For most of this year, the building at 955 Ethan Allen Highway sat as a for-sale sign and a shuttered kitchen. It had been John's Best Pizza for years before that. In May, two men named Luigi Cardillo and Robert Furnari bought the one-story, 4,003-square-foot property for $1.5 million under the name 955 Ethan Allen LLC. By late July, the building had a new tenant, a new sign, and a crowd of neighbors doing face painting and balloon twisting in the parking lot while First Selectman Rudy Marconi cut a ribbon.
That's a substantial opening, with several dining areas and service options under one roof.
What actually moved into the empty storefront
Riko's Pizza, a tavern-style "bar pie" chain founded in 2011, picked Ridgefield for its seventh Connecticut location and 13th overall, joining existing spots in Darien, Fairfield, Norwalk, Westport, and two in Stamford. The Ridgefield build is not a modest counter-service pizzeria. It's a 3,000-square-foot upstairs dining level with 16 bar seats, an open dining room, televisions for sports, an outdoor patio, a private dining room on the lower level, and a dedicated takeout counter. The menu leans into the chain's signature super-thin-crust bar pies, including something called the Hot Oil Pie, alongside wings, made-to-order salads, and a full bar program of craft beer and cocktails.
Carl Bachmann, Riko's president and CEO, framed the pick as deliberate. He called Ridgefield's dining scene "fantastic" and cited "a strong sense of local pride" as the reason the brand wanted in. The ribbon-cutting on July 30 doubled as the company's 15th anniversary celebration, with Ridgefield Chamber of Commerce representatives standing alongside Riko's leadership for the photo.
Riko's opened at the former John's Best Pizza site.
Restaurant closures this year
Not every storefront turnover this year ended in a ribbon-cutting. The Early Bird Café, a staple on the local breakfast circuit for 35 years, will not reopen after a fire. The owners made the call themselves, closing out more than three decades of serving the same regulars their same order. Separately, a fusion restaurant and cocktail bar that had built a following on brunch, lunch, dinner, and late-night food also announced it was shutting down, according to Patch's ongoing coverage of Ridgefield's business scene.
Those two closures were distinct from the July ribbon-cutting described above.
Riko's opening was a separate development at the former John's Best Pizza site, not a replacement for either closed restaurant.
Why this particular fall matters more than most
Here's the part that actually changes what a Saturday night downtown looks like this season. The same weeks that saw Ridgefield's restaurant lineup shift also happen to line up with the fullest run of Ridgefield Playhouse bookings and the biggest arts weekend of the year at Ballard Park.
Start with the Playhouse. Samara Joy and Her Septet played September 19. Marc Martel's Queen tribute show landed September 27. UB40 followed just two days later on September 29, and Robin Trower closed out the month on September 30. Art Garfunkel is booked for October 8, David Cross for October 10. Then, on November 14, the Playhouse hosts its Fall Gala, billed as An Evening with John Legend. That's seven marquee acts across roughly eight weeks, which is a denser run than most towns this size see in an entire season.
Then there's Ballard Park. The Ridgefield Fall Arts Festival runs October 17 and 18, a two-day event that pulls in more than 75 juried artists showing original fine art and craft work in booths across the park. It's a partnership between the Ridgefield Arts Council and the Ridgefield Guild of Artists, and it's positioned as the last big art show of the season, timed to land at the peak of local foliage. Ten to five both days, rain or shine historically for events like it.
Put the two calendars next to each other and you get a stretch from late September through mid-November where downtown Ridgefield is drawing concertgoers on several listed dates and then adding a full arts weekend on top of it in October. That's a lot of people parking near Main Street and Ethan Allen Highway who are going to want dinner before or after, whether that's a bar pie at the new Riko's, one of the town's longer-standing restaurants, or wherever they can find a table on a night when the Playhouse just let out 500-some people onto the sidewalk.
Restaurant and arts activity this fall
The Early Bird Café and a fusion restaurant and cocktail bar announced closures this year. Separately, Riko's opened at 955 Ethan Allen Highway, the former John's Best Pizza location, with 16 bar seats and a private dining room.
If you've lived here a while, you already know Ridgefield's food and culture scene shifts a little every year. For residents, the event dates and restaurant news can be useful context when planning evenings and weekends around town.
If you're the kind of person who tracks these things about your own street, whether it's a new tenant filling an old storefront or a festival changing your parking plans for a Saturday, that's exactly the kind of local read the team at The Price Team keeps close watch on too.
