The first Uno Chicago Grill was opened in 1943 by Ike Sewell and his friend Rick Ricardo.  Ike was a former University of Texas football start and Rick was a former World War II G.I.  They opened the first location in the River North neighborhood of Chicago.  They originally intended to open a Mexican restaurant, but that is not what Uno Chicago Grill ended up.  The original recipe used by Uno Chicago Grill is credited to Chef Rudy Malniti and the pizzeria claims to have originated the deep dish pizza.  They opened two additional locations, one in 1955 and one in 1965.  There are currently 150 locations in 24 different states including Puerto Rico, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, Honduras, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.  They are still privately owned to this day.

Uno Chicago Grill menu was reintroduced in 2005.  They offer a new and intense group of flavors that the history was originally based on.  They still feature many of the Uno Chicago Grill specialties like the world-class Deep Dish Pizza and many signature dishes that were very popular on the old menu.  The new menu features more wines, specialty drinks, frozen drinks, nonalcoholic options, and appetizers as well.  This menu features pastas, burgers, sandwiches, steaks, seafood, and, of course, pizzas.

There are three unique Uno Chicago Grill restaurant franchise opportunities.  They offer a full service options, a fast casual options, and a quick service option.  The full service option has an initial franchise fee of $40,000 and the franchisee must have a net worth of at least $1 million and liquid cash of $750,000 or more.  The full service option also has a development fee of $10,000.  The fast casual option comes with an initial franchise fee of $25,000 and the restaurant franchisee must have at least $600,000 net worth and at least half must be liquid.  This type of location also has a $5,000 development fee.  The quick service location does not have a franchise fee and the financial requirements are veer low.  The first two types of locations have a 5% royalty fee and the quick service location does not have a royalty fee.