Dispatch: Martinez Woman Living Her Dream

Roxanne Cole is living the American dream right now, and it has less to do with financial success than it does with the fact that she’s doing what she’s always dreamed of doing, and she’s loving every minute.

“I’ve always wanted to open a restaurant,” she said. “My dad had an Italian deli and grocery in Richmond. My sisters followed my mom, and I went into grocery stores like my dad.”

Cole started out as a grocery checker, and over the years worked her way up into management.

“I was in the business for 35 years, and a store director for 18 years,” she said.

Cole, who has lived in Martinez for 20 years, decided that, after 30 years in the grocery business, “it was time to move on.”

She invested her savings in her life dream last year, which was opening a restaurant. She found the Main Street building where Roxx on Main now stands.

“I told my husband Reed what I wanted to do, and I seriously thought about it for six months,” she said. “I’ve always been involved with food one way or the other, and I like serving people. I had retirement money, and I wasn’t ready to retire. I think the worst thing you can do in your life is say what if? I sleep better. I feel good.”

Opened now for a year, Roxx on Main has become a mainstay restaurant in the city, with a core group of fans and more people discovering the place every day.

“I’m happy I made this choice,” she said. “I keep busy, I’ve created jobs for people, I get to know a lot of people in this town, and I’m having a great time. There is so much more value to life than money.”