HUNTINGTON, WV (WOWK) – If you’ve been down Hal Greer Boulevard near Cabell-Huntington Hospital, you’ve likely seen or been to the G.D. Ritzy’s.

All day Tuesday people were coming up to the drive-thru, confused because they couldn’t order anything from the menu.

“I go to the hospital every six weeks and I usually come over here to kill time before I catch the bus. I was shocked,” loyal customer Fred Wilds said Tuesday morning.

The current owner Jason Webb first posted to social media that the restaurant would be closing permanently.

Webb told 13 News there were multiple reasons for the closure of the restaurant including the pandemic. However, the final straw was the construction on Hal Greer Boulevard.

This was a disappointment for loyal customers like Wilds, but like many other customers, he said he still has good memories of good food.

“A double cheeseburger is what I normally ordered here and I loved it,” Wilds said reminiscing about the beloved restaurant.

For previous long-time owner Sid Torlone, there are still good memories but there was also an incident that he says forced him to give up the burger joint.

“36 years until I got hurt in a robbery that forced me to get rid of it. I spent four months in the hospital and that’s a hard way to go but I loved it here,” Torlone said describing the robbery that left him in critical condition in 2018.

Now, the restaurant is turning off the stoves and fryers, closing the drive-thru, and locking the doors.

A staple in this community is now gone, but for the loyal customers, it will live on in their hearts.