Viron Rondos - “The Quintessential Host”
Born in Greece, Viron Rondos started working in Athens’ restaurants at the age of 17 and has never stopped. When moving to New York City in 1999, he honed his skills at the now famous “Patsy’s Pizzeria” chain, being promoted to manager, responsible for opening new locations across the city. Additional NYC successes include opening and managing highly regarded “Trata” and “Avra” Mediterranean restaurants. Viron continued to dream the American dream of entrepreneurship and relocated his family in 2007 to Litchfield County, CT becoming partner/manager of the Italian de Capo restaurants in Litchfield and Avon. Then in 2015, a pivotal year for Rondos, he launched Viron Rondo Osteria, in Cheshire, CT as sole owner and proprietor. Rondos was executing on every metric, business was growing, the restaurant’s reputation was spectacular allowing him to embark on a new dream of expansion including outdoor seating. Then the COVID-19 pandemic nightmare hit—Viron’s experience, leadership and vision were the ingredients of success.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, as many restaurants were forced to close Rondos pivoted to takeout and made full use of his outdoor seating area funded through an SBA 504 loan. Indeed, the decision in 2019 to create an expansive outdoor seating area with a capacity of over 200 would prove to be crucial for the restaurant to survive. To further continue business operations, he secured SBA Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster (EIDL) loans, which allowed for business continuity and consistent staffing.
Over the last 2 years, Viron has navigated a multitude of pandemic-related regulations and setbacks. He faced each challenge prioritizing his business, his employees, and his community. Furthermore, while the pandemic “stay at home” orders were in place, Viron knew that healthcare workers needed to care for the sick and their families. He and his team offered “essential workers discounts” and pivoted the entire restaurant to take-out. Every day the COVID-19 pandemic brought a new challenge and Viron Rondos successfully worked through each one. Fast forward to today, Viron Rondo Osteria is thriving. Families and friends have returned to in-person dining celebrating milestones at a table of good food, affordable prices, in a well-appointed atmosphere, all under the direction of Viron Rondos—The Quintessential Host.
Viron Rondo Osteria's success has been recognized; being awarded the 2021 Connecticut Restaurant Association’s Restaurant of the Year for the Southern Region of Connecticut and SBA’s Connecticut Small Business Person of the Year - 2022. “I owe a huge ‘thank you’ to my staff that is as deserving of the recognition as I am,” says Rondos ‘and especially these past 2 years, I am so grateful for the support of the SBA and all the officials in Connecticut that did their best to help restaurants during the COVID-19 crisis.”