Pizzeria Uno---Sapore niente

By pure chance we ended up at Uno this evening. (Got out of a movie. Child wanted pizza. Pompeii was closed. I nixed California P.K. Suddenly there was Uno in front of us.)
When I was an undergrad., I thought it was great. Loved the dark cavernous feel and the blackened metal pans. It all felt like a night on the town and "Chicago style" was exotic to me. Haven't been there in decades. So I was looking forward to at worst a sort of pleasurable nostalgia trip akin to playing a dusty old LP that defined a particular moment in one's life.
Not so much.
As usual the small vestibule was packed with parties of 5. The young man at the computer was doing his best to explain to everyone the pre-ordering system that gets your pizza working while you're waiting for a table. He advised us of a 20-25 min. wait and at 30 min. we were summoned. At which point, a woman just behind us announced that her party of 3 had been waiting at least 10 min. longer than we had. The young man explained that your place in the queue is keyed to when you actually enter your order, not when you physically appear in the space. Seething through a clenched smile she allowed as how it would have been "awesome" if that had been explained to her when she came in.
I felt bad, especially as she shot me looks that seemed to imply that if I were any sort of a gentleman I would just step aside. But despite the fact that it seemed like a genuine misunderstanding, I had a very hungry kid to feed and I hadn't actually caused her problem. I had just walked in and placed my order. So we stepped into the restaurant as her eyes drilled smoking holes into my back.
It wasn't long before I wished I had stepped aside for her.
We were seated, after which a good 10 min. passed before anyone appeared to chat with us. As it turned out, i was the only one getting the legendary pan pizza, wife and son were ordering off the menu, and I gather this is so unusual an occurrence that it just didn't occur to the waiter that we would actually want anything until our pizza appeared.
The boy ordered the thin crust pizza off the kids menu. Mrs. B. ordered spinach salad, and she and he ordered a fried calamari to share.
Oy.
The spinach salad looked nice enough, but, of course, the whole thing was refrigerator cold and the oil/vin. dressing also included a fair amount of sugar.
The calamari were golden rings of batter in which one could barely discern anything else visually, and by taste, not at all. They were served with to sauces: a tasteless tomato (hot) and, weirdly, a barbecue sauce served completely chilled.
The kids' thin-crust pizza I can only describe as something you would expect to get out of a microwave at a highway rest stop. Pallid, cottony dough supporting a layer of rubbery cheese like melted silicone and virtually no tomato sauce beneath at all.
I had ordered the spinach pan pizza with mushrooms. Apparently, despite the endless talk of pizzas taking 45 min. because they're all made to order, they are still pre-assembled because the mushrooms were simply scattered on top of a spinach pizza with the effect that they simply shriveled in the oven without any opportunity to actually contribute to the pizza. The tomato sauce was utterly tasteless and even all that crust, which I recall as having a greasy, crackly appeal all those years ago was just a tasteless mass.
I really have no idea if this is what I liked in my youth, or if the place has declined terribly. I can only say that there was not a single mouthful of this evening's meal I could be induced to eat again.

Tangent: On the way out, I noticed on the wall of the entryway a framed industry publication article from around 1992 describing an award they had won. The last paragraph described competitive challenges Uno's manager said they were facing, including the appearance on the scene of "plizettas." (I have no idea if that was a typo or not.) These were described as thin crust pizzas with "obtuse" ingredients including, "[an italian-esque word I didn't recognize and now can't recall], pomodoro, cordon bleu, and pescata."

