 The chain was founded by Howard N. Quam, a Chicago native, who served in the US Marines and then worked as a blackjack dealer at the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas.In the mid-1960s, Quam moved to Florida and opened his first restaurant, which he named in honor of the casino.He returned to Chicago in 1966 to open additional restaurants then moved back to Las Vegas in 1988, where he opened other restaurants.