Soda Shoppe changes hands

"You don't try to fix something that's not broken," David Raptis said yesterday, as he finished his lunch at the Soda Shoppe, the restaurant he purchased the day before.

On Thursday, Peter Wright, announced that he had sold the business, which he has owned and operated for the past 27 years, to the Raptis family of Bristol. "You're supposed to have three career changes in 27 years," Wright laughed, explaining that he that had has spent the last 40 years in the food service business. His one career has taken him from University of New Hampshire, Irwins' Pier, Pheasant Ridge County Club and Keller's Ice Cream to the Soda Shoppe, where he managed the restaurant begun in 1971 before acquiring it on New Year's Day 1980. "I'll do something," Wright said. "I can't stop. I'll be playing a lot more golf, doing a lot more snowmobiling and trying to get rid of this belly."

Meanwhile, Jimmy Raptis, David's nephew, said "I'll be trying to fill Peter's shoes" as manager of the Soda Shoppe. The Raptis family owns and operates the Bristol House of Pizza and Village Pizza outlets in Bristol and Ashland.

Apart from his nephew, David Raptis said that he contemplated no changes. "This is a nice family restaurant with good food at the right price and great service," he remarked, watching a busy waitress, who he said "looks like she can do four things at once." As for Greek specialties, Raptis would not rule them out, but vowed "we're not going to take anything off the menu to make room for them."