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Friday, March 29, 2024

A sign in the Somerville Avenue window of the Uno Chicago Grill in Porter Square, Cambridge, announces the restaurant’s closing and reminds diners another store in the chain remains in Harvard Square. (Photo: Marc Levy)

The Uno Chicago Grill in Porter Square closed for good Monday, part of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy Uno Restaurant Holdings Corp. filed for in January. The West Roxbury company is still said to have about 160 restaurants, including one in Harvard Square.

“Let’s not say goodbye!” says a sign in the deep-dish pizza restaurant’s Somerville Avenue doorway. Then, pointing diners to the 22 JFK St. restaurant, “We’ve closed these doors for the last time, but please keep in touch.”

That leaves a large vacancy for KS Partners LLC, the management company at the Porter Square Galleria, which saw its second-story Blockbuster close in July. That space is still empty; the Uno Chicago Grill (technically at 820 Somerville Ave., Cambridge) is more than twice the size of the former video store, with two stories connected by an elaborate stairwell and has an outside dining area. The bottom floor is primarily a bar and the upper floor dining space, restrooms and kitchens.

Tenants have criticized KS Partners for rent increases and difficult lease negotiations.

Uno Chicago Grill, founded in Chicago in 1943, still owns restaurant in 28 states and internationally, ranging from South Korea to Saudi Arabia, and is expanding its express eateries even as it shuts down its full-service restaurants — 16 in January and another seven this week.

The company said it expects to leave bankruptcy in another seven to 10 weeks.