NAUGATUCK — Dickey’s Barbeque Pit has changed hands.
Robert and Bonnie Cacioppo took over management of Dickey’s Barbeque Pit on Rubber Avenue in August. Last week representatives of the Naugatuck Chamber of Commerce and local dignitaries gathered at the restaurant to celebrate its new owners with a ribbon cutting.
The Cacioppos, who live in Greenwich, took the restaurant over from Donna and Mark Ferrari, who opened the restaurant in May 2012. The restaurant was the first Dickey’s restaurant to open in the state.
Robert Caciopposaid said prior to taking over Dickey’s he worked with the California-based a winery distributor E & J Gallo Winery. Dickey’s is not the first restaurant that Cacioppo has managed, however. Cacioppo said he worked at and managed a lot of restaurants in Long Island, N.Y. and Los Angeles, Calif. He said when he was searching for a franchise to purchase, Dickeys was always at the top of the list.
“My first passion is the restaurant business. I wanted to get back into it with a franchise,” Cacioppo said.
