Who needs food critics when you have a group of hungry firefighters?
Members of , Perry Hall's Baltimore County fire station, received a special preview of Perry Hall's new on Saturday afternoon.
"It's always good to get to know your local fire department," said general manager Debbie Wait.
Overall, they gave the burgers high marks.
Capt. John Ryan, a Perry Hall resident, said he remembers back when Gino's was a fast food staple in Baltimore County.
"It's changed a little bit—but I think it's better than I remember. I think the burgers are better," Ryan said.
EMT Firefighter Lacey Marino agreed. "It was delicious," she said.
The Perry Hall Gino's opened to the public on Monday.
The restaurant, founded in 1957, was named for Baltimore Colts player Gino Marchetti. Its signature menu item is the Gino's Giant.
Decades ago, one of several Gino's had been located along Belair Road, in the current location of the Perry Hall . Slowly, however, the franchises went out of business. The last Maryland location closed in Pasadena in 1991.
But the burger joint returned 20 years later in Towson in . Perry Hall is Maryland's second location. Two others serve customers in Bensalem and King of Prussia in Pennsylvania.
Wait said she's looking forward to greeting an enthusiastic crowd of customers this week.
"We're ready for anything," she said with a laugh.
Have you tried the new Gino's? Let us know what you think of the food in the comments.
Positives: Very friendly service Clean fries were great empolyee efficiency super Old Bay and malt vinegar for fries Negatives Burgers generic. Frozen patties Size of burgers small ( two patties on the Giant may be a quarter pound total) flimsy drink cups Price was to be expected. A Giant combo with small drink is 10.26 with tax. (Chick-Filet combo.. just as much food for 5.96 with tax.) Spending 10.00 for lunch?.. I would still go to Canella's Deli
Overall grade: B+ I put this on par with Five Guys (although better given their vastly superior variety of food options!), a rung below Z-Burger. My comparison is based specifically on burgers and sides. Piggybacking off of Doug's review - I don't agree with his grade of course but it's starting point. Positives: All Doug mentioned to start with. Extrmeely friendly and efficient workers. Even though it was packed, we got our food in about 10 minutes, delivered to the table by a smiling employee! They have loads of seasoning options. Their seasoning bar is insane. You have to see it. It's like as many options for your chicken and burgers as you'd have in your house. I overheard the cashier asking a boy ahead of me if he wanted his chicken breaded or grilled. So you have options with that, too. Doug's assessment of the burgers being generic I patently disagree with. Same with the burger size. The burgers are on par quality wise with Five Guys burgers. They seem small, because I simply think they use buns that are too large. I'd assess the two patties at about 3/8 a pound. Maybe slightly more. The bacon they use is quality. Sounds random, but Five Guys bacon is awful unless you like chargrilled tiny chunks.
Let's see - my wife and I both felt like the burgers WERE slightly overcooked. It's possible they actually were frozen as Doug noted. Still felt the burger quality itself was high. I liked the fact the burgers were (if indeed) slightly smaller. It let me enjoy the rest of the food as I'm not exactly a huge person (although I felt like one afterwards!). - The fries were good. They reminded me of boardwalk fries. Cooked perfectly. - The onion rings were amazing! Although qualifier: If you don't like pepper on onion rings, you won't like these. I suspect about 75% of people will love these, the rest not want to ever eat them again. - We got a cookie dough shake. Having a choice b/t vanilla and chocolate base was nice. However, very chintsy(?) on the cookie dough. Tasted good, but not in the same quality of Z-Burger's shakes. Anyway, we will definitely be back. I want to try some of their chicken options. Someone mentioned the caesar wrap was very good and that's one of my favorites. I seldom eat red meat these days, but Sunday's lunch was worth it. I still think burger vs burger Z-Burger's tops - especially because of the ridiculosuly good shakes I like to indulge in once every blue moon, but Gino's is solidly in #2. Price was a little high as noted. I categorically disagree with people lamenting it's a travesty though. Comparing Gino's to Chic-Fil-A, Wendy's, or some other lesser fast food joint is just comparing Fuji apples to rotten ones.