Pizzeria Uno/Due hasn't been the same for at least a decade, and not in a good way. I grew up on this pizza, and it pains me to say this, but their quality has definitely slipped, particularly the crust. The crust I remember growing up was slightly buttery, and somewhat crumbly- and very good. The crust recipe they use today is often very dry and tasteless. Sometimes, it's even hard, and somewhat burnt. About a year ago, I had the opportunity to talk to the Vice President of Customer Relations ( or some other title ) and she tried her best to convince me that the Boston based Uno Holdings Corporation ( which filed bankruptcy last year ) had never changed the crust recipe at Pizzeria Uno/Due. I politely told her that she was wrong, and that I know better because I had grown up on Pizzeria Uno/Due. Ironically, she was not even from Chicago, and has no idea what Pizzeria Uno/Due even tasted like in the 1980's, or even 1990's. I finally gave up on the conversation, and told her that I'd never go back to Pizzeria Uno/Due again. I also told her that the Boston based Uno Holdings Corporation has done more damage to the repetation of deep dish pizza than anyone else, due to that horrible and cheap imitation that they pass off as "deep dish" pizza all over America ( and the world ) at their franchise "Uno Chicago Bar and Grill" locations. At the franchise locations, Uno's offers "hip, new, artisinal, and intense recipes." What the hell is that ? I just want deep dish pizza. No wonder why they filed for bankruptcy last year.

If you want the real deal in Pizzeria Uno/Due deep dish pizza, then do yourself a favor and go to Louisa's in Crestwood, IL. The late Louisa De Genero worked in the kitchen as a waitress and a cook at Pizzeria Due for over two decades. If my memory serves me correctly, the deep dish pizzas at Louisa's are still served in the original black cast iron pans from Pizzeria Due. Louisa's is now run by her adult daughter ( who also spent a decade at Pizzeria Due ), and her children.

Louisa's makes the refined/perfected version of Pizzeria Due. The sausage is worth the trip in and of itself. It is truly excellent, and is made in house, whereas Pizzeria Uno/Due still gets their sausage delivered from Anichini Brothers Sausage Company. The herbs and spices are grown in the back of the restaurant, and the tomatoes are crushed by hand daily. The tomato sauce tastes exactly like Pizzeria Uno/Due, as does the sausage. However, the sausage is cut into pieces, unlike the huge slab of sausage still served at Pizzeria Uno/Due. The one major difference between Louisa's and Pizzeria Uno/Due is that Louisa's crust recipe is much shallower/thinner than the thicker crust at Pizzeria Uno/Due. Most importantly, Louisa's crust is slightly buttery and very good, which is how I remember the crust at Pizzeria Uno/Due many, many years ago, before the Boston based Uno Holdings Corporation decided to use corn oil/olive oil, which has resulted in a very inferior product served today at Uno's/Due. The much shallower/thinner pizza crust at Louisa's is easy to eat, too. It's not as thick and dense as the crust at Uno's/Due.

And their Chicken Vesuvio Wings appetizer, served in their own garlic, olive oil, and white wine sauce is very good, too. They also serve their Italian ice inside a lemon, with the top cut off, which my kids always enjoy. Overall, the shallower/thinner deep dish pizza at Louisa's is far and away better than anything her former employer at Pizzeria Uno/Due puts out.

Our memories of the old Uno/Due are certainly consistent with each other. You describe the crust I remember. Maybe it's not the recipe but the execution that's changed? Whatever it is, it ain't good. Even then, however, I remember that I always found the sausage slab a bit much.
Crestwood sounds "vaut le detour." Hope to try it some day.

deepdish wrote:The tomato sauce tastes exactly like Pizzeria Uno/Due, as does the sausage. However, the sausage is cut into pieces, unlike the huge slab of sausage still served at Pizzeria Uno/Due.

You have always been able to ask for "crumbled" sausage rather than the slab at Uno's/Due's, although I agree that the crust doesn't seem to be the same as it was in the old days, based on a visit I made to Uno's about a year ago.

deepdish wrote:If you want the real deal in Pizzeria Uno/Due deep dish pizza, then do yourself a favor and go to Louisa's in Crestwood, IL.

Louisa's Pizza & Pasta
14025 Cicero Ave.
Crestwood, IL 60445
708 371 0950

I want to go to there.

