Ridgefield, it seems, is full of foodies—and potential ones—if the unceasing influx of restaurants is any indication.

"It's remarkable," Zoning Enforcement Officer Richard Baldelli said. "Almost all the inquiries we've received are about food service slash restaurant ... It's kind of eye opening in this economy that that's the thing people are doing."

In the past six months, callers to the town's land use office have expressed interest in opening restaurants or food retail establishments in the brick building at the corner of Grove Street and Danbury Road, the Cafe Svago space, the closed gas station by the Routes 7 and 35 intersection and one of the vacant storefronts on Bailey Avenue.

And there are a host of additional establishments in the planning stages.

There is a John's Best pizzeria in the works on Route 7 just south of Route 35. Another Italian restaurant is slated to move into the Insieme Ristorante space (it closed just a couple weeks back). Earlier this month, the Planning and Zoning Commission granted property owner Steve Zemo permission to open a restaurant in the old Books on the Common space in the Marketplace at Copps Hill Common.

There are also two spaces on Main Street—417, the old Weichert Realty storefront, and the parking lot-facing side of 439, where Washington Mutual used to be—that are coming before the Zoning Board of Appeals. In both cases, applicants seek permission to open restaurants even though there are too few parking spaces associated with the properties.

Another application, this one submitted to P&Z, seeks to turn the house at 304 Main St. into a bed and breakfast.

This burst of food-related interest and activity follows the slew of new eateries that opened here in the past year.

They include Bissell House, Bar & Grille on 7, Terra Sole, The Cake Box, Ross' Bread, Georgetown Bake Shoppe, The Perennial Chef, Auntie G's and The Little Pub. The Ridgefield Farmer's Market kicked off last week, and the Branchville Farmer's Market begins its second season on Saturday.

Just last week, the ZBA gave Westport Aquaculture permission to open a fresh fish farm stand on Route 7 near the Wilton border.

"The next question someone asks about business," Baldelli said, "will most likely be about a restaurant."