Grammy D ready for final farewell as Palatine dining institution prepares to close

Dorothy Hechler sums up the appeal of Grammy D's Family Restaurant better than anyone else could.

"The restaurant is me," said Hechler, who's owned and operated the Palatine dining institution for more than 16 years. "It doesn't have anything to do with our great food and quality and quantity, the restaurant is me."

But not for much longer.

The small eatery named after Hechler - the 'D' in Grammy D's is for Dorothy - will serve its last customer on Sunday. Hechler sees it as ending her lifelong career in the restaurant business on a high note.

"This week is obviously emotional, but I'm not sad," said Hechler, known simply as 'Grammy' around the restaurant. "I'm 72 and half and it is time."

Thanks to her force of personality and love for her work, Hechler's small breakfast and lunch spot at 147 N. Northwest Highway has earned its share of loyal customers, like Bob and Carol Martin, Palatine residents who have been coming to Grammy D's since it opened in 1999.

"She always makes you feel like she has invited you to her house for a nice meal," Carol Martin said.

Some of her regular customers don't even have to say their order out loud. Richard Olsen, a customer for the last 10 years, hadn't been sitting down at his booth long Friday afternoon before Hechler shouted him his order from the other side of the restaurant.

"Are you having the Homer and Grammy and fruit?" Hechler asked, writing his order down before he could say yes.

"Regulars, see?" she said with a laugh.

Palatine police Cmdr. Craig Lesselyoung said he tries to get the Friday-only special called the Homer Tuna.

"It's like a tuna fish sandwich with jalapeños. A lot of us like it, and if you don't get it early it runs out," Lesselyoung said. "It's sad, there's only one more Homer Tuna day left."

Homero Garcia, who has run the Grammy D's kitchen for 13 years and for whom the Homer Tuna is named, said he has worked at many restaurants, but never had a boss like Hechler.

"She's the best," Garcia said. "She has been so nice to me."

With the restaurant closing, he will have to find another kitchen to work in.

"That's part of the life, though," Garcia said. "I'm going to miss her."

Some of her regulars have given Hechler parting gifts. Monty Abbott of Wheaton and some friends bought her a gift based on her love of a certain former Chicago football coach.

"We got a fake Mike Ditka picture because she loves Mike Ditka," Abbott said. "We autographed it for him because he wasn't available."

Hechler said before she took over, the little restaurant had many different owners. It started out as a Dairy Queen, then was a sub sandwich place called Italian U-boat, before becoming a restaurant operated by Weber Grill. Before she bought it, Hechler worked in the building as a waitress for four years, when it was called Sunset View.

"I ended up lasting longer than everybody else, so I'm pretty proud of myself," said Hechler, who often mans the restaurant counter 11 hours a day, seven days a week. "I feel like I've succeeded considering that I made it through when the market went bad and businesses were going out. Fortunately I held in there."

She said she doesn't know what is next for the building, but she is planning on spending her retirement wintering in Florida and volunteering at children's hospitals.

"I always said if I didn't do this I would have had a day care, because I love kids," Hechler said. "They are very smart and they know when you really love them and when you are faking. And Grammy doesn't fake."

The gratitude she feels toward her countless customers is plain to see. A sign bearing the message "10-4 over and out, thanks for the memories" is out in front of the restaurant, reminding patrons not only that her last day is Oct. 4, but of what they have meant to her.

"I don't know how many people I have served," Hechler said. "but I love them all."

• Daily Herald staff photographer Mark Welsh contributed to this report