Uno Chicago Grill
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Uno Chicago Grill, formerly known as Pizzeria Uno or more informally as Uno's, is a loosely-franchised pizzeria restaurant chain credited<ref>American Pie, an April/May 2006 article from American Heritage</ref> with creating Chicago-style pizza. The first Uno's was established in 1943 by former University of Texas football star Ike Sewell in the River North neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois<ref name="official">Official website's history and timeline</ref>. Sewell opened a second location (called Pizzeria Due) in the same area twelve years later to handle overflow from the original restaurant. Today the corporation is based in Boston, Massachusetts. Ironically, the restaurant chain does not have a major presence in Chicagoland, with only four locations in the region excluding the original Uno and Due restaurants in River North.
The company began franchising in 1980<ref name="enterp">Franchise Zone description from the Entrepreneur magazine website.</ref> As of 2005 the chain has 216 restaurants, with 85 franchises and 128 company-owned restaurants in 32 U.S. states. Three additional franchises are located in Puerto Rico, South Korea, 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 addition to the traditional Uno restaurants, Uno offers a limited menu (predominately their pizzas) at service plazas and airports.
Contents |
[edit] Format changes
Starting in 1994<ref name="cheers">Bigger is Better at Pizzeria Uno, a May 2000 article from Cheers magazine</ref>, Uno broadened its menu to encompass other dishes. Uno's kitchens were updated, adding sauté stations, grills and fryers, and invested heavily in training<ref name="cheers" /><ref name="official" />.
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<ref name="cheers" />. New locations were larger and featured a "Chicago warehouse" look.<ref name="cheers" /><ref name="official" />.
In 1997, Pizzeria Uno changed its name to Pizzeria Uno...Chicago Bar & Grill; it later[citation needed] 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<ref name="official" />. In the tradition of Chicago's speakeasies, more attention is being paid to the bar. Uno's drink list features a dozen wines and a number of specialty drinks, including frozen, mixed and nonalcoholic options<ref name="official" />.
The expanded menu and format changes were not made at the company's original downtown Chicago locations (Pizzeria Uno and Pizzeria Due)<ref>Pizzeria Uno Goes Schizophrenic, a December 2005 post to the Chicagoist blog</ref>.
[edit] Thinzettas
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"<ref name="complaint">Docket No. C-3730, from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) website</ref>. The complaint quoted examples where 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<ref name="complaint" />.
The complaint was resolved by a consent order<ref name="consent">File No. 962 3150 from the FTC website</ref> which required them to stop the practice, and for 20 years maintain records about their advertisements and "materials relied upon" for the claims in their ads; they must also keep "tests, reports, studies, surveys, demonstrations, or other evidence" that "contradict, qualify, or call into question" the representations made in their ads.<ref name="consent" />
[edit] Franchising
Uno Chicago Grill has franchised restaurants outside the Americas in Lahore, Pakistan - Dubai, U.A.E and Seoul, South Korea. Amongst them, the first one was opened in Pakistan.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
<references />
