'You Gotta Know When It's Time': Kenootz Pizza Closes After Nearly 4 Decades, Owners To Retire

MIDLOTHIAN, IL — A longtime fixture on the local restaurant scene—and maker of many's favorite pizza—closed its doors Thursday, after its owners decided to retire.

Kenootz Pizza, 4659 147th St., had been in business 38 years. Owner Ken Keeler opened it at just 23 years old, he and wife Diane "Dee" shared on social media late Wednesday.

"I started Kenootz when I was just 23 years old in 1988 when Ronald Reagan was president," Keeler wrote, and have worked to build it the past 38 years.

"We've made lifelong friends and there are customers we will never forget. Some who are no longer with us."

Keeler said that the decision to close and retire came after "much soul searching, thinking, discussions with family and praying."

"It’s just time," Keeler told Patch. "I don’t want to see it go, but it’s time."

Keeler, 62, said he and his wife had been mulling retirement for some time. As owners of both Kenootz and Cooper's Bar and Grill, 15158 S Cicero Ave., Keeler said long work hours and weeks were beginning to exhaust him, and them.

"I leave, it’s dark," Keeler said. "I get home, it's dark."

As word of the closing spread, customers spoke of the business' significance to the community.

"From Monday night dinners as a family, birthday pizza making parties for my kids," Oak Forest resident Becky Kelly wrote, "Soccer celebrations and PTA and teacher lunches that I had a hand in helping with. Thank you so very much for always being such a special part of our families and our community.

"You and your team have always been right there asking what you can do to help and it will never be forgotten. Best of luck in your retirement era."

The business was also known for its contributions to local schools, events, and organizations.

"I used to teach pizza-making classes Kindergarten through 8th grade," Keeler said. "We passed out hundreds of pizzas at National Night Out events. ... It was a great run."

Keeler said they had considered closing earlier, but that they wanted to keep their commitment of donating pizzas to another Oak Forest-based venture: Project Fire Buddies. The nonprofit hosted their annual charity gala Feb. 7, and guests were treated to one pizza per table at the end of the night.

"We did 200-something pizzas," Keeler said.

Keeler said the phones have been nonstop with orders since their announcement. One customer called and insisted on ordering, even though Keeler warned they were backlogged. He was 2.5 hours away, the customer said.

"He drove 2.5 hours for a pizza today," Keeler said.

One customer, Michelle Dukes-Cheever, said that the restaurant's half-price pizza nights hold a special place in her heart.

"The celebrations your pizza was a part of had so much meaning in my life. We got kenootz for birthdays, graduations and even funerals," she wrote. "The world keeps moving on but I will always live in the comfort moments sharing a pizza with my dad who is now gone. Before he passed, after we moved he would still drive 40 minutes every Monday for half price pizza. I will remember taking those drives with him. Thank you."

It's those personal connections that have meant the most to him, Keeler said.

"That’s what makes you go everyday," he said. "You touch people’s lives."

Their personal touch and approach is also what's endeared them to so many.

"Not only is Kenootz the best pizza, but you two have done so much for for so many people in our community," wrote another. "Your time and generosity to support so many of the organizations our kids were part of is truly heart warming and we can never thank you enough! No one deserves a wonderful, fun and exciting retirement more than you two!

"Thank you Ken and Dee for running your business the right way and for showing all of us that there are still some great, kind and special people in this world. ... The end of an era, and the start of a well-earned new chapter."

"Enjoy your retirement—well deserved," wrote another. "Your generosity to the community and your customers will never be forgotten!"

The couple will keep Cooper's Bar and Grill open and continue to run it, Keeler said—but hopefully will now have time for more mundane tasks.

"I wanna cut my grass," he joked.

He'd take the chance on Kenootz all over again, he said.

"If I could do it over again, I would," he said. "I love Oak Forest, I love Midlothian. You gotta know when it's time. ... It was a great run."

Keeler said he hopes people will remember the customer service, family dinners and celebrations—and, of course, the pizza—for years to come. He's not going anywhere—they'll still be living in Oak Forest.

"We live in the community, we are the community," he said. "Hopefully people won’t forget about me."

Kenootz Pizza's last day open was Thursday, Feb. 12.

Its owners wanted to move swiftly with the closing once word was out.

"We just wanted to keep it sweet," Keeler said. "We didn’t want to draw it out."