Bites Nearby: UNO Chicago Grill

Overview: UNO Chicago Grill offers Chicago-style pizza plus a variety of other pizzas, entrees, sandwiches, salads and desserts in a stand-alone restaurant on Freedom Road in Cranberry. It is open daily for lunch and dinner; there is late-night dining on Fridays and Saturdays.

Decor: UNO is a modern restaurant with booths, tables and full bar. Decor is classic brick oven, upscale bar atmosphere.

Drinks: UNO has a full bar and a few UNO specials such as the Windy City Hurricane and Uno Bloody Mary. It also has a full range of non-alcoholic beverages including soft drinks and coffee. I found it cool that they have a little tea menu featuring Harney & Sons select premium teas.  

Appetizers: A wide variety of small plate appetizers is just right for one person, prices $3.99 to $4.99. Larger appetizers (meant to be shared, as stated on the menu) cost $6.99 to $10.99. The Chi-Town Tasting plate for $10.99 has a nice variety of Buffalo wings, eggrolls and fries; and the Shrimp and Crab Fun-doo is a crab-and-shrimp dip at $10.49. Other appetizers include pizza skins, wings, fried calamari and Muchos Nachos, just to name a few.

Entrees: Pizzas are the specialty here. Uno offers an amazing array of deep dish (Chicago-style pizza) or thin-crust versions. It offers specialty pizzas that change with the seasons. The Deep Dish Chicago Pizza has fresh, handcrafted crust that is flaky and crunches, unlike many soggy deep dish pies. We had the Numero UNO - The One. The Best, which includes sausage, pepperoni, onions, peppers, mushrooms, chunky tomato sauce, mozzarella and grated Romano. Prices are about $10 to $20, depending on size and toppings.

Uno offers a wide variety of salads, soups, entrees, sandwiches and burgers. A few of the entrees include lemon basil salmon, aged Angus beef steaks, lobster and shrimp scampi, and lemon herb chicken.

Desserts: You know how you always eye the selections on the dessert menu but are too full to try one? Uno offers a bite-sized version of several desserts for $1.99. Perfect! It offers full-size desserts as well. Selections include Bananas Foster, bread pudding with a salted-caramel sauce, and an apple crisp.

Bonus: Uno offers a wide variety of lunch specials that are guaranteed to be served in 10 minutes, perfect for those on a limited budget or with limited lunch time. There also are takeout specials.

Service: We had Max, a delightful young man who joked with us. When I looked up from my seat at Max, who appeared to be a giant, and asked him how tall he was, he quipped, “I’m 6-feet-5, how tall are you?” He was attentive without being intrusive -- my favorite kind of server.

Address: 1294 Freedom Road, Cranberry. For more information, visit www.unos.com or call 724-772-1711.

Hours: 11 a.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday, 11 a. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

Costs: Appetizers are $3.99 to $10.99. Dinner entrees start at $14. Pizzas start at about $10. Desserts are $1.99 for small bites and as much as $5.99 for full-size portions.