THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 7, 1994 TAG: 9407020234
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: ON THE TOWN
TYPE: Restaurant Review
SOURCE: Sam Martinette
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
The new Uno Pizzaria at Janaf Shopping Center well could be called Cento Venti, which is 120 in Italian. After all, when Ike Sewell opened his first pizzaria, called Uno, back in Chicago in 1943, followed by Due, or two, in 1955, he started a trend.
Company literature credits Sewell with inventing the Chicago ``deep dish'' pizza in ``a small crowded room where customers would wait hours to sit down.''
Today there are 120 Uno restaurants nationwide, according to Alan Gibson, director of research and development for the Uno Restaurant Corp. The Culinary Institute of America-educated, certified master chef joined the Boston-based chain a year ago to help develop Uno's ``grill and saute'' selections.
``Uno is to Chicago what the bar Cheers means to Boston,'' Gibson said during a telephone interview. ``When I visit the original store I usually go by in the morning, and by the time Uno opens there are 50 to 60 people lined up for pizza.''
Uno went nationwide in 1979. The new Norfolk restaurant is a prototype designed to accommodate the full-service menu that Gibson has helped to develop.
``We're more than just a pizzaria,'' Gibson said. ``We're a casual-theme dining restaurant that specializes in deep dish pizza. We've added fresh pastas, prime rib and items like the wild mushroom ravioli, most popular so far among the new items.
The deep dish pizza is offered in a dozen combinations, ranging from the Numero Uno (cheese, sausage, pepperoni, onions, mushrooms, peppers and tomato, at $5.95 for an individual pie, or $12.95 for a large pizza) to the Sea Delico (with crab, shrimp, butter and garlic - $6.75; $13.85). Uno offers a veggie pizza ($5.45; $11.50), a chicken fajita pie (strips of marinated chicken breast with cheese, peppers and onions and a picante sauce - $6.75; $13.85), and a ``shroom'' pie of spinach, mozzarella cheese, garlic and fresh mushroom caps ($5.95; $12.95).
Or you can do what we did on a recent visit and build your own by ordering the cheese and tomato pie and choosing among such toppings as broccoli, fresh peppers, roasted red peppers, black olives, eggplant, sausage, pepperoni and more, paying extra by the item.
We started out with a family-sized appetizer of Tuscany bread, which consists of slices of garlic bread baked with pesto, spinach, muenster cheese and some diced tomato ($3.85), and followed it with a cold spinach and tortellini salad ($4.95).
Other appetizers include chips and dips or nachos, Buffalo wings and pizza skins (potato-filled pizza wedges), while salads include a Greek or Caesar, antipasto and grilled chicken ($5.59).
Entrees include baby back ribs ($9.95), chicken fajitas ($8.95) and a 12-ounce Chicago ribeye steak ($9.95), all of which come with fries, vegetables or ziti pasta. Pasta entrees include the new wild mushroom ravioli (served in a fresh mushroom cream sauce - $7.95), broccoli and chicken fettucini ($8.95), and ziti with sausage and peppers ($7.95).
Many desserts are served in mugs, such as the All-American hot apple pie topped with ice cream, a mountain of whipped topping, cinnamon and an American flag ($2.95).
The interior of Uno Pizzaria, with its mahogany wood, dark green walls, fireman's memorabilia, open kitchen and separate bar area is rich and inviting, and the food is of a standard that my Italian aunts would approve. Uno offers a ``five-minute service priority lunch'' of soup or salad and pizza ($4.95), and a ``plizzetta'' menu of the thin crust gourmet-style pizzas as well. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by SAM MARTINETTE
Dan Geskie is general manager of Uno Pizzaria, part of a national
chain, at Janaf Shopping Center.
AT A GLANCE
Uno Pizzaria: 5900 E. Virginia Beach Blvd. (Janaf), 466-0923.
Food: Deep dish and gourmet pizza; pasta, sandwiches, steaks and
salads; children's menu; full ABC.
Prices: Pizzas and entrees $4.95 - $13.85.
Hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sundays - Thursdays; 11 to 1 a.m. on
Fridays and Saturdays.
by CNB