@riddlemay: You will not be disappointed with Louisa's, especially if you grew up on Pizzeria Uno/Due. Enjoy !

stevez wrote:

deepdish wrote:The tomato sauce tastes exactly like Pizzeria Uno/Due, as does the sausage. However, the sausage is cut into pieces, unlike the huge slab of sausage still served at Pizzeria Uno/Due.

You have always been able to ask for "crumbled" sausage rather than the slab at Uno's/Due's, although I agree that the crust doesn't seem to be the same as it was in the old days, based on a visit I made to Uno's about a year ago.

As much as I love Lou Malnati's, I always felt like a trader for giving negative reviews of Pizzeria Uno/Due. Villa Nova (Stickney) and Q's (Hillside) were regular favorites for thin crust with sausage in my house growing up, but the trip downtown to Pizzeria Due was always the big thrill. It was really hard to watch Pizzeria Uno lose to Lou Malnati's on that episode of Food Wars on the Travel Network. If Uno's/Due still made the original crust recipe, then they would have beat Lou Malnati's. I guess it's just difficult to watch a restaurant that you grew up on go down the toilet in terms of quality.

mrbarolo wrote:Our memories of the old Uno/Due are certainly consistent with each other. You describe the crust I remember. Maybe it's not the recipe but the execution that's changed? Whatever it is, it ain't good. Even then, however, I remember that I always found the sausage slab a bit much.
Crestwood sounds "vaut le detour." Hope to try it some day.

I'm glad you remember the old crust recipe at Pizzeria Uno/Due, too. It was slightly buttery, and it was very good. It wasn't as buttery as Lou Malnati's buttercrust or Pizano's buttercrust, but it was perfect in its' own way. I think when the Boston based Uno Holdings Corporation took over, I think they standardized the kitchen with exact measuring devices for every step of the pizza creation, so the execution should be consistant. I really do think they changed the recipe, and not for the better. It's a real shame. The Vice President of Customer Relations from Boston can deny this all she wants, but everyone who grew up on this pizza knows better. For the record, the woman was very nice. I just think she has to tow the company line, or else she will be joining the ranks of the unemployed.

This is why I like Louisa's crust. It's slightly buttery, but not as thick, thereby making it easier to eat.

The original Uno's would have never lost a taste test to Malnati's. It doesn't matter if they were locals, tourists, professional tasters or any other out of towner, they would have never chosen Malnati's. That fact alone tells you they changed, and not in a good way.

midas wrote:The original Uno's would have never lost a taste test to Malnati's. It doesn't matter if they were locals, tourists, professional tasters or any other out of towner, they would have never chosen Malnati's. That fact alone tells you they changed, and not in a good way.

LOL! I admire your conviction and I can't even say I disagree with it but it isn't a fact. It's most certainly an opinion.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:

midas wrote:The original Uno's would have never lost a taste test to Malnati's. It doesn't matter if they were locals, tourists, professional tasters or any other out of towner, they would have never chosen Malnati's. That fact alone tells you they changed, and not in a good way.

your conviction and I canLOL! I admire 't even say I disagree with it but it isn't a fact. It's most certainly an opinion.

=R=

I know it's just Midas' opinion, but he's right. If Pizzeria Uno/Due still made the original crust recipe, then they would have beat Lou Malnati's. And for the record, I've always enjoyed Lou Malnati's, especially their buttercrust. However, the Anichini Brothers' sausage still used at Pizzeria Uno/Due is much better than the Peoria Meat Packing sausage used over at Lou Malnati's. The Anichini Brothers' sausage is a little fattier, and it tends to really introduce itself after the first bite. It's more garlicky, too. It's just plain better. And the long stringy carmelized onions used at Pizzeria Uno/Due and Louisa's are much tastier than the short square cut onions at Lou Malnati's. It's just a shame what has happened to Pizzeria Uno/Due's crust. It's not what it use to be, and that's being kind.

deepdish wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:

midas wrote:The original Uno's would have never lost a taste test to Malnati's. It doesn't matter if they were locals, tourists, professional tasters or any other out of towner, they would have never chosen Malnati's. That fact alone tells you they changed, and not in a good way.

your conviction and I canLOL! I admire 't even say I disagree with it but it isn't a fact. It's most certainly an opinion.

