Deep Dish Pizza is star attraction here

Uno Chicago Bar & Grill brings its signature Nuevo American Cuisine to the city.

Located at Forum Shantiniketan in Whitefield, Uno Chicago Bar & Grill aims to pair cuisine, bar, music and entertainment. The restaurant, with a journey dating back to 1943, is bringing their legacy creation — the Deep Dish Pizza — and signature Nuevo American Cuisine to Bengaluru.

The place is spacious; it is divided into indoor and outdoor though the latter portion is not immediately seen. A black and white decor is complemented by dashes of colour and bright lights.

We started off our meal with the ‘Muchos Nachos’ — freshly baked and crisp, they were topped with beans, jalapenos, salsa, sour cream and generous amount of cheese. In between were some ragi nachos too.

A good option to try different dishes is to order the ‘This, That and The Other Thing Sampler’, where you can try out three vegetarian/non-vegetarian dishes or mix and match. We tried the Classic Onion Rings (quite crunchy, would go really well with a drink), Parmesan Mozarella Sticks, Wild Mushroom Chipotle Poppers, Chicken Skewers (addictive, to say the least), Crispy Chicken Wings (juicy and just the right amount of spicy; every bite was delightfully tangy) and Chicken Tenders (not so tender but the evenly spread spices saved the dish).

Baked Stuffed Spinoccoli is a good option for vegetarians.

The vegetarian platter would have been great if there was more salt. The dips were amazing and we did have more than a few bites but the lack of salt was a disappointment.

The Skillet Parmesan Meatballs (succulent chicken meatballs smothered with marinara sauce, ricotta and parmesan) is another good option for non-vegetarians.

The Bruschetta Duo (two styles on toasted garlic bread) is a refreshing appetiser that livens up your tastebuds. Cottage Cheese Skewers are worth a try, though nothing remarkable.
We then got to try two versions of the famed deep dish pizza, a thick crust pizza, known to have its moorings in Chicago. Customers can opt from Farmers Market, Uno Cheese and Tomato, The Blazing Hot, BBQ Roasted Mushroom, Numero Uno, Fajita Fire, Prima Pepperoni and Chicago Meat Market.

We went for Farmers Market and Fajita Fire — it was a different experience and the thick crust does take some getting used to. Leave ample space in your stomach as these are extremely filling. The rich cheese and generous toppings are a delight.

They also have thin crust and super thin crust pizzas. For those in love with burgers, there is an interesting selection to choose from including Wild Wild West Burger, Peri Peri Cottage Cheese Burger, Whisky Chicken Melt Burger and Aged Cheddar Mushroom and Chicken Burger.

Next on the menu was pasta. We opted for Rattlesnake Fettuccine and Peri Peri Penne Fiesta and were not impressed with both, particularly because of the lack of flavour. They might have been trying to imitate the actual American taste but people who aren’t familiar with the taste might not like it.

Dessert soothed both our souls and palates as the Ice Cream Sundae was flavourful and fresh. The ice cream was made in-house and it had that fresh taste. The nuts in it added to the flavour.

We also tried the Blood Orange Cosmo (refreshing, slightly sweet and without a strong taste of alcohol) and Uno Classic Mojito (somewhat strong but definitely worth a try).

PS: Uno is famous for its specialised kids’ menu which has dishes like the all-time favourite Mac and Cheese and Build your Own Kids Pizza.

Uno Chicago Bar & Grill is located on the Upper Ground Floor, Forum Shantiniketan, Whitefield.