Gino's Hamburgers

Gino's Burgers and Chicken

"Everybody Goes to Gino's"
Industry	Fast food
Fate	Acquisition
Founded	1957 (Dundalk, Maryland)
Defunct	1982 (Revived in 2010)
Headquarters	King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
Number of locations	2
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. A new group of restaurants under the Gino's name involving some of the principals of the original chain was started in 2010.

The first Gino's was opened in Dundalk, Maryland, just outside Baltimore; it got its official name in 1959 when the owners invited on Colts' captain Gino Marchetti to become a partner. In 1967 Gino's merged with Tops Drive Inn, a chain of 18 drive-in restaurants located in the Washington, D.C., area; most Tops locations were rebranded as Gino's. In the early 1970s, the company attempted to expand from its East Coast base into the midwest, however these locations only operated a short period. For one location, it purchased Orchestra Hall in Detroit and planned to demolish the structure to construct a restaurant. When the plan became public, it led to a grass-roots campaign to save and restore the abandoned structure.

The chain had 359 company-owned locations when Marriott Corporation acquired it in 1982. Marriott discontinued the brand and converted locations to its Roy Rogers Restaurants chain. The last Gino's, located in Pasadena, Maryland and owned independently from Marriott, closed in 1986.

Gino's also operated the Rustler Steak House chain, which was sold by Marriott shortly after its purchase of Gino's.

The restaurant was known for hamburgers such as the Sirloiner, which was made from sirloin steak (and was originally a staple of Tops Drive Inn), and the Gino Giant, which predated and later competed with the Big Mac. The company held the franchise for Kentucky Fried Chicken in the Mid-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!"