Gino's Hamburgers

Gino's Burgers and Chicken

Industry	Fast food
Fate	Acquisition
Founded	1957 (Dundalk, Maryland)
Defunct	1982 (Revived in 2010)
Headquarters	King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
Number of locations	6
Key people	Gino Marchetti (Chain's namesake), Tom Romano (C.O.O. in 1982)
Products	Fast food (including Hamburgers, French fries, and Fried chicken)
Website	www.ginosgiant.com

Gino's Hamburgers was a fast-food restaurant chain founded in Baltimore, Maryland, by Baltimore Colts defensive end Gino Marchetti and running back Alan Ameche, along with their close friend Louis Fischer, in 1957. In Dundalk, Maryland, just outside Baltimore, it got its official name in 1959 when the owners brought on Colts' captain Gino Marchetti. It was an East Coast regional fast food restaurant and had 359 company-owned locations when it was acquired by Marriott Corporation in 1982. Marriott discontinued the brand and converted locations to their Roy Rogers Restaurants chain.^[1] The last Gino's, located in Pasadena, Maryland and owned independently from Marriott, closed in 1986.

The restaurant was known for high-quality hamburgers such as the Sirloiner, which was made from sirloin steak, and the Gino Giant, which predated and later competed with the Big Mac. The company held the franchise for Kentucky Fried Chicken in the middle-Atlantic states. The company’s jingle, played during radio advertisements in the early years was “Everybody goes to Gino’s, ‘cause Gino’s is the place to go!"^[2]

The original menu included french fries made fresh in each restaurant. One of the last menu changes included burgers made from fresh ground beef each morning, unique in the fast food industry at the time.^{[citation needed]}

The company also became known for its philanthropic efforts.^[3] The executives of the company supported many educational, cultural, recreational, and athletic programs. This made the community and the company tied with the common goal of trying to help the youth.

Gino's Burgers and Chicken (2010)

Marchetti, Romano, and Fischer have opened several new Gino's restaurants. Marchetti and Fischer will be serving as consultants. The new restaurants plan to serve burgers, chicken sandwiches, hand-cut french fries and hand-spun milkshakes. Initially, the chain plans to open locations in Pennsylvania and Maryland.^[4]

In charge is Tom Romano, who worked for 20 years with the company, and was C.O.O. in 1982 when the chain was sold. "It's apparent there's a need for better burgers out there," said Romano, citing the success of such chains as Five Guys, and Gino's Burgers and Chicken has placed itself upscale of the earlier Gino's. Gino's plans to make its burgers to order from fresh beef.^[5]

Their first location opened in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, the same town as the original chain's headquarters, on October 25, 2010.^[6] Plans were announced in Spring 2011 for franchise expansion into Baltimore. On August 17, 2011, a second Gino's location opened in Towson, Maryland.

2012 saw the opening of additional locations in Glen Burnie, Maryland, Perry Hall, Maryland and at Oriole Park at Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium . A Gino's franchise opened in Bensalem, Pennsylvania in October, 2012 but closed three months later.^[7]

In 2013 Gino's Burgers and Chicken opened in Aberdeen, Maryland, but closed its King of Prussia location on July 9, 2013. The Perry Hall, Maryland location also closed in 2013.

See also

• Ameche's Drive-in – a former a fast-food restaurant chain based in Baltimore, Maryland
• Chicken George – a former fast food restaurant chain founded in Baltimore, Maryland

References

External links

• Gino's Burgers and Chicken