Patrons remember Carlo Lorenzetti’s restaurant along Lincoln Highway in Chicago Heights as a place to gather and celebrate special occasions with great food and atmosphere. The Italian-American cuisine highlighted a fancy aura and recalled a bygone era of the south suburbs in their post-World War II heyday.

“It’s like stepping back in time,” an online reviewer wrote on a travel website after a visit in 2016. Lorenzetti family members announced Tuesday on social media that the beloved regional institution was permanently closed. “It’s with heavy heart we must bid you farewell,” the post said, in part. “Thank you for your loyal support through the years.”