Toni Calderone, a third-generation restaurateur, was determined to master the franchising business from a young age. When he was only 14 years old, he devoted himself to learning the ins and outs of the industry. He developed his first business plan (a drive-thru pizza concept) in a high school entrepreneurship class when he was 17. Confident in his judgment, he turned in the assignment but skipped class, only to receive a lesson in responsibility from the teacher who failed him.

“He said, ‘Toni, you can have all the great ideas but you have to make them happen. You’re going to be someone important one day, but it’s not going to go anywhere unless you show up,” Calderone recalls. “This hard lesson taught me that I had to show up and start working at a young age. “This set me on a quest to own a franchise one day.”

Calderone is the first woman in her family to own a restaurant; this role was inspired by her mother and grandmother encouraging her independence. Meanwhile, his father highlighted his ambitions by teaching him to be resilient.

His first restaurant was a fine dining, farm-to-table concept restaurant in downtown York, Pennsylvania, where he served from-scratch Italian cuisine. He perfected the spaghetti noodles to be consistently al dente in just three minutes, and something happened.

“We were after something special, like a unique noodle that cooked perfectly every time, thanks to the water we used,” says Calderone. “In Italy you find ordinary pasta places everywhere, but it wasn’t so common here. “I wanted to bring this authentic Italian experience to the United States and started thinking about how I could transform my concept into a quick-service model.”

During the pandemic, Calderone began selling pasta by the pound through his Rig-a-Toni food truck. He took over a shuttered drive-thru restaurant and improved its operations as relief funds allowed him to reinvest in the business. When lockdowns were lifted, he re-imagined his concept as PastaNito, a fun mix of “pasta” and “endless.”

While negotiating for second-generation restaurant locations with low rental activity, it tried various formats, keeping each location under 1,200 square meters. Models included food trucks, market stalls and drive-thru units with end caps.

PastaNito’s menu offers six types of fresh pasta, including vegan and gluten-free options. Customers can customize their bowls with pasta, vegetable, protein and sauce options, leading to more than 33,000 possible combinations, backed by a strong distribution network.

“We ditched our agency model and partnered with a distributor that connected us with small businesses we could grow with,” says Calderone. “We make our meat sauces and noodles from scratch and partner with brands we trust enough to carry their products under our banner.”

Years of planning and preparation, including work with FDD, brought Calderone’s youthful dream to fruition with the launch of the first PastaNito franchise in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania area in September. More locations are in development, including a facility in Maryland and a potential unit at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.

Reflecting on this milestone, Calderone recalls his journey from high school to opening his first restaurant at the age of 30 and encountering numerous mindset shifts along the way.

“As confident as I was, I was struggling with imposter syndrome. “There was a lot of soul searching,” he says. “People were questioning if I could handle anything, but I found myself sitting across from top business people, pitching million-dollar ideas and proving that I could do anything they doubted.”

While working to open her restaurant, develop a franchise model, and recover from the pandemic, Calderone also juggled motherhood, divorce, and a second family; this is testament to his resilience and ambition.

“I want my children to see me overcome many milestones and challenges in pursuit of my dreams,” Calderone says. “I especially want to show my daughter that she doesn’t need to be hardened by the world to be successful. “My legacy is to create space for it and make an impact in an industry where a small percentage of founders are women.”

Carrying forward his family’s legacy, Calderone aims to expand PastaNito to 500 locations within the next five years. Having spent recent years building a franchise infrastructure with attorneys, consultants and brokers, PastaNito is poised to accelerate growth in key markets on the East Coast and Texas in 2025.