Gino’s East is a well-known Chicago institution famous for deep dish pizza done right. Knowing that pizza and beer go together like Cereal and milk, it only made since to start making their own beer. So in August of 2014, that’s exactly what the Gino’s East brand did. After extensive research they decided to ship in beer brewing equipment from Canada. Once they purchased all of the equipment for their Lasalle and Illinois location, the next difficult task was finding a really good Brew Master. They hired a Head Brewer who had exceptional experience. The Brew Master is probably the most crucial element of the entire brew making process. As a seasoned chef painstakingly pairs great menu items with the perfect wine, the Brew Master is the chef equivalent as he makes great tasting brews, pairing each beer with their deep dish pizzas and other menu items. It took approximately three months to set up all of the equipment in their brew house and soon thereafter the brewing started to take place in November of that same year. By the end of December, Gino’s Brewing Company had four different styles of beer. Those brews consist of their Whitte, a nice lighter citrus, orange zesty tasting beer, Helles, which is similar to a German Pilsner, an English IPA, which is like an English style pale ale, and finally they have a Black Rye IPA, which packs a delicious punch and is their highest alcohol by volume beer. The best seller by far is the Helles, because it’s approachable and easy to drink.
Gino’s East currently has five downtown locations and many locations in the Chicago suburbs. They’ve just expanded to Houston, TX and will be opening locations in Austin, San Antonio and Dallas. Earlier this year during Super Bowl weekend, Gino’s East opened a delivery business in Mexico City. Their deep dish pizza is the same in every location, but depending on location certain concepts are tailored to reflect their clientele. For example the River North location features gourmet pizzas like the Barbecue Brisket or the Jalapeno Blue pizza with blue cheese, stuffed jalapenos, bacon and sausage. Although their pizzas are already well received, Gino’s is always looking to be innovativeand more food forward and never afraid to think outside the box (in this case pizza box) for creative combinations.
Gino’s East is part of the Bravo Restaurant Group, a family owned business. Jordan Himmel is the Director of Technology and Deputy Director of Operations for Gino’s East. Jordan’s grandfather started the company 30 years ago. Other restaurants under the Bravo Restaurant Group are Ed Debevic’s, Edwardo’s Natural Pizza, Eduardo’s Enoteca, and Mitchell’s Soda Shop, which is an old Chicago south side ice cream shop located in Homewood, IL, which they bought and redeveloped. Mitchell’s is a super-premium high quality product and can now be found in grocery stores like Whole Foods.
Gino’s Brewing Company...
Making Great Beer and Moving Food Forward Fast