Remember the fast food chain GINO’S? I seem to remember them
also selling Kentucky Fried Chicken as well. Was there a corporate merger, or was it just a franchise?
Ginos . . . ah, yes, named and founded by Baltimore Colts great Gino Marchetti (sp?). It did serve KFC through some kind of marketing deal with Col. Sanders. Ginos eventually merged with one of the fast food chains. It wasn’t KFC, perhaps it was Hardees.
I remember the answer to this one from a book on Fast Food/Resturant design…and it’s on the web:
May 5, 1982 Marriott acquires Gino’s fast food restaurant chain, and plans to convert most units to Roy Rogers restaurants.
i’m glad you posted this. gino’s selling kfc is one of those memories i have that no one can ever corroborate and i wasn’t sure if i just dreamt it. i thought gino’s was the first seller of kfc, predating the actual kfc chain. anyone?
Colonel Sander first sold his chicken at his own “restaurant” (actually a gas station, IIRC). Then he travelled around and sold the right to use his methods, recipe, and trademark to various other restaurants. Then came the chains, like Gino’s and Topp’s. And finally his own chain, the KFC’s that we know today.
A Gino’s went in near my home when I was a kid, and it’s where I first encountered Kentucky Fried Chicken. In fact, I didn’t realize that KFC had their own stands for a long time – there weren’t any KFC-only stands nearby.
Gino’s also sold hamburgers, cheeseburgers, etc. They would give you ketchup in a small cup called a “Tater Dunker” (Someone tell Tatertot about this), called a “TD” by the staff.
The local Gino’s did become a Roy Rogers, but was sold to Wendty’s later on, and it’s a Wendy’s still.
There is a new Gino’s that just opened up by my work. It is on street road in Bensalem, PA. It is SOOOOOOOOO Delicious!!!
Gino’s owned the KFC franchise for some mid-Atlantic states. I used to work at Gino’s HQ in the 70’s. They didn’t follow the common model of franchising individual stores. All Gino’s restaurants were owned directly by the main corporation, we did payroll for every employee weekly. Their offshoots in the Rustler Steakhouses seemed more profitable than the Gino’s restaurants. They eventually sold the whole operation to Marriott, and are now making some sort of comeback.
Gino Marchetti was mostly a name to put on the restaurants that started in the Baltimore area since he was a well known member of the Colts (kids, they used to be the Baltimore Colts). But he did maintain an interest in other restaurants, and is associated with the current comeback of the restaurant chain.
What did they have besides Hamburgers and KFC?
I remember the Ginos down the block from me in Arlington…I ate there all the time with my lawn mowin’ change.
But, I don’t think It was a burger…unless it was soo good It was erased from my memory. :dubious:
Did they have Roast Beef or something also?
Seems funny to us now, but there was a time fairly recently when Col. Sanders wasn’t known at all. Here’s a Youtube link to Col. Sanders appearing on the TV show What’s My Line. He gave his regular name, and no one on the panel recognized it at all.
Not a gas station – it was Harmon’s in Salt Lake City. Out there the KFC’s were originally all Harmon’s restaurants. I ate at the “World’s First KFC” when I lived out there. The Harmon’s places were much more like sit-down restaurants. One had a waiter, and you could get things like cooked carrots with your meal. Definitely not a gas station.
Not that I recall – and I think I’d remember, since I knew of no other places serving roast beef sandwiches at the time (no Arby’s restaurants nearby). You could get standard MacDonald’s-type fare (hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, soda, shakes) along with boxes or buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken (this was long before “Exytra Crispy” or the recent Grilled chicken. If you asked for chicken, they didn’t ask you “what kind?”) Plus the 'Tater Dunkers. They didn’t have the array of sides that KFC now sells, either – no Cole Slaw, Corn on the Cob, Mac and Cheese, etc. Fast Food then was a pretty vegetable-free world.
And, even though this is a Zombie, no Brains.
:eek: 
BTW…is a 10 1/2 year zombie resurrection a board record?
Same here - I was surprised when I saw a true KFC restaurant for the first time.
Obligatory bad jokes:
Q: “Why don’t they have bathrooms at McDonald’s?”
A: “cause Gino’s is the place to go!” (“Everybody gooooooooes to Gino’s, 'cause Gino’s is the Place. To. Go.”).
Q: “Why don’t they have toilet paper at Gino’s?”
A:" “cause everything there is fiiiiiiinger lickin’ good!”.
Well, is resurrecting the Gino’s name after near-30 years (1982) a franchise zombie record?
1963 is fairly recently??? 
I am pretty sure Extra Crispy was started in the '70’s and Gino’s offered it. :smack:
According to the Wikipedia KFC site, Extra Crispy was introduced in 1972, but I don’t remember them ever carrying it at the Gino’s I went to.
The site also has a picture of the “First KFC Restauant” in Salt Lake City. I’ve easten there, but I though I heard it had been torn down.
zombie or no
why is a steak talking about chicken?
Many Gino’s didn’t offer extra crispy because they didn’t have the equipment for it. KFC was expanding their product line, and many of their own stores didn’t upgrade their equipment right away either.
Just had Gino’s open up here, they sell chicken too. They’re at the same location across from the high school where they were when I was a teen
I haven’t tried the chicken yet but the Giants are yummy. They also have the Ameche Burger, which I haven’t tried yet either.
Don Ameche being another of the Baltimore Colts. He had his own fast food chain too.