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From Busboy To Owner, Ridgefield Man Grows Restaurant Empire In Newtown

This feature about a Ridgefield man who opened his third restaurant in northern Fairfield County was one of our most popular stories of 2017. ICYMI: It's worth another look.

Tony and Furtuna Ramadini, owners of Red Rooster Pub in Newtown

Tony and Furtuna Ramadini, owners of Red Rooster Pub in Newtown

Photo Credit: Sandra Diamond Fox
Red Rooster Pub opened for business at 160 South Main Street in Newtown..

Red Rooster Pub opened for business at 160 South Main Street in Newtown..

Photo Credit: Meredith Guinness
Red Rooster Pub opened for business at 160 South Main Street in Newtown..

Red Rooster Pub opened for business at 160 South Main Street in Newtown..

Photo Credit: Meredith Guinness
Red Rooster Pub in Newtown at lunchtime

Red Rooster Pub in Newtown at lunchtime

Photo Credit: Sandra Diamond Fox
Preparing a pizza

Preparing a pizza

Photo Credit: Sandra Diamond Fox
the bar at Red Rooster Pub in Newtown

the bar at Red Rooster Pub in Newtown

Photo Credit: Sandra Diamond Fox
staff in the kitchen at Red Rooster Pub in Newtown

staff in the kitchen at Red Rooster Pub in Newtown

Photo Credit: Sandra Diamond Fox

NEWTOWN, Conn. — At the age of 16, Tony Ramadani, owner of the Red Rooster Pub in Newtown, came the U.S. from Albania and took a job as a busboy in a Trumbull pizza place.  

Little did he know that he would work his way up the ladder to eventually become the owner of over 15 restaurants.

Earlier this year, he opened the Red Rooster Pub at 160 S. Main St. in Newtown. It serves American cuisine, including burgers, salads, sandwiches, and pizzas, as well as wraps, soups, and dips. The salads include baby kale and quinoa and arugula fennel.

“We offer make-your-own salads,” said Ramadani’s wife, Furtuna, who owns the restaurant with her husband. “You can add any ingredients to any salad that you want.”

Gourmet burgers include the Rooster turkey, which contains guacamole, pico de Gallo and spinach; French, which contains mushroom, caramelized onions, and brie; and Tex-Mex, which contains bison, jalapeno, guacamole, pico de Gallo and American cheese.

The restaurant serves 22 kinds of pizza -- many with unique flavor combinations, including pulled pork and mango; Genoa salami and ricotta; and mashed potato, bacon, and scallion.

“We come up with the ingredients and we have our staff taste it first,” Tony Ramadani said.

“Sometimes, they think I’m crazy,” he joked.

Aside from Red Rooster Pub, the Ramadanis also own Max 40 and Max Wine & Spirits on Mill Plain Road in Danbury and Portofino Restaurant & Pizzeria in Wilton. For the Red Rooster Pub, they took over the space of the former Mona Lisa Restaurant.

The Ramadanis, who live in Ridgefield, travel to restaurants all over the world, including Switzerland, Germany, Italy, and Greece, to get ideas for designs for their restaurants.

“We like to do unique interior designs,” Furtuna Ramadani said.

At Red Rooster Pub, which they built and designed, there is a lot of wood, fireplaces and a patio that will be open in spring.

“We will have the most killer patio, with colorful flowers and plants, trees and a lot of landscaping,” she said. “It will look like a garden.”

“Hopefully we will be a landmark here,” Tony Ramadano said.

His "business school" was all his years of experience in the field, he said.  

At the age of 18, he opened his first restaurant — Portofino in New Fairfield.

“I researched the market and borrowed money from friends. I saved all my money, and put it into the restaurant,” he said. “It was a home run."

Throughout his 40-year career in restaurants, he has performed every job there is, he said. This gives him camaraderie with his entire staff.

“I can relate to them because I was one of them,” he said. “I work side by side with my staff every day.”

He has also contributed to job growth. “We have over 150 to 200 people employed in all our restaurants. They are employed in 60 to 70 jobs, including waiters, bartenders, managers, cooks, hostesses, food runners, chef, line cooks and dishwashers," he said. "We are always hiring."

For more information on the Red Rooster Pub in Newtown, Max 40 and Max Wine & Spirits in Danbury and Portofino Restaurant & Pizzeria in Wilton, click here for the website.

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