NOW the Porter Sq. Uno's is closed. :(

[jbsegal.livejournal.com]

"It's with sadness we write to let you know that our Uno® at 820 Sommerville [sic] Ave. has closed.

As a whole, Uno is doing great things: we've been acknowledged as
• America's Healthiest Chain by Health magazine
• Top Four Family Friendliest Chains in America by Parents magazine
• Home of Guilt Free Pizza by Prevention magazine
• Top Value by WalletPop.com

Sometimes, locations just don't work, even with great guests like you. That's the case here. Our entire staff will sincerely miss serving you and thanks you for sharing your time (and appetite) with us.

As a convenience to you, we've taken the liberty of updating your preferred location to Harvard Square, 22 John F. Kennedy St. You can change your preference by logging in and updating your profile. Either way, you'll continue to receive all those Insider benefits like:
• Sneak Peeks
• Thank You Parties
• Insider Rewards
• Birthday Gift
• Insider Feedback On All Things 'Uno'

If you wish, you can always opt out of the club by clicking here.

You have been a friend to us, and we appreciate it. You have our gratitude for your loyal patronage and support as an Uno Insider. We hope you will take that loyalty with you to another local Uno. We guarantee they'll take care of you as well as we tried to.

With appreciation,
The Uno Team"

Comments

[ron_newman]

I wasn't a frequent visitor, but didn't they do pretty good business here?

[firstfrost.livejournal.com]

I will miss them. They did a lot to try and make their restaurant more than a clone - the amazing balloon sculptures at Halloween, the pot of free hot cran/cider near Christmas, waitresses who remembered your favorite order...

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

My GF and I very recently wanted to grab a quick drink/snack before meeting up with some friends. We went to: Cambridge Common, West Side Lounge, Tavern in the Sq, and Christophers. All were too packed to even stand. Unos was practically empty. They didn't close because of the economy, they closed because we don't like mediocre chains around here.

Hopefully something decent replaces it--that's a good location.

[greenlily.livejournal.com]

Dangit. I actually used to stop in there fairly often on my way home from rehearsals in Arlington. Oh well, more visits to Qdoba for me. :(

[cnoocy]

That's sad. It was a good place to go with a large group for food and conversation after 10. Not too many of those around.

[tastyanagram.livejournal.com]

It looks like a lot of people here liked that particular location, but I also hope that a local business replaces it. Also, I know someone who worked there and they *hated* it.

[syntheticnature.livejournal.com]

Wow, they were there for a long time. I remember eating there in 1990, and I didn't think they were newly-opened then.

[prog.livejournal.com]

While I will miss Unos as well, I humbly submit Redbones for your late-nite nomming needs. On most evenings the upper room is quite empty by the time they switch over to their snack menu (10:30 PM).

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

I knew someone who worked at an unos and despised it as well :) I mean, I like uno's relatively OK. But, I don't think that location is any different from any other (in terms of what it is--a tacky chain). I don't remember ever going there where it was more than half full or so. I'm sorry about the people who are losing their jobs.

[rikchik.livejournal.com]

Can they handle a yearly unannounced party of 20?

[prog.livejournal.com]

Well, you may recall that they never faltered when accommodating a certain monthly post-game-demo watering, some years back. Granted, it probably half the size of the group I know you're thinking of.

[adaptively.livejournal.com]

They can and they did for my birthday party about two years back. I thought my guest list was 5, it quickly turned into 25. The owner came out and had us all seated, together, with drinks in front of us in 20 minutes flat.

I've definitely had better ribs elsewhere (my current love affair is with A Taste of Soul in Everett), but that's the kind of agility I like to see. :D

[adaptively.livejournal.com]

they closed because we don't like mediocre chains around here.

Tell that to the line wrapped around the block for Davis Square Chipotle on Saturday night. :B

[ron_newman]

Were they having some sort of giveaway or promotion?

[ron_newman]

Technically, Uno's was 'local' despite its Chicago roots - they are headquartered in West Roxbury.

[genesayssitdown.livejournal.com]

there are twelve other locations in the boston area, including in harvard square, if you really need some type of uno's fix

[adaptively.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't know, I just saw them as I passed through last weekend and had to laugh a bit when I read the above-quoted line. :)

[apricot3.livejournal.com]

so i guess they're not having any kind of special closing night?

i have a group that meets there a lot, they were great with accommodating us and turned down the music when we asked. though i was always annoyed that the happy hour specials were only for the bar, those were good deals. guess we've got to find another place to meet up, took us forever to settle in the first place :P

but i do hope some awesome local restaurant moves in, porter square could use some more life. also, is anything happening with the blockbuster?

[zdenka]

Aw. :-(

right, sure

[cthulhia]

"America's Healthiest Chain by Health magazine"

I briefly did some of the production design of print matter for them (in West Roxbury). The single sized pizzas are listed as "3 servings" to keep the calorie count under 4 digits. Not very healthy at all.

Any time I ended up at the Porter UNOs, it was because we had a large group and knew they'd have enough empty tables to accommodate us without much of a wait. That should've been our first clue they couldn't last.

Re: right, sure

[ron_newman]

They 'lasted' quite a long time, really. But I thought that Subway was considered the 'healthiest chain'.

[ron_newman]

I haven't walked by there yet today, but this is what someone on the Porter Square Neighbors e-mail list reported:

----------
Looks like the forecasting of Pizzeria Uno's demise in Porter Square may have only been slightly premature.

Wheeling out tables and taking down the awnings and sign don't look good...

fond memories of a tall Bass and 4 cheese pizza...
----------

(What ever happened to the idea of a business having a "thank you and goodbye" event for their loyal customers? Both here and at White Hen, the places just closed suddenly without ceremony. Boloco did their closing with class.)

[apricot3.livejournal.com]

i've seen it pretty empty most of the time- the ground level bar and garden did decent business, but the upstairs portion always seemed vacant (which isn't visible unless you're up there). at least, this was the case the half dozen times i've met a group of 15ish at 7pm during the middle of the week.

as for parking, it's usually pretty easy to find street meters on mass ave in the evenings when it's free.

[apricot3.livejournal.com]

even though i might move in a few months, how does one get on the porter email list?

but yeah, i'd have appreciated some kind of a Goodbye something.
how (and when) did the Green Tomato go about closing? i've been busy for too long to keep up here, i'm sure it was posted about :)

[ron_newman]

Subscribe here: http://portersquare.net/node/37

Green Tomato wasn't around long enough to develop a loyal customer base.