014 massachusetts with 27 had the most uno restaurants . the company began franchising in 1980 . 6 as of 2014 update 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 . entrepreneur magazine ranked it 174th in 2003 and 252nd in 2006 in the magazine s list of the top 500 franchises . in november 2009 the company announced that after a successful pilot of uno express which offers fast food it will open at least 160 new uno express locations throughout 2010 into 2011 . 7 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 . format changes edit chicago style deep dish pizza from the original pizzeria uno location . starting in 1994 8 uno s broadened its menu to encompass other dishes . uno s kitchens were updated adding saut stations grills and fryers and the company invested heavily in training . 1 8 in 1996 the franchise s beverage list was expanded and by 1999 so was the portion size reflecting a trend seen in the industry where customers are buying fewer but larger drinks . 8 new locations were larger and featured a chicago warehouse look . 1 8 in 1997 pizzeria uno changed its name to pizzeria uno chicago bar & grill ; it later simplified the name to uno chicago grill . the menu updated again in 2005 still includes several of the restaurant s traditional specialties particularly its deep dish pizza . 1 in the tradition of chicago s speakeasies more attention is paid to the bar . uno s drink list features a dozen wines and a number of specialty drinks including frozen mixed and nonalcoholic options . 1 the expanded menu and format changes were not made at the company s original chicago locations pizzeria uno and pizzeria due . 9 thinzettas controversy edit a complaint filed in april 1997 by the federal trade commission ftc alleged unfair or deceptive acts or practices and the making of false advertisements . 10 the complaint quoted examples in which uno s thinzettas were characterized as being low in fat . the ftc s complaint stated in most cases respondents thinzettas thin crust pizzas are not low in fat . six out of nine types of thinzettas thin crust pizzas contained from 14 to 36 grams of fat per serving at the time of dissemination of the advertisements . 10 the complaint was resolved by a consent order 11 which required them to cease this practice and for 20 years maintain records about their advertisements and materials relied upon for the claims in their ads . the company must also keep tests reports studies surveys demonstrations or other evidence that contradict qualify or call into question the representations made in their ads . 11 bankruptcy edit uno restaurant holdings corp. closed 16 of its restaurants and filed for chapter 11 protection on january 20 2010 . 12 13 the company s initial stated intention at the time of the bankruptcy filing was to convert 142 million of senior secured notes due 2011 into the new equity of the company after emergence from chapter 11 . 14 it emerged from bankruptcy on july 26 2010 after restructuring to eliminate 14.2 million in annual interest payments and reduce total debt from 176.3 million to 40 million . 15 uno due go edit the company launched a fast casual spinoff called uno due go in 2008 . the new restaurant chain features pizza sandwiches salads and bakery items . 16 there were four locations as of april 15 2016 mostly in airports and universities with one in downtown boston 17 compared to more than 140 locations for the traditional pizzeria uno restaurants . 18 see also edit companies portal list of pizza chains of the united states references edit a b c d e official website s history and timeline paul galloway 1986 01 08 . a half baked story on how deep dish pizza was created in chicago . chicago tribune . p. 3 . uno restaurant holdings corporation . referenceforbusiness.com . retrieved 20 may 2015 . the origins of chicago style deep dish pizza phil vettel restaurant critic 1993 04 16 . at 50 uno dishes a deep slice of chicago history . chicago tribune . p. 48 . franchise zone description from the entrepreneur magazine website . uno is bullish on new uno express format . boston.com . november 10 2009 . a b c d bigger is better at pizzeria uno a may 2000 article from cheers magazine pizzeria uno goes schizophrenic a december 2005 post to the chicagoist blog a b docket no . c 3730 from the federal trade commission ftc website a b file no. 962 3150 from the ftc website u.s. bankruptcy court for the southern district of new york case no. 10 10209 . uno restaurant holdings corp. voluntary petition pdf . pacermonitor . pacermonitor . retrieved 7 june 2016 . uno files bankruptcy uno chicago grill parent co. emerges from bankruptcy . the boston globe . july 26 2010 . teresa gubbins . pizzeria uno spinoff uno du go set to open in plano . culturemap dallas . retrieved 20 may 2015 . uno due go locations . unoduego.com . retrieved 15 april 2016 . about uno pizzeria & grill pizzeria uno site accessed october 13 2014 external links edit official website v t e pizza chains list international boston pizza california pizza kitchen chuck e. cheese s domino s pizza little caesars papa john s pizza pizza hut pizza inn pizzaexpress rossopomodoro sbarro shakey s pizza sarpino s pizzeria telepizza the pizza company uno pizzeria & grill vapiano yellow cab pizza co. regional asia origus cn aoki s pizza jp greenwich pizza ph mr. pizza kr smokin joe s in pizza corner in pizza la jp europe ask restaurant uk easypizza uk kotipizza fi peppes pizza no prezzo restaurant uk speed rabbit pizza fr spizzico it tops pizza uk zizzi uk north america anthony s pizza aafes benedetti s pizza mx blaze pizza us cici s pizza us donatos pizza us fox s pizza den us gatti s pizza us giordano s us godfather s pizza us greco pizza restaurant ca happy s pizza us home run inn us hot lips pizza us hungry howie s pizza us hunt brothers pizza us imo s pizza us jerry s subs & pizza us jet s pizza us ledo pizza us lou malnati s us marco s pizza us mazzio s us mellow mushroom us mountain mike s pizza us noble roman s us panago ca papa gino s us papa murphy s us peter piper pizza us pizza 73 ca pizza delight ca pizza haven us pizza nova ca pizza patr n us pizza pizza ca pizza ranch us rosati s us round table pizza us south america jeno s pizza co mario s tt mister pizza br oceania eagle boys au hell pizza nz pizza capers au pizza haven au master franchisees domino s pizza enterprises au be fr mc nl nz domino s pizza group ch de ie uk jubilant foodworks domino s bd in lk np list articles list of canadian pizza chains list of pizza chains of the united states list of pizza franchises retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title uno chicago grill & oldid 743328306 categories companies based in bostoncompanies that have filed for chapter 11 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