After 42 years Modesto’s Ridgway’s sold, reopens with new name and Instagramable feel
They still plan to have good food, good friends and good spirits, but you just won’t be able to call them Ridgway’s anymore.
The restaurant formerly known as Ridgway’s in east Modesto’s Century Center shopping complex has been sold to new owners and changed names after 42 years in business. The new restaurant in its place, The Secret Garden, offers similar breakfast, lunch and dinner fare — but with a more contemporary spin and look.
New owners and business partners Norma Moreno and Andy Chhay have transformed the longtime Modesto diner and karaoke lounge into a more modern restaurant and bar. But, don’t worry, the karaoke remains.
Known for its loyal regulars, singing scene and once ubiquitous TV commercials imploring guests to “Meet me at Ridgway’s,” the brand was started in 1980 by founder and longtime owner Roy Ridgway. A second location opened in Oakdale and lasted eight years.
The Century Center location continued going strong until 2017 when, after 37 years of running the restaurant, Ridgway retired and sold it to former Sandy’s Sweet Shop owner Meng Liev. She ran the restaurant for the last five years, but sold earlier this year to Moreno and Chhay, who were all friends before the sale.
“When we came and looked I liked the location and the vibe of the whole restaurant,” she said. “But it needed a cleaning and an update. We wanted to make a fresh start with a new name.”
New restaurant owners renovate old Ridgway’s
After a whirlwind 35-day interior renovation, Moreno and Chhay reopened the spot on Mother’s Day weekend. While the new owners kept the original floor plan at the 5,000-square-foot space, the dining room has been given a new, clean black-and-white look. Everything inside, from the flooring to tables and booths and lighting, is new.
They decided to keep the wooden walls of the lounge, but have updated the back of the bar and added a slew of fancy specialty drinks as well as champagne flights. The new Secret Garden has lush Instagramable spots with neon sayings perfectly made for snapping pictures of its new, playful drinks, including its “A Walk In the Clouds” (champagne, vodka, triple sec topped with a cloud of blue housemade cotton candy).
The menu has gotten a similar, younger revamp. You can still get your basic breakfast of eggs, bacon and potatoes. Or you can try new items like bananas foster french toast, matcha “green tea” waffles or breakfast tacos (breakfast specials run around $10 to $18 and are served until 2 p.m.)
Moreno said they had originally planned to open only as a brunch spot, but decided to serve all day to take advantage of the restaurant’s longstanding lounge. The menu’s smaller selection of lunch and dinner items are offered 11 a.m. onward.
Those menus include a variety of burgers (including a vegan-friendly portobello burger), sandwiches, salads, pastas, steaks and seafood. Moreno said they are bringing back Ridgway’s prime rib, which will be served on Fridays. Entrees run from $12 to $23, with the priciest item on the menu the $55 filet mignon and lobster tail surf n’ turf.
New menu, cocktails, vibe at Century Center spot
For long-time regulars the addition of different fare — including raw oysters and kale salads — might come as a bit of a shock. But Moreno said they’re still offering senior discounts (as well as military and first responder discounts), and already know many of the spot’s most loyal customers on a first-name basis.
This is Moreno and Chhay’s first full-service restaurant together, but they’ve operated the cafeterias at two major Kaiser-Permanente facilities in the Bay Area for years. The duo kept about a half-dozen of the existing staff, including the head server and two cooks. and hired another 10. Chhay is now executive chef, and the restaurant hopes to hire about a dozen more people.
The $170,000 renovation includes updating the about 70-person banquet room, which has been expanded by the removal of a storage area. In the next few months the restaurant will also install a commercial espresso machine, to be able to make specialty coffee drinks, and also start serving fresh juice drinks.
And then, of course, there is the karaoke. The lounge has karaoke nights Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights, with the Ridgway’s karaoke nights host at the helm, so get those pipes ready. In the future they plan to open a second bar area, inside the main dining room, for people to have quieter cocktails away from all of the ruckus.
The Secret Garden Restaurant & Lounge, at 2401 E Orangeburg Ave. in Modesto, is open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, with the lounge staying open until 12:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. For more information call 209-846-9559.
