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About Roma Reviews/Photos Menu Catering Orders To Go Specials Videos Home Page	Orlando Sentinel – Sunday, May 9, 2004 The mid-'60s was a good time to open a restaurant it would seem, especially an Italian one… Roma Ristorante Italiano celebrates its 40th anniversary later this month, but the space it occupies was a restaurant even before that. Eva Bonaduce says she emigrated from Italy with her parents and worked in restaurants owned by relatives throughout the South. On a trip to Florida, her father, Donate Violante, stopped for lunch at a barbecue joint on Orange Blossom Trail in Apopka and jokingly asked if the owner wanted to sell the place. He did, and Violante and his wife, Maria, opened Roma. It wasn't an immediate success. "The very beginning was very hard because there was no one here," says Bonaduce. "It was a very small community here in Apopka, and we had to wait for Disney to come into the area." Bonaduce says she isn't quite sure why the restaurant has been in business so long. "The secret, I wish I knew," she says. "I can only surmise to say hard work, perseverance. Maybe consistency. "Also appreciating your customers, which we really do." Bonaduce says these days she sees the grandchildren of regulars bringing their families to the restaurant.

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Orlando Sentinel –
Sunday, May 9, 2004

The mid-'60s was a good time to open a restaurant it would seem, especially an Italian one…

Roma Ristorante Italiano celebrates its 40th anniversary later this month, but the space it occupies was a restaurant even before that. Eva Bonaduce says she emigrated from Italy with her parents and worked in restaurants owned by relatives throughout the South. On a trip to Florida, her father, Donate Violante, stopped for lunch at a barbecue joint on Orange Blossom Trail in Apopka and jokingly asked if the owner wanted to sell the place. He did, and Violante and his wife, Maria, opened Roma. It wasn't an immediate success.

"The very beginning was very hard because there was no one here," says Bonaduce. "It was a very small community here in Apopka, and we had to wait for Disney to come into the area." Bonaduce says she isn't quite sure why the restaurant has been in business so long. "The secret, I wish I knew," she says. "I can only surmise to say hard work, perseverance. Maybe consistency. "Also appreciating your customers, which we really do." Bonaduce says these days she sees the grandchildren of regulars bringing their families to the restaurant.

Orlando Sentinel – Sunday, May 9, 2004

Orlando Sentinel –
Sunday, May 9, 2004