Gino’s Hamburgers: Remembering the Gino Giant and Baltimore Colts Connection
Gino’s Hamburgers grew from Baltimore-area roots into a Mid-Atlantic favorite known for burgers, fried chicken, and its connection to football player Gino Marchetti. Discover how the restaurant became a hometown landmark, disappeared after a corporate acquisition, and later returned under a new name.
OPENING
At early Gino’s restaurants, customers could get more than a hamburger. They might also meet the Baltimore Colts star whose name appeared on the sign.
Writer Mary K. Zajac’s account of the restaurant’s history describes Gino Marchetti working in the kitchen, helping clean up, and signing autographs. His involvement helped connect the restaurant with Baltimore’s football community.
The original Gino’s chain eventually disappeared. However, its burgers, familiar advertising, and hometown connections left memories strong enough to support a revival decades later.
AT A GLANCE
Place: Gino’s Hamburgers
Also known as: Gino’s; later revived as Gino’s Burgers & Chicken
Historical location: Dundalk, Maryland, near Baltimore; later expanded throughout the Mid-Atlantic
Category: Fast-food restaurants
Opened/established: Business roots date to 1957; the Gino’s name followed in 1959
Closed/disappeared: Acquired by Marriott in 1982; the original chain disappeared through conversions and closures, with a final independent location reported closed in 1991
Current status: The original chain is gone; a revived Gino’s Burgers & Chicken business lists Maryland locations
Remembered for: The Gino Giant, the Sirloiner, fried chicken, memorable commercials, and Baltimore Colts connections
HOW IT BEGAN
Gino’s history reaches back to a restaurant venture established in 1957 in Dundalk, Maryland. The early business involved Alan Ameche, Joe Campanella, and Louis Fischer.
Gino Marchetti became a partner, and the restaurant adopted the Gino’s name in 1959. This distinction explains why histories sometimes give different founding dates: 1957 marks the business’s beginnings, while 1959 marks the arrival of the familiar name.
The early Gino’s restaurant stood at 4009 North Point Road in Dundalk.
Football was an important part of its identity. Marchetti, Ameche, and Campanella had Baltimore Colts connections, giving the business a close relationship with local sports fans.
As the restaurants expanded, Gino’s became familiar beyond Baltimore. Customers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and other Mid-Atlantic communities came to know the name.
WHAT MADE IT SPECIAL
Gino’s offered recognizable menu favorites, including the Gino Giant and the Sirloiner. These signature burgers helped give customers a reason to remember the chain by name.
Fried chicken was another important part of the experience. During the 1960s, the business obtained rights to sell Kentucky Fried Chicken in parts of its operating territory. Customers could find burgers and the Colonel’s chicken through the same restaurant business.
Its advertising also helped build recognition. Commercials featuring comedian Dom DeLuise became part of the chain’s public identity, alongside a familiar musical invitation to visit Gino’s.
However, the restaurant’s meaning often reached beyond its food.
In Mary K. Zajac’s feature, longtime customers Laurie High and Carrie McFadden recalled walking to a Towson Gino’s as part of their Saturday routine. They ordered burgers, fries, and a small Coke, then sat at their usual table.
That kind of memory captures what made Gino’s special. A simple meal could become a childhood ritual, while its football connections gave the restaurant a strong sense of place.
THE FINAL CHAPTER
Marriott acquired Gino’s in 1982. The acquisition brought a major change to the restaurant business that customers had known for decades.
Many Gino’s locations became Roy Rogers restaurants. Others closed or converted to Kentucky Fried Chicken. As a result, the Gino’s name disappeared gradually rather than through one nationwide closing day.
A 2011 historical account published by St. John Properties identifies an independently owned restaurant in Pasadena, Maryland, as the last original Gino’s. It closed in 1991.
For former customers, the change meant losing a familiar local restaurant identity. Even when another restaurant continued serving food at a location, the Gino’s sign and atmosphere belonged to an earlier chapter.
The name returned in 2010 with Gino’s Burgers & Chicken. Restaurant veterans Tom Romano and Tom Clatterbuck helped launch the revival, with Marchetti serving on its advisory board.
WHAT’S THERE NOW?
The original Gino’s chain no longer operates in its former form. However, the revived Gino’s Burgers & Chicken keeps a connection to its history.
As of October 13, 2026, its official website lists these Maryland locations:
- Glen Burnie: 7598 Ritchie Highway
- Towson: 8600 LaSalle Road
The revived business describes itself as a descendant of the original company. Its restaurant concept includes burgers, chicken, hand-cut fries, and milkshakes.
These are locations associated with the revival. Their listing does not establish what occupies every former Gino’s property.
The present condition of the original North Point Road site was not independently verified for this story. Former restaurant buildings elsewhere also require individual address research.
DO YOU REMEMBER GINO’S HAMBURGERS?
Was your favorite order a Gino Giant, a Sirloiner, or fried chicken? Do you remember the commercials—or meeting Gino Marchetti at a restaurant appearance?
Share your memories with Forgotten Spots. Include the town, street, and approximate year if you remember them.
Historical photographs, menus, advertisements, employee uniforms, and restaurant souvenirs can help preserve the story. Please identify the owner of any materials you submit and whether they may be published.
SOURCES AND CREDITS
- Gino’s Burgers & Chicken — Official Website: The revived company’s identity, restaurant concept, and listed Maryland locations.
- St. John Properties — “Gino’s Returns to Its Roots,” April 7, 2011: North Point Road location, Marriott acquisition, restaurant conversions, final independent location, and revival.
- Mary K. Zajac — “Everybody Goes to Ginos”: Marchetti’s restaurant involvement, Kentucky Fried Chicken connection, and attributed customer memories.
- Kiplinger — “Classic Restaurant Chains: Where Are They Now?”: Signature burgers and advertising history.
- Gino’s Hamburgers — Historical Overview: Supplemental founding chronology distinguishing the business’s 1957 roots from the 1959 Gino’s name.