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Brick House Brothers
Geno and Franco Cassella have adjusted to keep their restaurants in business
BY Tom Couzens
Brick House Restaurant & Lounge
Owners : Geno and Franco Cassella
Where : 9027 Elk Grove Blvd ., Elk Grove , Sacramento County , ( 916 ) 714-0840
Website : brickhousedining . com Purchased : 2007 Business : Restaurant
Brothers Franco ( left ) and Geno Cassella opened Brick House Restaurant & Lounge in Elk Grove in 2007 and opened a second location in Lodi . The coronavirus pandemic forced them to move seating outdoors .
PHOTO BY TOM COUZENS
Why a restaurant ?
Brothers Geno and Franco Cassella were born and raised in Stockton and grew up around the restaurant business because their father owned two establishments in Lodi , II Studs nightclub and Geno ’ s . Though their father sold the businesses more than 30 years ago , the brothers remember working at Geno ’ s , which Franco describes as a bar and grill . “ We were working , cleaning out floor drains , scrubbing toilets … doing all the fun stuff that 10-year-olds should be doing at the family business . There were times when Geno was flipping burgers , and I was running the register .” Geno , 43 , and Franco , 41 , both graduated from Bear Creek High School in Stockton and earned bachelor ’ s degrees in managerial economics from UC Davis before leaving the area to pursue business opportunities , Geno in Las Vegas and Franco in Seattle . But , in 2005 , “ knowing we wanted our families to grow up together , we decided to go into business for ourselves ,” Franco says . “ Searching
20 comstocksmag . com | October 2020