This 1950s Burger Chain Peaked With Over 300 Locations, So What Happened?

This story wouldn't be out of place in a book or a movie. The central character is one of the NFL's biggest stars. His backstory features moments from World War II and the Civil Rights movement, providing the backstory to his rise as one of football's most dominant defensive linemen. And somewhere along the way, he found time to run one of the country's most-loved burger chains. He almost sounds like a real-life Forrest Gump. 

The chain in question is Gino's Hamburgers, which had over 300 locations at its peak, but is also an American burger chains that doesn't exist anymore. And the man behind it was Gino Marchetti, the 11-time Pro Bowler and 10-time All-Pro whose larger-than-life legacy saw him take 34th spot in The Athletic's ranking of Top 100 NFL stars of all time.

Born to Italian immigrants in West Virginia, a 17-year-old Marchetti fought as a machine gunner in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. As captain of the University of San Francisco football team in 1951, he refused to play in the Orange Bowl, taking a stand for two of his black teammates who weren't allowed to play. He made his NFL debut in 1952 and continued playing until 1966. While still at his athletic peak, he launched Gino's Hamburgers along with fellow Baltimore Colts running back Alan Ameche. Within a year of Marchetti coming on board, they went public to secure funds for an expansion.

Gino's Hamburgers had grown to 359 company-owned outlets by 1978. In 1982, the company was sold to The Marriott group, which ended up converting more than half of them to Roy Rogers restaurants while selling the rest. 

Marchetti launched himself into the food business with the same passion with which he launched into countless tackles. He was a hands-on owner, and was often found on the restaurant floor or even the kitchen. "That's just the type of worker he was," his grandson Keith Carter told The Athletic. "Here he is, a part-owner of Gino's franchise and it wouldn't be uncommon for him to be in there cooking the burgers, getting kitchens organized and getting the food consistent."

The first Gino's opened in Dundalk, Maryland, just outside Baltimore, and it grew into a popular mid-Atlantic fast food chain. Newspaper advertisements from the 1960s sell a "meal for 5 at $1.75." The burgers cost 15 cents each, and a portion of fries and drinks were 10 cents each. "For sudden service and spectacularly low prices, everybody goes to Gino's," the ad read. The menu featured high-quality burgers, including the Sirloiner (made from Sirloin steak) and Gino's Giant, its version of the Big Mac. They briefly took the Giant off the menu in 1976, and when they reintroduced it, they did so in style — getting Muhammad Ali to announce the Giant's return in a TV commercial.

This is how a menu from 1971 describes Gino's Giant: "2 patties of fresh ground beef, melted cheese, pickle, shredded lettuce on a double decked seeded roll with Gino's gourmet sauce." That sounds like something that should be on the list of the best burgers in the US.

The 1960s saw Gino's tie-up with another legendary fast-food chain, Kentucky Fried Chicken, which famously got its start at a gas station. The deal Gino's made saw them selling America's most famous fried chicken from their outlets. There are a couple of KFC advertisements promoting Gino's from the 1960s. Additionally, when Marriott started ditching Gino's locations that they didn't turn into Roy Rogers, KFC started taking them up to power their own expansion.

Moree than 40 years after Gino's went out of business, the hamburger chain is still fondly remembered. We're not just talking about Facebook posts and Reddit threads either. There's a Gino's Hamburger Tribute website where fans of the chain have posted rare photographs, old advertisements, posters, souvenirs and stories.

In 2010, there was a mini-revival of the franchise, with two locations in Maryland opening under the name Gino's Burgers and Chicken. The brand describes itself as "a direct descendant of Gino's Inc., a food industry pioneer and icon founded in 1957." They've moved from the fast food segment to the fast casual segment, and while the menu is far more extensive than anything the original Gino's seemed to have, it does still feature the Gino's Giant.