=R=

I know it's just Midas' opinion, but he's right. If Pizzeria Uno/Due still made the original crust recipe, then they would have beat Lou Malnati's. And for the record, I've always enjoyed Lou Malnati's, especially their buttercrust. However, the Anichini Brothers' sausage still used at Pizzeria Uno/Due is much better than the Peoria Meat Packing sausage used over at Lou Malnati's. The Anichini Brothers' sausage is a little fattier, and it tends to really introduce itself after the first bite. It's more garlicky, too. It's just plain better. And the long stringy carmelized onions used at Pizzeria Uno/Due and Louisa's are much tastier than the short square cut onions at Lou Malnati's. It's just a shame what has happened to Pizzeria Uno/Due's crust. It's not what it use to be, and that's being kind.

Ok, you agree with midas' opinion. Opinions are what LTH is all about but I personally think it's silly to present one's opinions as facts. If someone disagrees with you, that doesn't necessarily make them wrong. It just means you differ.

=R=

@Ronnie Suburban: Just out of curiosity, what is your favorite deep dish pizza ?

deepdish wrote:@Ronnie Suburban: Just out of curiosity, what is your favorite deep dish pizza ?

I'm not really a fan of the genre (these days). I probably eat 20+ thin-crust pizzas for every 1 deep dish. Deep dish is about a once a year thing for me, at most. It just doesn't fire me up at all.

I really like Pizano's a lot but still prefer their thin over their deep dish. I used to love Uno and Due back in the day but I agree that they've really deteriorated. I also enjoy Burt's and Pequod's, even though they're definitely variants (and more pan than deep dish). Your recommendation above for Louisa's has me curious and I hope to check it out soon. It'll probably be the one deep dish pizza I eat this year.

=R=

As an old f**t who has been eating deep dish since the early 60's, mostly at the original Gino's on Rush St. (not Gino's East) or, at times, Uno's and Due's before their corporate days, I must agree with Midas. Although I go to Malnati's now and enjoy it, my memory tells me that it just isn't the same as I remember deep dish from back in the day.

Interesting though, I just made my first trip to Vito and Nick's last weekend and found it to be very very close to my favorite 60's thin pizza from Bob and Jack's which was at 87th and Euclid at that time. A trip to Rainbow Cone afterwards made the day complete.

As an original south sider I found that there are some days when you can go home again.

@Ronnie Suburban: Well, if you're going to have deep dish once this year, then hopefully you will enjoy Louisa's. Louisa's is everything I described above, and if you liked Uno's/Due back in the day, then I think you'll like Louisa's thinner/shallower version of Due. In regard to Pizano's, I definitely enjoy Pizano's thin crust over their deep dish. Pizano's thin crust with sausage is one of my top 3 thin crust places, just behind Villa Nova and Pat's. What baffles me about Pizano's is the fact that Rudy Malnati, Sr. was supposedly instrumental in the development of the original recipe at Pizzeria Uno ( at least according to Rudy, Jr. at Pizano's ), yet the tomato sauce on the deep dish pizza at Pizano's tastes NOTHING like the tomato sauce used at Pizzeria Uno/Due. According to Rudy, Jr., Rudy, Sr. handed this deep dish recipe down to him. If that's the case, then why are the tomatoes at Pizano's so much different than the recipe Rudy, Sr. supposedly developed at Uno's ? This is not a knock on Pizano's. It just something I've always wondered about.

And you're right about Burt's. Burt's is probably my wife's favorite, along with Louisa's.

I agree that Uno/Due both took a big slide downhill a few years ago. I quit going to either of them at least 10 years ago. But to me, it's Gino's that really took the plunge. They used to be pretty decent, but I won't touch it now.