In 1976, Rick Gambino, who at the time was a nightclub singer, opened Gambino’s Italian Grill in Fairhope

And the rest, as they say, is history.

The Fairhope staple that has been a go-to spot for date nights, family traditions and gatherings on Mobile Bay celebrated its 50th anniversary over a soggy weekend. The celebration included face painting, comedians, live music and balloon animals as the surrounding streets were filled to the brim with cars and patrons came to celebrate.

“I turned around about a year ago and I thought, ‘My God, we’ve been here 49 years,’ so I said I’m going to have an anniversary 50th year, and so here we are,” Rick Gambino recalled.

Rick Gambino noted how there aren’t many restaurants with as much longevity as theirs, crediting the restaurant's strong customer base with helping them withstand the test of time.

“Our main focus is making them happy,” Rick Gambino said. “I always said, we run the restaurant from the customer’s chair, not the back office, so it means a lot to us.”

He added that decades of regular customers have turned into friendships, calling it one of the rewards of running the restaurant.

The establishment has also been a family affair, with three generations of the Gambino family having worked there since its inception. Josh Gambino, Rick’s son who will take over the business from his father, noted the hard work their family and staff have put into the restaurant, saying the business has become his niche.

“It’s been a long school of hard knocks but we learn every day in the trenches like that,” Josh Gambino said.

He said he has learned that restaurants cannot be successfully run from a distance, adding that hands-on involvement is essential to daily operations.

“You’re not shoulder-deep in the trenches in the day-to-day. You’re not in touch with it, and it’s just not the key to success,” Josh Gambino said. “The tears and the smiles and the employees and the extended family — it’s a life we’ve always lived (and) all we know for sure. Very proud of us.”