A second generation of Arlington Heights restaurant royalty has set up shop in an aging strip mall and is serving well-crafted, familiar Italian fare in a family-friendly atmosphere under the name Via Arenella.

Franco Longobardi watched his parents, Mario and Rosa, work in the restaurant business his whole life. He watched them spend long nights on their feet serving others. And toiling in a steamy kitchen for 14 hours a day turning out food for the faithful that followed the couple from Arlington Heights to Palatine and back again. But there was togetherness, too.