At Uno, a whole (grain) new world

The Boston-based restaurant has sliced trans fats from its menu. (Tim Turner/Uno Chicago Grill)

Management at Uno Chicago Grill hears this story a lot: Diners know Uno's from way back, when they were smitten with its cheesy, doughy deep-dish pizza. But it's been a while since they've indulged.

Since then, Uno's has turned its menu on its head.

Now the chain is completely trans-fat free and offerings include antibiotic-free chicken, low-calorie flatbread pizzas, a gluten-free menu (see related story, Page E1), and a kiosk of nutritional information in every restaurant. As a result, Uno's was just named Health magazine's healthiest chain restaurant in America.

And yes, in case you were wondering, low-calorie, gluten-free deep-dish pizza is in the works. (It has been since "forever," says CEO Frank Guidara, but it's arrival, he insists, is imminent.)

Guidara, who sits on the Harvard School of Public Health's Nutrition Roundtable, a group dedicated to making it possible to eat well everywhere, says he was as surprised as anyone by the designation. Not, he says, because the Boston-based chain doesn't deserve it, but because it was never aiming for the distinction.

"When you start off on this course, it's not cheap, and there are a lot of challenges. It's something you have to be committed to," says Guidara.

Health Magazine likes the chain's whole-grain pasta and brown rice, organic coffee and tea, and the fact that Uno's offers a salad at half price when you order a pizza. As the menu states, "We want you to get some greens in your diet." And the magazine recommends penne Bolognese, which weighs in at only 16 grams of fat, or, says the magazine, "well within the recommended max of 65 grams of fat per day for a 2,000 calorie-a-day diet."

"Healthful foods don't need to be flavorless," says Uno's executive chef Christopher Gatto, whose test kitchen works on recipes to make them healthy. Grilled mahi topped with mango salsa, served with brown rice tossed with mango and craisins, for example, is low-fat and gluten-free, says Gatto. You can also order Tuscan vegetable penne with multigrain penne, grilled chicken with rosemary, lemon basil salmon, and a side of steamed broccoli.

Since the chain banned trans fats, the next project is cutting back on sodium. Not so simple for a pizza restaurant that relies on quite a lot of cheese.

Other than that? Will this award change the agenda or menu?

"We're just going to keep doing what we're doing," says Guidara. "Because it's the right thing to do."