Phil Romano THE NETWORK BAR | TRINITY GROVES | NICK & SAM’S | EATZI’S
From mobsters to kings to arms dealers and judges to councilmen to speakeasys, country clubs and exclusive means clubs, Phil has seen it all. He has prepared meals for kings and he knows how to get maximum publicity doing it and he is the man behind the greatest hamburger.
Phil has continually evolved his ideas and concepts from membership only spots to open kitchens and locks on the door - and he continues to do that today with the Network Bar and Trinity Groves.
Phil believes that the fear of failure is much more powerful than the sweet smell of success. He knows that people don’t want the same thing, they want something different. He knows what they want before they do.
He has created concepts that have been replicated over and over. He has done more to pioneer the lifestyle and experiences we see in so many restaurants and bars today. Whether it is the open kitchen concepts (NAGS HEAD PUB) were you can see your meal being prepared, or the food being brought to your table for you to see it before it is cooked. He is also the man behind the salad bar and putting locks on his doors and creating members only concepts.
Phil knew people would pay to have their pictures on the wall, they would buy mugs with their name on it, they would pay to inscribe their names in the bar. He knew they would pay for memberships (ROMANOS 300) before the concept ever opened. At one concept (THE KEY HOLE), he put a padlock on the door and sold thousands of keys to open the lock. He knew that business men wanted to meet (THE NETWORK BAR) and eat at places that other business men were at. He knew that the experience and lifestyle is what people wanted and he knew and still knows how to deliver on that idea.
“Fear is a motivator.”
Many of these ideas he has repeated and evolved and built upon over time. Phil Romano has created dozens of restaurant and bar concepts and many are still around more than 40 years later. He knows what it takes to create concepts that are iconic and are different and serve a lifestyle and experience that people want. He knows how to continually reinvent himself and his business and he is not afraid to tell you how he did it and still does it.
Join us for this amazing conversation with a legendary entrepreneur, and hear about the concepts that have worked for him over and over again, from focusing on experiential and different to creating a bill of rights for each concept that governs the focus and direction of the concepts and the people working there. Phil shares some amazing stories and he is funny as hell.