The 1943 Original
Pizzeria Uno on East Ohio Street is the original — the 1943 restaurant where Ike Sewell and Ric Riccardo invented Chicago deep dish pizza. The room continues to operate at the same address, in the same building, serving the same dish that effectively created an American pizza tradition.
The cooking is the original Chicago deep dish. The format has barely changed in eighty years; the menu has not significantly drifted. This is the room where the dish was born.
What to Order
The classic Uno deep dish with sausage — the original recipe from 1943. The thin-crust pizzas exist for the diners who don't want deep dish. The Italian-American sides and starters are appropriate to the format.
The Format
The dining room is the experience. Original tile work, photographs covering the walls, the steady rhythm of a building that has been a pizzeria for eight decades. There is no scene to navigate; there is only the original.
Best Occasion: Solo Dining
Pizzeria Uno is one of the most natural Chicago solo-dining rooms. The format requires nothing of the diner; the dining room is unintimidating; eating the original Chicago deep dish at the address where it was invented is one of the most authentically Chicago experiences the city offers.