In a city of about 7,300 restaurants and 2.7 million humans who are mostly creatures of habit, it’s easy to overlook the dining institutions among us. This was the case for me, a 26-year customer of the three-restaurants-in-one Italian Village, who rarely ventured outside of the subterranean chophouse La Cantina, nor beyond my usual cup of minestrone and spaghetti with meat sauce.

The Italian stalwart turns 90 this year—one of just a handful of spots across the city to flirt with a century in business. Starting with the Village in 1927, followed by La Cantina in 1955, then contemporary Vivere (originally the Florentine) in 1961, this barrel-roofed temple to Italian food and wine has withstood decades of splashy restaurant openings (and closings) and a changing Loop that’s sprouted shiny new complexes on all sides of its 71 West Monroe location.