Philip (Phil) J. Romano is an American restaurateur and

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

. He is best known as the founder of the restaurant chains

Fuddruckers Fuddruckers (sometimes abbreviated Fudds) is an American fast casual, franchised restaurant chain that specializes in hamburgers. The Fuddruckers concept is to offer large hamburgers in which the meat is ground on-site and buns are baked on the ...

and

Romano's Macaroni Grill Romano's Macaroni Grill is a casual dining restaurant chain specializing in Italian-American cuisine. The company claims 41 locations in the U.S. and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado. History Romano's first restaurant was founded by restaura ...

Early life

Romano grew up in

Auburn, New York Auburn is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States. Located at the north end of Owasco Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in Central New York, the city had a population of 26,866 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city of Cayuga County, th ...

. He moved to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

in his early 20s and then moved from

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populati ...

, to

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, in 1976.

Career

Romano has founded multiple restaurant chains with a national or international reach. His biggest successes to date are Fuddruckers, Romano's Macaroni Grill, and EatZi's. Romano has founded more than twenty different restaurant concepts in his career. Romano was also one of the earliest investors in the heart stent. His initial $250,000 investment returned millions of dollars in royalties. Romano now runs a number of restaurant incubators in the west Dallas area known as Trinity Groves. He also co-owns an art gallery on Dragon Street in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

, calle
Samuel Lynne Galleries
named in part after his son, Sam.

Philanthropy

Romano is the Co-founder of Hunger Busters with his ex wife Lille, a Dallas

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * C ...

that feeds the homeless. Phil stepped away from Hunger Busters in 2018.

Personal life

Romano was married to Lillie Romano (they divorced in 2013), with whom he has a son, Sam. Romano and his son, Sam, live in

. Romano is listed as a
artist and author
on the website for Samuel Lynne Galleries in Dallas, Texas. Romano faced controversy when he used racist language and jokes on one of his restaurants' menus

References

External links

Photo with Hilary Swank at 2011 charity eventStory: Phil Romano hopes to leave indelible mark — for more than burgers and pasta
{{DEFAULTSORT:Romano, Phil Living people American restaurateurs Philanthropists from New York (state) People from Auburn, New York People from Dallas Year of birth missing (living people)