Rick Patterson, co-owner of the Partridge is answering questions for this week's small business snapshot.

What is the primary purpose of your business? We feed Romans the best home cooking in town. We hope we do anyway.

What is the business background of the owners? I’ve been involved in several restaurants in Rome. When I left Applebee’s this was available and I was fortunate enough to get it. Shannon worked at Pier One.

Why did you start (or purchase) this particular business? I’ve always loved the Partridge. I ate here as a kid and I always wanted, for as long as I could remember, even when I was working at Schroeder’s on Broad that I would come here to eat. I just love the people in the community and when it became available I was really excited that maybe I’d have the opportunity to carry on that legacy for Rome.

What makes your business unique? I think our service style is pretty unique, the family service style. I think that people are shocked whenever people walk in because they are used to the old Partridge. We’ve done a complete remodel on it and we still get new visitors every day who say wow this has changed so much.

What do you enjoy most about your chosen profession? The people, our guests. We have some people here who eat here once a week and we have some people who eat lunch here every day. They quickly become a part of our family, our extended family.

What has been the biggest or most interesting challenge to overcome as a small business owner? I think just letting people know that we’re here and we have stable hours. I think that’s been a little difficult because the previous owners of the Partridge may have cut hours a little back or not opening certain days for certain reasons. We want people to know that we’re open every day that we’re supposed to and if we’re going to be closed for something it’s always going to be advertised. We’re one of the few restaurants that will be open for Thanksgiving as well.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers? I just appreciate the support of Romans. If they haven’t tried us I’d love for them to come by and give us a try. I think the food is delicious and the atmosphere is fun. We’ve just gotten beer and wine in and we’re about to add outside seating. We’ve also tweaked the menu to add hamburgers, hot dogs, salads and hot wings.