Gino's East
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Gino's East is a Chicago-based restaurant chain opened in 1966.
History
The original Gino's East was opened in 1966[1] by two taxi drivers, Sam Levine and Fred Bartoli, and a friend, George Loverde. The deep dish pizza is cooked with the cheese on the bottom, then the toppings and then the sauce. The original location of the restaurant was at 160 East Superior Street, just east of Michigan Avenue, in the Streeterville district of Chicago.
Expansion
The company subsequently opened other locations in the Chicago Metropolitan Area, including Naperville, Rolling Meadows, Lake Zurich, Deerfield, Oak Lawn, and Highland, Indiana. The Oak Lawn location closed in 2008. The Naperville location closed in late 2010 and the Deerfield location closed in 2012. Additionally, Gino's East operates a mail-order business, where patrons can order frozen pizzas and have them shipped overnight. The company opened its first restaurant located outside the Chicago area in Granger, Indiana, but closed it in 2012.[2]
The restaurant eventually moved from its Superior Street location into another space at 633 North Wells Street (in the former Chicago location of Planet Hollywood). The tradition of writing on the walls, however, remains the same in the new location. The original location on Superior Street reopened in 2007. In 2014, the River North location moved just south of 633 N. Wells to 500 N. LaSalle Street, a building previously occupied by nightclub Lasalle Power Co.
In 2014 the company announced expansion into Texas (ATX Brands acquired franchising rights to operate the chain outside the State of Illinois), with the first location outside of Chicago to be located in The Woodlands with a November 2014 opening, followed by a January 2015 opening in Willowbrook, Houston. A San Antonio location opened sometime within the first quarter of 2015 along with an Arlington, TX location. A Downtown Austin location opened in late June 2015. The locations in Texas (Houston, San Antonio, DFW Metroplex) are former Bikinis Sports Bar and Grill locations which were company-owned by ATX Brands.[3]
2015 5 Rabbit beer batch purchase
In 2015, 5 Rabbit Brewery announced that it would cease doing business with Donald Trump because of his statements about Mexican immigrants.[4] The brewery had brewed a batch of beer especially for a bar in Trump Tower Chicago, ceased shipping the beer to the bar, and stated that the beer would be renamed to 'Chinga Tu Pelo' (Fuck Your Hair),[5] in an apparent reference to Trump's hair.[6][7] A few days after that, Gino's East purchased that batch of beer from the brewery.[8]
References
- ^ "These 3 Iconic Food Chains Are Staying True to Their Chicago Roots as They Grow Nationally". Adweek. June 12, 2017. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
- ^ "Heritage Square will offer a slice of Chicago". South Bend Tribune. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
- ^ "Gino's East expands to Texas - Gino's East Of Chicago Deep Dish Pizza". 6 November 2014. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
- ^ "5 Rabbit pulls beer from Trump Hotel bar, will sell at 32 others". Chicago Tribune. 2015-06-29.
- ^ Levitz, Eric (2015-07-02). "Brewery to Trump: 'F*ck Your Hair'". MSNBC. Retrieved 2015-10-16.
- ^ Eng, Monica (2015-06-29). "Local Brewery Turns Off the Tap for Trump". WBEZ. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
- ^ Rotunno, Tom (2015-06-30). "Craft Brewery to Trump: You're Fired!". CNBC. Retrieved 2015-07-04.
- ^ "Take That Trump: Gino's East buys "---- Your Hair" Beer, Donates Proceeds to Latino Cultural Center". Chicago Sun-Times. 2015-07-01. Retrieved 2016-09-01.