Chic-Fil A is actually decent, it's one of the few fast food places I'll eat because the caloric content of their foods is largely under control. Still,, I'd eat Gino's over Chic-Fil-A though even at 50% more. It's just better. Others such as yourself can disagree of course. As far as Canella's, Canella's is great, but you aren't going to get a quality burger there. I wouldn't go to Gino's for an italian sub. Just sayin' As far as Double T goes, their food outside of breakfast is mediocre. I've had two non-breakfast meals, and both times I found them lacking in taste and quality. Gino's met my expectations, I expected something in line with Five Guys and Z-Burger, and that's what I got. I look forward to trying their chicken in a couple weeks, to give it a fair comparison to say "Chic Fil-A".
Don't care who makes it. A deep fried chioken sandwich is not real healthy, even if the sainted Chick Fila makes it. The thicker and tastier a milk shake is, the more fat is has, and no matter how you twist it, deep fried fries and onion rings are not good for you, no matter what kind of oil is used. A Deluxe with no mayo (imho a pretty good burger), a side salad and a diet Coke from Wendys probably has 1/4 the fat and calories of a Z Burger, fries and a milk shake, and about 1/2 the price.
On another note.. I drink diet coke, even when I have a big steak, baked potato and all the trimmings. People will say, I'm fooling myself with the "diet" coke. But those same people who are having the healthy grilled chicken and steam veggies, I watch them have 3 or 4 tall beers with it. It's all what you enjoy I guess. We need a recipe section on here. Here's one I love.. When MD peaches are ripe, skin the peach, cut in half, remove the pit. Brush some butter on the flat side, and put face down on the grill for 2 minutes untill it makes sear marks. Then round side down on the grill shelf, pour Ameretto Liquor in the pit hole. Medium heat, lid closed for 12 minutes. Open grill, more Ameretto , and close, five more minutes. Baked Ameretto Peaches !! Great around some vanilla ice cream !
If you honestly think I'm concerned about calories going to Gino's, Z burger, or Five guys, then you simply aren't paying attention. Finally, who gets deep fried chicken at Chic-Fil-A? I'm not. Everyone is allowed an occasional throw-away meal. I know exactly what goes into my body every day, every meal pretty much - the good meals and the bad. This drives my beautiful wife nuts on various occasions. Everything is self calculated. it's what you have to do when you get older, but I've been self trained since way earlier then that.
Don't forget their cool wraps are grilled, and not deep fried as well. It's not just the sandwich. I like the chicken caesar one. I'm due to have one of those next visit - it's been a while. On a related tangent, it's not like they are deep frying the chicken in lard. They use peanut oil, one of the more healthy cooking oils.
No fast food uses lard to deep fry anymore. According to their web site, Chick Fil A does not use peanut oil. They claim in one place that their fries are cooked in 100% canola oil, but when I clicked on the "ingredients" tab, it says they use canola oil and palm oil. It's hard to match up sizes of fries on Burger King, McDonalds and Chick Fil A websites, but near as I can figure they all have about 300 calories and 15 grams of fat (2.5 saturated). Don't really mean to get to deep into bashing Chick Fil A. It just boggles my mind when I see so many families with young children there. They must believe that it is healthy food, and it really isn't.
says peanut oil. I checked something else as well, I forget now. I hear you re: answering my original question though. I would just add that, factoring in everything with generic fast foods, it's better then most as far as calories and distribution of them, and reasonable meal choices that keep you under 600 calories (assuming you can pass on the fries). It's still fast food, ultimately.
So for me, it's a no-brainer... About half the calories and fat, 4.28 less for a combo, and free refills on drinks, I won't be spending 10.26 too often at Gino's.
Indeed, we're all entitled to opinions. I'm not suggesting you should go eat twice the calories at Gino's for nearly twice the price. Sorry but there are two Tim's who post here locally. I put the Darth Vader logo to signify one versus the other, but this is an AOL run website so as such, it's crap. I respect your view on Gino's. I don't agree with some of it, but if you want to talk cost I can hear that argument especially if you aren't going to compare Gino's to it's actual direct competitors. No worries.