Coming to PALC on February 17, 2020
The MAD Entrepreneur: Making a Difference in the World, in Business and in Life
Philip J. Romano is an investor, entrepreneur, artist and nationally-renowned restauranteur. Involved in the restaurant business for over fifty years, he has created over twenty-five concepts with six of them national concepts. Romano currently owns and operates eatZi’s Market & Bakery, Nick & Sam’s Steak & Fish House, Nick & Sam’s Grill and Coal Vines Pizza.
Romano’s creativity expands beyond restaurants to art. He began painting 30 years ago and never sold a piece of art until 2008. To date he has sold over $1 million of his own artwork. He partnered with Reflectionist Movement Artist, JD Miller of Dallas, opening Samuel Lynne Galleries. The Gallery features both Romano’s and Miller’s works and an ever expanding list of additional artists, focusing on art of the 21st Century.
He was principal in EGP, a partnership that held the licensing rights to the Palmaz-Schatz Stent, purchased by Johnson & Johnson, Inc. It is said to be one of the most successful medical devices of its time and is considered one of the patents that has changed the world. This was the original stent and has become a $6 billion a year industry.
Philip Romano and his family established a charitable foundation, The Food Foundation, which operates as Hunger Busters and has been in operation for 16 years. Hunger Busters provides food to the hungry and serves over 450,000 meals per year to school children in Dallas.
Romano’s latest venture is Trinity Groves, with approximately 90 acres at the foot of the Calatrava Bridge in Dallas. Fifteen of those acres are a restaurant concept incubator creating brands for the millennials and to induce entrepreneurs to start businesses and create jobs and tax revenue for the city of Dallas.
Philip Romano’s most recent concept is the Network Bar – a “first of its kind” members only establishment where people can network, connect, socialize, have dinner and do business all in the same place. The Network Bar opened in October 2017 in Trinity Groves.
A native of New York State, Mr. Romano presently resides in Dallas, Texas.