Uno is bullish on new Uno Express format

Uno Restaurant Holdings Corp., a Boston-based chain with roughly 200 company-owned and franchised full-service Uno Chicago Grill restaurants, said that it has opened more than 160 of its new Uno Express locations in sports arenas, airports, tourism centers, universities, and other locations over the past 15 months.

Initially tested at two BJ's Wholesale Club stores in Massachusetts last year, the Uno Express quick-serve concept provides a flexible menu of casual, speedy meals aimed at customers on the go; the concept also gives the company a growth vehicle to augment its full-service restaurants.

"We are now averaging one new UNO Express launch per week," Jamie Strobino, Uno's senior vice president of new concept development, said in a statement. "This concept has legs. We recently opened an Uno Express in the Nickelodeon Family Suites Hotel in Orlando, as well as two additional BJ’s Wholesale Clubs, the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, and four 'full-blown' Uno Expresses at the TD Garden in Boston, home of both the Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins.”

The press release included a statement from chief executive Frank W. Guidara.

"It’s clear that people don’t want to sacrifice taste and quality, even when they don’t have a lot of time to eat," Guidara said. "Uno Express lets them enjoy the quality and care that we put into our food with an added level of convenience." (Globe Staff)