As Wheat Ridge residents bade farewell to 2016, they also said a bitter goodbye to a longtime local favorite — Vincenza’s Italian Restaurant and Bakery, which closed its doors after 15 years of service.

According to Scott Westover, a regular customer for more than a decade, Vincenza’s served the community in more ways than just dishing up exceptional baguettes — it will be missed as a home away from home for a lot of people.

“It was a feel-good place with a really great atmosphere,” he said. “It’s really sad that it’s closed down now.”

For 13 years, Westover could be found at the restaurant about six to seven times a month. At the very least, he visited every Tuesday night for the “all you can eat” special. His dining partner was almost always his father.

But it wasn’t just the fresh food that kept him coming back — great friendships bloomed between Westover and the wait staff, particularly with Breanna Montoya, Vincenza’s head waitress of 13 years.

“Breanna was just super to be around,” Westover said. “It was her service that kept bringing us in. She made us feel like family.”

And the feeling was mutual, Montoya said. “Honestly, the regulars were my favorite part about working there. We were all just really good friends. Half of them were at my wedding, and I was at half of theirs.”

Westover became so much like family that Vincenza’s owner Greg Allan did something extraordinary for him in his time of need.

“When my dad passed away, Greg laid the restaurant open to us and I was able to invite an awful lot of people to a dinner to honor my dad,” Westover said. “Greg made that possible for us. He’s a good guy.”

Allan owned Vincenza’s for 13 years. He was at the restaurant seven days a week and estimates he was taking off about five days a year.

“I love Greg,” Montoya said. “He is part of my family. He was a great person to work for. He is very generous. He always helped us out in any way we needed, work-related or not.”

Allan and his wife had a baby in spring 2016. It was around that same time that a man came in expressing interest in buying the building. With the idea of spending more time with his son, Allan says their timelines perfectly intersected.

“It is totally bittersweet,” Allan said. “I love Vincenza’s, I love the customers and I’m going to miss it for sure. But I think with spending more time with my family, I’m really looking forward to my future, too.”

Allan connected the prospective buyer with the landlord and by November the deal was made. A week before Thanksgiving, Allan told his employees Vincenza’s was closing. By the Saturday after the holiday, the doors were officially shut.

“People are really disappointed,” Allan said. “The timing of the close was kind of unfortunate. We do great cookies and pastries especially over the holidays. And people were disappointed they weren’t able to get those this year.”

Tyler Johnson, a longtime patron of the restaurant, says he will miss Vincenza’s, but sympathizes with Allan’s decision.

“My wife and I have been going there for seven plus years, and it really bums us out that this place closed,” he said. “But it’s always good and important to be able to spend time with your family. Being a restaurant owner myself, I understand the challenge of having a work-home-life balance.”

While patrons are sad to see Vincenza’s go, they should be pleased to hear that the building will continue to be used for the creation of Italian delicacies.

New building owner Louie Riccatone, alongside his wife and their business partner Stephen McCabe, plans to unveil a specialty meat market and Italian deli where they will source fresh meat locally and butcher to order.

“We’ll do charcuterie and all kinds of things like that. We’ll make our own salami, soppressata, prosciutto and all fresh sausages,” Riccatone said. “I’ll make barbecue too. We’ll do smoked meats like hams and summer sausages and ribs and pulled pork and brisket.”

As the corporate chef for the Boston Market in Denver for 20 years, he has big plans for the shop, including made-to-order pastas and sandwiches.

“I got tired of being in the corporate world and decided it was time to do something on my own,” Riccatone said. “I’m from Southern Colorado in a little town, and there were a lot of Italians down there and I’ve always watched my dad and everybody butcher on their own and we’d make salami and sausages. I’ve always liked it. I was a big hunter and I liked to make stuff out of my own game.”

Riccatone met McCabe at Edwards Meats in Wheat Ridge where he buys sausage casings. McCabe is from Ireland and has been butchering for 36 years. They hope to have the grand opening of Riccatone’s Specialty Meat and Deli by May or June.

While Vincenza’s has left some big shoes to fill, Riccatone’s future looks bright.

“He is getting a great location and I think he’s going to do great,” Allan said.

And as for Allan and Vincenza’s, a new location and reopening is not out of the question.

“I’m totally open to that,” he said. “If I did, it would be much closer to my new home in the south end of Denver. That way I can still spend time with my family.”

Of course, redeveloping a following would be no task at all — Johnson, Westover and Montoya have already guaranteed their business.