At the age of 14, Gary Zickel started his career in the food industry as a dishwasher. By the age of 28 he opened seven burger and pizza restaurants in Oakland county Michigan for a small, yet up-and-coming chain. Several years later he moved to Chicago and opened with his partner five successful restaurants, two of which (sushi wabi and Tank sushi) drew the attention of Nina & Bob Mariano, as they were getting ready to open their first grocery store in Illinois under the Mariano’s brand. They approached Gary to assist them with bringing restaurant quality sushi into a grocery store. The Oki sushi brand for Mariano’s was developed and its success led Mariano’s to employ Gary to bring other restaurant style concepts into the ‘grocerant’ area of the stores. These concepts now include full service sit-down oyster bars, smoke-house BBQ’s, vegetarian bars, tea bars and elevated sandwich, pizza and meal offerings.