Longtime Arlington Heights restaurant closes

After 25 years, Regina's Ristorante in downtown Arlington Heights closed its doors for good on Christmas Eve, said Phil Campanella, the restaurant's owner.

"We have two businesses and couldn't take working the hours at both," he said from his West Dundee restaurant. "We're getting up there in age and all we did was work. It was a very, very tough decision."

Campanella sold his eatery to another couple who will open "Pamela's Parkside" at 27 W. Campbell St. No one was available to discuss the new restaurant on Tuesday.

Campanella and his wife, Regina, an immigrant from Poland, opened Regina's Ristorante in downtown Arlington Heights in 1985 and served up pasta dishes and pizza made from his Sicilian family recipes. Before that, the Campanellas owned Phil's Pizza D'Oro in Chicago.

The decision to sell the Arlington Heights location wasn't due to today's tough economic climate, Campanella said.

"We found an interested party in a time when no one is buying anything, so we sold it," he said.

In 2005, the family opened Regina's Via Trent Uno in West Dundee, where daughter Annette and her husband, Curt Kittel, were set to handle the day-to-day operations. However Annette now has a 16-month-old son and Phil and Regina have been in charge of both restaurants for a while, he said.

"It's too much work," he said.

The West Dundee restaurant, at 621 S. Eighth St. is bigger than the Arlington Heights restaurant, has a separate bar and better parking, Campanella said.

"Parking in Arlington Heights has been an issue since day one," he said.

Campanella hopes to remain in charge of the West Dundee Regina's for another 10 years before retiring.

"We hope some of our Arlington Heights customers will follow us here," he said.