Copyright M Live Michigan
SAGINAW TWP, MI – UNO Pizzeria & Grill’s Saginaw Township location is set to reopen under new ownership next month after being closed for nearly a year. The restaurant is in the Four Points by Sheraton Saginaw hotel, located at 4960 Towne Centre Road. The location closed temporarily in late November, and the restaurant underwent an ownership transition this spring, according to Caitlin Werner, one of the restaurant’s owners. The franchise’s other new owners include Stephen Novak and Stefan Stefanakis. “Being in the community, everyone that I’ve talked to has really said how much they love the place, and they miss it. And they are excited for us to reopen,” Novak said. Novak’s family is from the Saginaw area, and he was named after St. Stephen Church in Saginaw, he noted. Additionally, Novak’s parents, David and Kim Novak, became engaged at the Four Points by Sheraton Saginaw hotel. “It was like a perfect opportunity to get back to where my family’s from,” Stephen Novak said. The restaurant is set to reopen sometime around Nov. 10, Werner said, noting the ongoing federal government shutdown has slowed down the licensing process for the restaurant a bit. Customers will be able to order a variety of deep-dish pizzas at the restaurant, including the Chicago Classic, a deep-dish pizza with extra sausage, extra cheese, and a rustic tomato sauce. UNO’s ribeye steaks are also popular, Werner said. “UNO is the original deep dish pizza place, so we do want to be able to kind of go to the roots of this business and really put out a great deep-dish pizza,” Stephen Novak said. In addition to typical UNO menu items, the restaurant will offer weekly specials. The restaurant’s owners are considering plans to offer a taco Tuesday special featuring a deep-dish taco pizza, pitchers of margaritas, and possibly fajitas as well as tacos. “We get to be a little bit creative here, and we definitely are looking for feedback,” Werner said. “We want to make people happy.” Unlike some UNO locations, the restaurant will serve Detroit-style pizza since it is the most popular type of pizza in the area, according to Werner. Dining prices at the reopened restaurant will range from about $12 to $20 per person. The restaurant’s drink menu will include seasonal and holiday-themed specialty craft cocktails, classic cocktails, a wide range of craft beers, 24 draft beer options, such as Blue Moon, and bourbon. “There are some very rare bottles of bourbon that cost an arm and a leg to get, and we’re going to give people some access to stuff at a reasonable price,” Werner said. “We’ll be doing some bourbon tastings in the future.” Excluding beer, drinks at the restaurant will cost between about $10 and $15. “We’re going to be doing some really fun cocktails,” Werner said. “I’ve got a lot of ideas, and we have some really great bartenders who have a lot of experience.” The restaurant’s owners and staff have been working to clean and restore the space ahead of its opening. The restaurant also recently acquired some new equipment, and existing machines are being serviced. “We plan to make major changes in the future,” Werner said. “Right now, we just kind of want to restore it to its former glory.” A significant amount of electrical work has been done to the space to modernize the restaurant and give it a “new age restaurant feeling,” Stephen Novak said. The updated space will include digital screens and a new camera system. “One of the things that we really want to do is make sure that we’re doing things the right way, not cutting corners and taking our time to make sure that we’re setting this place up for success,” Stephen Novak said. The restaurant needs just a couple more employees to be fully staffed with 60, and Werner expects to have these positions filled soon. Employees have been hired for part-time and full-time positions. “We’re community driven for sure, and we want to be able to bring some jobs to this community and have a nice, welcoming restaurant for people to come and have a great dining experience at,” Stephen Novak said. About 15 employees who worked at the restaurant before its temporary closure will continue working there when it reopens. “They all couldn’t wait to get back in here, they said they were one big family, and that’s something we’re looking for,” Werner said. Stephen Novak, Werner, and Stefanakis have owned several businesses in Plymouth, including a fine dining restaurant and specialty cocktail lounge. “We built a strong foundation there, and we’re excited to bring that same passion and experience back here to Saginaw,” Werner said. Stephen Novak and Werner said they also have some experience working in the restaurant business in New York, Florida, and Colorado. However, the reopened UNO restaurant will be their only Saginaw-area business. Stephen Novak said he and the other owners plan to run the business as a “family franchise” and become actively involved in the local community. “We really want to create that family culture for our staff and get a good restaurant environment for them to be able to work in,” Stephen Novak said. As the holiday season approaches, customers can expect to see plenty of Christmas decorations at the restaurant, plus a visit from Santa. “It’s going to be like a big event for that whole month,” Werner said. “We’re very, very big on that.” The restaurant will be open from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday-Thursday, from 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday, and from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. A grand opening and ribbon-cutting are expected to be held for the restaurant in January. “We want to make it really, really fun and very community oriented,” Werner said.
