Pizzeria Uno

Review by: Michael Stern

Uno Pizzeria and Grill is now a nationwide franchise. Here is where it all began, in 1943, when former football star Ike Sewell and restaurateur Ric Riccardo opened Pizzeria Uno. They originally had planned to open a Mexican eatery, but after the place was decorated, they sampled a meal and Riccardo became ill. It is said that he fled to Italy, then finally returned, at which point the partners stripped away Hispanic décor and made their place a pizzeria. They decided that normal pizza, as then served in a handful of Italian restaurants around town, wasn’t hefty enough for Chicago appetites. So they came up the recipe for deep dish.

Cooked in a high-walled round pan, deep dish pizza verges on being a casserole, its crust thick and substantial with a profound crunch, spread out across the pan in reefs and shoals of biscuity breadstuff. It is loaded with mozzarella cheese and chunked tomatoes. Big sheets of fennel-spiked sausage are a common option. As in any pizza parlor, many ingredients are available, including anchovies and broccoli, extra garlic and extra cheese.

Warning: Even on a slow night, you will wait a minimum of forty-five minutes from the time you walk in the door until the pizza arrives at your table. These big circular meals are that thick, and unlike traditional flatbread pizzas, need to be slow-cooked like the savory pies they are.

What To Eat

Sausage pizza

DISH

Pizzeria Uno Recipes

Discuss

What do you think of Pizzeria Uno?

2 Responses to “Pizzeria Uno”

Mike Gordon

July 19th, 2008

I have eaten at Uno’s and its sister store down the street, Duo’s, many, many times. This is Chicago pizza at its finest. Try the large Uno’s with garlic and you will be in pizza heaven. Both locations serve the same quality food and both get packed, so unless you go during an off-hour be prepared to wait for a table. You place your pizza order when you leave your name at the hostess stand, so that speeds it up a little bit but, as the Roadfood.com reviewer said, it takes a good while to actually cook the pie so don’t be surprised if it takes an additional 45 minutes once you sit down at your table.

The only negative I have about it is that the tables and booths are very small and they pack you in like a sardine. The waitstaff has also been known to be less then attentive but I will put up with anything for this pizza. It’s that good!

Reply

Warren Corson

January 2nd, 2005

I was in Chicago for a work related seminar and definately had to try this Uno’s after reading Roadfood. With all due respect to Jane and Michael, who’s opinions I greatly value, I just didn’t think it was anything to jump up and down about.

I sat at the bar, and must admit the atmosphere in the place is great. Like a great old city tavern. Chicago has such great character. I ordered the individual sausage pie. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I can honestly say the pizza was no better than at any Uno’s I’ve ever visited. The crust was kind of dry and hard; not worth eating on it’s own like it usually is at Uno’s. The sausage was good, nicely flavored, but otherwise it was a very boring pizza, certainly not one of Chicago’s finest.

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