Uno Chicago Grill
www.unos.com
5/09
Uno's serve GF pizza in Cheese & Tomato, Pepperoni and a Veggie option (mushrooms, onions, peppers). Uno's Gluten-Free Menu includes many other GF menu items as well and is available on both their website and at the restaurant.
Uno's is a casual dining restaurant that started out as a Pizzeria but in the mid 1990's broadened it's concept to encompass much more.
San Diego (Fashion Valley)
7007 Friars Rd., Ste. 356
San Diego 92108
619-298-1866
PRESS RELEASE: BOSTON, Jan. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Following a highly
successful market test, Uno Chicago Grill(R) will offer its new, gluten-free
pizza nationally. Uno(R) is the first national casual dining chain to offer a
gluten-free pizza and received very positive feedback from guests who suffer
from celiac disease, which affects approximately one percent of the population.
In fact, word-of-mouth reaction from the gluten-free community during the
northeastern market test prompted the company to advance the timetable for
a national rollout.
"Food allergies are a very serious, sometimes life-threatening, issue for
many
Americans," notes Uno CEO Frank Guidara. "Pizza is our signature product,
and
we wanted to offer a gluten-free pizza so all of our guests could enjoy it when
dining at Uno."
"Consumer reaction was so positive in the gluten-free community that our restaurants began receiving requests to carry the new pizza," noted Richard
Hendrie, senior vice president, marketing, Uno Chicago Grill. "Because the
demand was so strong, we decided to pull out all the stops to get the gluten-free pizza into our 200-plus locations as quickly as possible."
Recently lauded as America's Healthiest Chain Restaurant, Uno has added gluten-free cheese and pepperoni pizzas to what is already one of the most
extensive gluten-free menus available for a casual dining chain. This is
good
news to the estimated three million Americans diagnosed with celiac disease,
as well as an additional seven million Americans who have a wheat intolerance
or allergy and rely on gluten-free foods. While awareness of celiac disease is
rising, an estimated 97 percent of those who have it remain undiagnosed.
Guidara explained that it took over a year of research and development to
find
just the right recipe for a brand that is known for its iconic pizza. "While we
want to meet the needs of guests with allergies, we never forget that we
are
about great taste and choice, and that means developing new dishes that are
healthful without sacrificing great flavor."
Uno Chicago Grill works closely with its Nutrition Advisory Board, which
meets
quarterly to discuss trends and solutions to improve the quality and nutritional
value of its menu. Guidara oversees the Advisory Board and brings his
expertise as a member of the Harvard School of Public Health Nutrition Roundtable.
According to the Gluten Intolerance Group, surveys show that about 15 to
25
percent of consumers report looking for gluten-free products, far more than
need to.
Uno boasts a number of healthy firsts, including being the first national
restaurant chain to eliminate artificial trans-fats and to increase menu
and
nutritional transparency via nutrition information centers located in their
restaurants. The company's gluten-free menu has 20 items ranging from
entrees, salads, sides and desserts. For guest convenience and safety, Uno
clearly labels menu items with ingredients that are linked to the most common
food allergies, such as fish/shellfish, soy, tree nuts/peanuts, egg, milk
and
wheat/gluten. Diners can also preview the menu and nutritional information
online via the company's website at http://www.unos.com/.
Mel from Encinitas, 10/09
"We tried Pizzeria Unos today and I got the gluten-free veggie pizza. They have a separate menu for gluten-free that the hostess will give you instead of the normal menu. The gluten-free menu does not include any lunch specials so the prices are the same regardless of time of day you are dining. The menu is available on their Unos website. The waitress was nice and the atmosphere fun. My pizza arrived on a large white ceramic plate. It was fine. I did not get sick. With tax, my pizza was $12.50 plus tip. My son loves to eat there so I will be back; but next time, I think I will try one of their burgers or steaks or salads."
Diane in Maryland to Celiac Listserv 5/09
"After being pizza-free for six years, I can't tell you how
thrilled I was to be ordering pizza again at a restaurant. The first
time, I ate it happily, but couldn't help noticing it was too light on
the sauce, which made it dry. I sent an email to the company thanking
them profusely for offering GF pizza, and also asked them if I could
request more sauce. They replied that I absolutely could, since they
simply open up a new (therefore uncontaminated) jar of their normal
sauce to make the GF pizza. I've visited three more times and
discovered what works best for me is to request a side dish with sauce
from a new jar. This way I can dip my slices in the sauce. I will warn
you that the wait staff have been strictly trained to say they cannot
alter any GF offerings. But when I mention the response from their
corporate office, each time they were more than willing to check with
the kitchen and have always come back with my extra sauce. Just a bit
of work on my part to enjoy pizza out with my family! Uno's also offers
a GF beer. I don't drink beer at all, but one of the servers offered it
to me when I ordered the GF pizza. Kudos to Uno's for taking care of
those with Celiac disease!"
Debbie Toon, Encinitas, 3/09
See a review on Debbie's blog "glutenfreeinsandiego.blogspot".
