There were things I wanted to include in the
but that didn't quite go with the story flow.
When I spoke with Tom Romano, the CEO of Gino's Burger & Chicken, Gino Marchetti happened to be there, too. Not such a fluke. That morning, Marchetti had been at the store for hours, breading chicken. It's a new chicken recipe for the new Gino's -- in the old days, you'd get Kentucky Fried Chicken. This kind of co-branding was one of many notable Gino's innovations, both on and off the grill. Romano, who rose through the ranks of the old Gino's from manager trainee to chief operations officer, credits a corporate culture that rewarded innovation -- and that, he said, came from Marchetti.
Marchetti told Baltimore Sun sports reporter Mike Klingaman that he had been working the grill for almost two hours just a few days ago. He likes being behind the line with the "kids" -- he'll tease them as he's teaching them. They've taken to calling him "Coach," just like the old days, when Colts fans became accustomed to seeing Marchetti behind the line at their neighborhood store.
So far, the new Gino's Burgers & Chicken has exceeded, nearly doubled, all of Romano's sales goals. The only problem so far appears to be the parking lot can't handle the crowds. Marchetti told Klingaman, "Some people waited over an hour to get served....I wouldn't wait an hour for the biggest lobster tail in Maryland."
A few clarifications:
The Gino's founding date I gave in the article - 1959 -- refers to the entry of Marchetti into an already existing restaurant operation founded in 1957.
The relocation of Gino's corporate office to King of Prussia happened in 1968.
photo courtesy Jim Sexton
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