Petey’s II closes doors in Orland Park, original restaurant in Oak Lawn remains open

The owners of longtime Orland Park restaurant Petey’s II, at the southwest corner of La Grange Road and 159th Street, announced the closure of that location although they’ll continue to operate Petey’s Bungalow in Oak Lawn.

The news comes after the restaurant, which the owners said has operated since 1969, announced a temporary closure earlier this month.

“It is with a mix of gratitude and nostalgia we announce the closing of Petey’s II,” owners Petey and Mary Kattos said on the website and Facebook page for Petey’s II.

“The decision to close our doors comes in the wake of significant changes within the restaurant industry,” the owners said.

Opened when Orland Park was far from becoming a culinary and retail destination, Petey Kattos bought several acres in the village and put his new establishment on the site of an old roadhouse named Brennan’s, according to previous Daily Southtown articles.

The couple opened Petey’s Bungalow, 4401 95th St. in Oak Lawn, in 1961 and said gift certificates issued for Petey’s II will be honored at Petey’s Bungalow.

The owners declined a request for an interview.

The owners said in their posting that Petey’s II “has been more than just a restaurant; it has been a gathering place for families and friends, a site for celebrations, and a testament to the enduring spirit of Orland Park’s culinary scene.”

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The Daily Southtown reported previously that the owners had nearly 40 acres at the corner surrounding the restaurant, some of which was sliced away after a court fight stemming from a reconstruction of the intersection of La Grange and 159th Street.

In 2006, a judge agreed to condemn 2 acres and gave the OK for an easement on the restaurant site so the intersection work could start, according to court filings.

Petey’s II initially was to be leveled and rebuilt a couple of blocks to the south on La Grange, but both sides worked out an agreement in which the restaurant could remain open.

In the court filings, Kattos disclosed he had been approached over the years by developers interested in retail construction, including Costco, which later built a store to the west on 159th Street, and from Walmart, which would eventually open to the east on 159th in Orland Hills.

Born on the Greek island of Khíos in the middle of the Aegean Sea, Petey Kattos emigrated to America in the late 1950s and worked as a cook at an Italian restaurant on Chicago’s Southwest Side, according to the Southtown.

He met his wife while taking the train into Chicago for English classes, and Mary Kattos took on management duties at the new Orland Park outpost while her husband continued to oversee the Petey’s Bungalow location, according to a profile.

mnolan@tribpub.com