[E]ric Warnstedt, the owner of two Hen of the Wood restaurants, this week purchased the Prohibition Pig restaurant and brewery in Waterbury.
With the addition, Warnstedt now owns four restaurants with 160 employees.
He said Prohibition Pig’s owner, Chad Rich, was a friend before Rich opened Prohibition Pig in 2012.
“He was thinking about some changes in his life, and I think I was just the logical person to talk to,” said Warnstedt, who owns Hen of the Wood restaurants in Burlington and Waterbury and Doc Ponds restaurant and bar in Stowe. He started his first Hen of the Wood in 2005 in Waterbury.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Warnstedt said he doesn’t have any immediate plans to change Prohibition Pig, a popular South Main Street eatery that specializes in smoked meat and craft beers.
“For us, it’s just getting to know all the staff and building up the foundation,” he said. “We wouldn’t be moving forward with this if we didn’t already love it. Slowly but surely there will be little influences from us. We just want to set it up for success for the next 10 years.”
Warnstedt said he doesn’t have any other immediate plans to expand his company.
“This is pretty huge for us,” he said. “We’re a small organization.”
Rich declined comment.
