Uno Chicago Grill will celebrate the grand re-opening of its Warwick Commons location Aug. 11, after historic floods devastated Warwick, R.I., this past March. To show its support for this hard-hit community, Uno will offer a 10 percent discount on all entrees for the first month, now through Sept. 12.
The event also is a coming out party for the deep dish brand, which just emerged from bankruptcy with a new focus on its limited service offerings, Uno Due Go and Uno Express, on a national level. Locally, Uno is among the first retail locations to re-emerge after driving rains and overflowing rivers caused it to shut down.
"The damage was extreme," said Duncan Chan, managing partner, Uno and resident of Cranston. "We had to gut the restaurant down to the studs and rebuild, but we're coming back better, and greener, than ever!"
The result is a brand-new look that is the first location to incorporate the latest elements of the brand's new "way deeper" design. Among the changes are a Wood Stone oven, featuring a terracotta brick interior, that will bake Uno's thin-crust pizzas.
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The new Uno also is the company's "greenest" restaurant yet. In addition to using low VOC (volatile organic compound) paint, the new restaurant features compact fluorescent and LED lighting which is significantly more energy efficient. The building now has an on-demand water heating system (which is 90 percent more efficient than a tank-based system), hands-free restrooms, dual-flush toilets and waterless urinals, which are estimated to save 40,000 gallons of water per year.
Materials used include recycled and refurbished wood tables and recycled flooring materials. The new bar is made from American-grown mahogany, and the new pizza ovens run on 30 percent less gas; all resulting in a lower carbon footprint for the restaurant.
The new look and menu items are among a series of changes Uno is incorporating as part of an overall strategy to evolve as the world evolves.
"Our brand has a strong presence in New England, and we felt it was particularly important to maintain and enhance our location in Warwick," said CEO Frank Guidara. "Rebuilding this restaurant and being among the first to recreate jobs, 112 to be exact, in this hard-hit area is very important to us. It illustrates Uno's commitment to the local community, as well as our desire to work side-by-side with our neighbors to rebuild and set a path for future growth and development."
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