# UNO Restaurants, LLC

> UNO Restaurants, LLC operates and franchises UNO Pizzeria & Grill, the restaurant brand descended from the Chicago pizzeria that opened in 1943 and made deep dish a national category. From its Norwood, Massachusetts base, the company sells dine-in, takeout, delivery, catering, loyalty, cooking-class and fundraising experiences while pursuing flexible franchise formats, including hotel conversions. Its defining asset is not menu breadth but a specific piece of food history: fresh dough formed into a tall-edged pie, layered with cheese and finished with tomato sauce.

- **Founded:** 1943
- **Headquarters:** Norwood, Massachusetts, United States
- **Founders:** Ike Sewell (Co-founder), Ric Riccardo (Co-founder)
- **Team size:** Approximately 2,500 employees reported for 2021; current headcount is not publicly confirmed.
- **Products:** Chicago Deep Dish Pizza, Pizzeria Uno Restaurants, Franchise Program, UNO Extras, Catering and Group Sales
- **Notable:** Opened the original Pizzeria Uno in Chicago in 1943, the restaurant most closely associated with the commercial birth of Chicago-style deep dish., Began franchising in 1980 and opened its 100th restaurant in 1992 and 200th in 2003, according to the company's historical press kit., Chicago proclaimed October 4, 2003 as Uno Day for deep dish pizza's 60th anniversary, according to UNO's press kit.

## Products & services

- **Chicago Deep Dish Pizza** — The signature tall-crust pizza associated with the original Chicago restaurant, made with fresh dough, cheese beneath the tomato sauce and a long bake.
- **Pizzeria Uno Restaurants** — Full-service and franchised neighborhood restaurants serving deep dish, Chicago thin crust, appetizers, salads, pasta, burgers, sandwiches, desserts, cocktails and beer.
- **Franchise Program** — Restaurant ownership models spanning full service, hotel conversion and takeout-and-delivery footprints, supported by training, technology, menu development and operations guidance.
- **UNO Extras** — A customer loyalty program that rewards repeat dining and ordering with offers, including a free-pizza promotion for members.
- **Catering and Group Sales** — Family-style meals, plated options, boxed meals, pizza-and-wing packages and group service for gatherings, generally including options for larger parties.
- **Deep Dish Cooking Classes** — Ticketed and private classes where guests make dough, build an individual deep-dish pizza and learn Chicago pizza history.
- **Dough Rai$ers** — Community fundraising events through which participating UNO restaurants donate up to 20% of event sales to eligible organizations.
- **Online Ordering, Takeout and Delivery** — Digital ordering and off-premise service, including takeout-focused deals and smaller-footprint franchise concepts.

## Achievements

- Opened the original Pizzeria Uno in Chicago in 1943, the restaurant most closely associated with the commercial birth of Chicago-style deep dish.
- Began franchising in 1980 and opened its 100th restaurant in 1992 and 200th in 2003, according to the company's historical press kit.
- Chicago proclaimed October 4, 2003 as Uno Day for deep dish pizza's 60th anniversary, according to UNO's press kit.
- Health magazine named Uno Chicago Grill the Healthiest Chain Restaurant in America in 2008, according to UNO's press kit.
- USA Today readers selected Pizzeria Uno and Pizzeria Due as the best Chicago-style pizza in Illinois in a 2019 reader vote.
- Changed its company-wide drinking-straw policy in 2019 after receiving persuasive essays from a fourth-grade class in Wallingford, Connecticut.
- Added five franchise locations in 2022 while developing hotel-conversion and smaller off-premise formats.

## Latest updates

- **2026-01** — Rich Products announced an agreement to acquire Great Kitchens Food Company, the separate manufacturer that acquired Uno Foods in 2023; the transaction affects the retail frozen-product platform rather than UNO Restaurants' restaurant ownership.
- **2025-08** — UNO published an updated group-sales menu featuring family-style packages, boxed meals and group deep-dish cooking classes, with gluten-free, vegan and dairy-free options noted.
- **2023-03** — UNO agreed to sell Uno Foods to Great Kitchens, describing the deal as a way to focus on franchise growth and hotel-restaurant conversions.
- **2023-01** — Leadership described a smaller, pizza-led menu and locally themed restaurants as core pieces of UNO's renewed franchise strategy.

## Links

- Website: https://unos.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uno-chicago-grill
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/UnoChicagoGrill
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unopizzeriaandgrill/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UnoPizzeriaandGrill/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@unopizzeriaandgrill

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/uno-restaurants-llc
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-13