Rondo, Roma’s and The Rock

Ron “Rondo” Fernandez holds a freshly-made pepperoni pizza at Roma’s Italian Restaurant in Ocala, Fla. on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2025.

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Posted October 20, 2025 | By Susan Smiley-Height, [email protected]

You can enjoy a traditional Italian meal at Roma’s Italian Restaurant or sample a creative new “mash-up” at the adjacent Roma’s Bar Side. And every diner also has the option to “round-up” their bill to provide a donation to the nonprofit The Rock Program, which helps local high school students in need.

The restaurateur behind all this is Ron “Rondo” Fernandez, who sold his famous Mojo’s franchise about three years ago.

“I was supposed to retire but I got drawn back in,” he said during a recent tour of Roma’s, which features a spacious courtyard in between the Bar Side and the main dining room. The venue is located in the Shops at Foxwood center off U.S. 27 west of Ocala.

Fernandez explained that he is part of a consortium that owns several area eateries.

“When I sold Mojo’s, I was an existing part of two restaurant groups. Mojo’s was one and this other group was one. We don’t have a name, but we own Elevation 89, County Line, Anchor Inn, Pizza Joint and this is part of the group. They also own Say Taco, but I’m not involved in it. So, we have five restaurants that I am part of,” he shared.

In a recent post on Facebook, Chris Wilson, a partner in the group, stated: “October 1st breakfast with Rondo, an important day. 20 years to the day we started Rondo’s. In the years that followed, I fired him, he fired me, but somehow, we got back up, dusted ourselves off and remained friends. Fast forward to October 1st, 2015. That day marks the beginning of our current restaurant group, which has now grown to what is possibly the largest locally owned non-chain restaurant group in Marion County. Thanks to all who support us at Elevation 89 At The Ocala Airport, Say Taco Tequila Bar & Grill, County Line Smokehouse & Spirits, The Anchor On Sunset Harbor, The Pizza Joint and Roma’s Italian Restaurant. We made mistakes, we learned, we grew. And who knows, we may still have something up our sleeve in the future.”

Roma’s was founded by Lorenzo Del Giudice, who died in 2018 at the age of 79. He began working in the restaurant business when he was 16, soon after he emigrated from Italy, and went on to own several restaurants in New York, Ohio and Florida. He ran Roma’s with his wife, Kris, and they also bred thoroughbreds.

Fernandez said his group bought Roma’s about two years ago and he came on as the managing partner about a year ago.

“It’s all connected,” he said sweeping his arm across the interior of the Bar Side, past the courtyard and in the direction of the main dining area.

“Here on the Bar Side, we do bar food with an Italian twist. You can get smash burgers here, then we take some Italian traditional stuff and kind of recreate it. Like a Fried Green Tomato Caprese Salad and Buffalo Cauliflower, which I think is amazing, as are our Buffalo Garlic Knots. We get to create over here. A little mash-up. I’m glad I get to do fun stuff,” Fernandez said with a twinkle in his eyes.

“In the courtyard, we have private parties, karaoke, trivia, things like that. It’s always packed out here,” he noted.

A poster announcing special events and offerings notes things such as Munchie Mondays, with “crazy chef” creations; Two For Tuesdays, with music bingo and Name That Tune; Wednesday Ladies Night; Thursday, trivia; Friday and Saturday, raw bar specials; Sunday, comfort food and brunch specials; and Daily Specials.

Fernandez, who was born in South Florida but moved to Marion County as a youngster, freely admits that learning to cook Italian has “not been easy.”

“It has been a learning experience. People are so territorial about their cultural Italian food. Italy is a country that has different regions and different foods. Trying to find something that makes everybody happy and kind of fits all the regions has been a challenge,” he shared.

“And learning the dough aspect and the hand tossed pizza. It’s becoming a lost art, but we’re still doing hand tossed. We’re still old school in our preparation. But also, our biggest challenge is finding the talent to keep doing that. It’s usually something somebody learned from their dad or learned as a kid,” he added.

Fernandez said that when he came into Roma’s, he felt they needed to change some basic concepts.

“We’re switching to fresh ingredients, switching to cooking less more often, instead of in big batches. Concentrating on new and fresh, especially with the demographic coming in with the World Equestrian Center. They were wanting a fresher, younger type feel, so that’s when we added our Detroit style pizza and entertainment all the time,” he explained.

“His Italian menu was serving the whole complex,” he said of Del Giudice. “So, we started doing the smash burgers and some of that cool stuff you see on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. We take traditional Italian and do cool things with it, like Italian nachos,” he added.

Fernandez said he still has the “same pizza guy” and many longtime customers. Pizza, by far, remains a favorite for clients. There’s even a “pizza window” just inside the front door of the main dining room, where you can salivate over whole pies, the pinwheel of the day and more.

And for those with a sweet tooth, there are Cannoli’s, Tiramisu Bread Pudding, New York Style Cheesecake and Zeppoli’s, which he describes as “fried pizza dough tossed in a little bit of powdered sugar.”

No matter which meal you choose from the robust menu, you can help local students in need by rounding up your bill for The Rock program.

The program has resource rooms in high schools in Marion, Lake and Citrus counties. Each room is stocked with essential supplies, such as food, clothing, hygiene products, school supplies and more. Rock Rooms are supported by community volunteers and school support staff.

“We serve about 300 kids a day. We are in three counties now and at the end of this year will have 27 permanent locations at different schools. And we are working to add Sumter and Levy counties. We helped 10,000 kids in Marion County last year,” Fernandez noted.

Fernandez and his wife, Toby, started the 501©(3) nonprofit and she remains a volunteer. Their daughter, Amber Ellman, is the director of operations. Troy Weaver is the executive director. The foundational pillars of The Rock are refuge, foundation and purpose.

To learn more about Roma’s, go to romasocala.com and find them on social media.

For information about the nonprofit, go to therockprogram.org