Gino Iovino doubled down and risked it all on Philadelphia and Atlantic City. Where others saw gritty urban facades with little to offer, Iovino saw diamonds in the rough.

First, he gambled on an Italian restaurant - Girasole Ristorante, at 13th and Locust Streets - in 1990, when there was not as much of a food scene in downtown Philadelphia. It became a hit, so he took the concept, and name, to Atlantic City two years later.

Read more

Source: http://www.philly.com/