Gino Palma is the embodiment of the American dream. The Pozzuoli-born restaurateur emigrated without any family to the United States at the age of 19. He had almost no money and spoke very little English, but he knew he could find employment in foodservice. He worked 15- to 17-hour days at Italian restaurants throughout Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland, doing everything from washing dishes to bussing tables. Slowly, he began to work his way into the kitchen with an eye on entrepreneurship.
Now 48, Palma opened his third Facci in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor in March 2024 after successful launches in Laurel and Ellicott City. Palma, in a recent sit-down interview with the Beverage Journal, said, “I love looking for a location, finding the location, negotiating the lease, and seeing the completion of the vision in my mind. After that, after this baby has come to life, I loveit when people walk in, and their mouths open, and they look around for the first time and say, ‘Wow! Look at this! Look at that!’”