Redding Roadhouse Gets New Chef & New Life
CTbites Team
Big news for fans of the Redding Roadhouse. It looks like the Roadhouse is under new ownership with a hot new chef and a master plan for success. Dan Woog reports on this story in his blog 06880.
For years, Westporters have passed the Redding Roadhouse — the restaurant/bar with live music and a casual-but-almost-biker’s-hangout vibe on Route 53, past Devil’s Den and the Saugatuck Reservoir — and wondered, “What’s up with that?”
For years, they drove on by. A group of Westporters plans to change all that.
Earlier this month Ted Stonbely, his wife Colleen Cook, and her brother Wirt Cook took over the place. When they reopened 3 days later, they’d already made tweaks.
Bigger changes lie ahead. Including more outreach to folks down in these parts.
Reader Comments (4)
When we first moved to Redding (too many years ago to count), The Roadhouse was a staple. Food was good, not great, but consistent and comfortably priced. Over the years, the food became less consistent and the last few times, downright awful. We were so excited to see a new Roadhouse. Tried it last week and tho it is certainly much better than the old one, it has a ways to go. We will certainly return because you have to give a new restaurant a chance to flourish. Quibbles were minor: chowder was too heavy on the herbs and too light on the clams. If the cajun shrimp appetizer is being served with the whole shell on (weird) then please say so on the menu so I know to expect a sauce bath. Caesar salad could have been brighter and better. Fish and chips was heavy on the breading and light on fish and not exceptional (as expected). All in all, minor bumps in the road and with the exceptional service they provided we have high hopes. We wish them best of luck and will return - we see lots of potential.
We too have been going to the Roadhouse for years and are thrilled with the new food and upgrades! (especially the use of local ingredients) To whomever wrote the nitpicking comment above...that is the type of feedback you give directly to the owners, not to broadcast outwardly....especially if your intent is to see their restaurant flourish. To remove any shadow of doubt from anyone reading that..the new menu is great and my family and I have tried almost everything on it. If you have a complaint, I'm sure the new owners would welcome any feedback directly. C. Quigley.
Thanks, EKG, for your honest review. It is helpful, and I know that i can trust you.
I also know that I should not believe anything that Carol writes, because she believes that you should not share anything negative, and dishonestly proclaim that everything is great.
This defeats the purpose of writing or reading any reviews/comments.
As an original customer of the Roadhouse who lived 3 minutes away i thought you may be
interested in what took place in your restaurant on 1/12/13.
We were a party of 3 all from Redding. We sat in the main dining area and our
waitress was a pony tailed young lady with glasses.
My cousin and i ordered spinach salad which was supposed to be with a
balsamic vinaigrette dressing, it came with a mustard dressing, balsamic nowhere to be tasted.
No problem. We then ordered strip steaks which came smothered with butter. The
waitress asked how everything was and i said " not good ". I told her i have
never eaten a steak so smothered with butter. She answered " this is how our chef prepares it
and if you don't like it perhaps this restaurant is not for you ".
On our way out i mentioned to the host that our steaks were swimming in butter and i
hope the owners would hear about this since they are new owners. I said to the host that
based on my experience that night and the fact that the roadhouse has changed hands many
times over the past few years "i hope the new owners have deep pockets " and the answer was
"they do ".
Beat of luck to all involved but there are 3 redding residents who will never be visiting the roadhouse again.
I am proud to be from Redding but not proud to have the roadhouse bear our towns name
I hope this e-mail reaches it's intended recipient,
Sicerely,
R. R