Gina Burke, her husband, Joe Burke, and their son, Joe, Jr., opened Trevi BYOB in April 2011.
12 years later, 21 E Glenside Avenue is still going strong, and after 24 years living in Huntingdon Valley, so are Gina and Joe, Sr.
The Burkes have been in the restaurant business from early adulthood to the present. The duo learned how to make pizza in Manhattan in the early 1980s before they opened our first restaurant in 1984. They owned a cafe in Center City as well as a catering company.
Joe, Jr., a Bishop McDevitt High School and Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College graduate, took over as Trevi’s executive chef about six years ago.
“My son grew up in the kitchen alongside his father, and has the same passion as Joe, Sr. With his skillsets and our family recipes we were able to open up Trevi. We went to Rizzo’s when it was Rizzo’s, and when the building opened up, we saw an opportunity to open.
“He’s always been involved, and now he’s taken over the helm. He was ready,” Gina said of her son, who has provided her and Joe, Sr. with four Glenside-based grandchildren in addition to culinary expertise.
Together, the Burkes frequent Italy to gather fresh ideas and bring them back to Glenside. Trevi’s gnocchi, poppers and some of their wine selections are Italian in origin.
So is a mural from the 1950s, which still exists on Trevi’s second floor.
“A lot of people don’t know this, but there was a mural painted in our upstairs in 1959 for Rizzo’s. It’s of The Piazza of St. Mark, which is a town square in Venice. We commissioned the same artist and he painted our Trevi fountain downstairs when we opened,” Gina said.
Another Trevi fact people may not know: the Burkes own and operate their own boutique winery. It began as a hobby until the Liquor Control Board changed their codes in 2018.
“We applied and were approved, so our hobby became a small add-on business for us. With our passion for wine and food, it just kind of ballooned from there. It adds another element to our brand,” Gina said.
Although the Italian eatery makes their own wine, ownership says they’ll always be a BYOB.
“We have crafts, flights, and pairings for wine and food,” she said. “We also have cocktails, margaritas, and martinis. It adds a nice balance for the person who doesn’t want homemade wine.”
For more on Trevi BYOB, you can visit their Facebook page and website.
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