Uno Pizzeria & Grill: About Us

Where it all began

Our legend began with a man named Ike Sewell. In 1943, Ike hung a welcome sign on the corner of Ohio Street and Wabash Avenue in Chicago and invited the neighbors in for something good to eat. The neighbors loved the place because Ike was the kind of guy who never had a bad word to say and always remembered his neighbors' names…and their favorite dishes. Ike believed in hospitality…in making new friends. That's just how Ike was. Ike served a pizza unlike any that had been served before. Buttery 'out-of-this-world' crust that had a tall edge like a fruit pie. He created a recipe that combined authentic Italian spices and quality tomatoes with more cheese than people could believe and then baked it for nearly an hour. When people tasted it, they wanted more of the same and the lines have been forming ever since to get into the restaurant. Although we have changed over the past 70+ years, we still believe in genuine hospitality and making our friends comfortable while enjoying great food and beverages .

Our Core Ideology (you know . . . the words we live by)

We still live by Ike's core values….
Genuine Hospitality
We treat our guests as friends. We are real people who genuinely care about our customers, team members, franchise partners, community and environment.
Great Food and Beverage
We serve delicious, wholesome food with high regard for nutrition and, along with a beverage program that complements, enjoy sharing it with our guests.
Warm, Inviting Atmosphere
Our guests are impressed with how comfortable we make them feel…they will tell a friend.
Teaching and Learning
Teaching and Learning is our way of life. We grow stronger as a team when everyone teaches and everyone learns
Fun
Through the environment we create and in everything we do, we make certain we do it right, without excuses…and we have fun doing it .

UNO Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow in 90 seconds

Yesterday

Ike Sewell, a former All-American football player at the University of Texas at Austin and native Texan missed Mexican food and wanted to open Chicago's first authentic Mexican restaurant.

Instead, Ike opened the doors of the first UNO on the corner of Ohio and Wabash streets in downtown Chicago on December 3, 1943.

Ike's second restaurant Pizzeria Due opened in 1955 across the street from Pizzeria UNO.

Ike finally opened his Mexican restaurant in 1963 when he converted the carriage house behind Pizzeria Due into Su Casa.

Today

In 1979, Aaron Spencer opened his first UNO's franchise on Boylston Street in Boston.

From this first franchise, Aaron Spencer has built UNO Restaurant, LLC into the company as we know it today and remains active in operations as Chairman Emeritus.

Taste the history every day. Our Cooks arrive early and get hands-on, making our famous deep dish pizza dough, slicing fresh vegetables, shredding cheese and making our pizza sauce in-house.

UNO Foods, our consumer products division, started in the basement of one of our Boston, MA restaurants in 1988.

UNO Foods has since moved to a USDA certified facility in Brockton, MA where we make hand crafted, UNO-quality products that are sold in over 6,000 grocery and convenience stores and served in hotels, stadiums, airports, schools and movie theaters across the country.

UNO's has built its reputation on deep dish pizza, but offers a diverse menu which includes appetizers, soups, salads, burgers, pastas, specialty items and Chicago Thin Crust.

We installed Nutritional Information Kiosks in all of our restaurants back in 2005 to help guests with allergy and dietary questions/concerns.

We joined the fast casual dining segment of the industry in 2008 with the launch of our UNO Due Go brand - known as UDG. This allows our guests to have fresh, food fast, not fast food.