CHICAGO -- Chicago’s downtown location of Ditka’s restaurant closed last week due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the short term left on the restaurant’s lease.

The business’ announcement means the end of its signature pot roast nachos and pork chops in the city’s Gold Coast neighborhood, although local franchises still exist in suburban Oak Brook and Westmont, Ill. The closing also brought about a special White Sox postseason memory for Aaron Rowand.

Rowand was the hard-nosed center fielder on the 2005 World Series champions and had brought his entire family to the establishment after the White Sox claimed a 14-2 home victory over Boston in Game 1 of that year’s American League Division Series. Their group was seated quickly and one of the waiters told Mike Ditka -- who was frequently at his Chicago restaurant -- that Rowand and his family were celebrating after he finished 1-for-3 that night with two runs scored and an RBI.

“He came down, he started talking and introducing himself to my family and myself,” said Rowand, who played five of his 11 years with the White Sox after being taken by Chicago in the first round of the 1998 MLB Draft. “He got to talking about how much it would mean to the city of Chicago for us to be able to win a World Series and bring a championship to Chicago, and he started getting excited.”

Ditka pulled up a chair and sat with the Rowand family. And with an intensity befitting the fiery Bears leader for the 1986 Super Bowl champions -- which matched Rowand’s run-through-a-wall style of play on the field -- Ditka was very specific in how he wanted the White Sox to beat the Red Sox in Game 2 and the rest of the series.

It was a colorful directive never forgotten by Rowand, a lifelong Bears fan who once temporarily won over fans in the Wrigley Field bleachers by showing a Bears T-shirt he often wore under his jersey.

“Everybody at the table kind of looked around,” said Rowand with a laugh. “I was like, ‘This is the greatest day of my life.’ I felt like I was in a football locker room and he was getting me pumped up to go play.

“That was the first time I met him. Obviously being a lifelong Bears fan, it was a dream come true to meet the coach. He was watching all of our run toward the postseason and everything, so he had been paying attention to our team.”