Armand's Pizzeria - Lombard, Lombard

Before childhood friends Mike Caringella and Armand Christopher opened their pizzeria, they flipped a coin to determine who would name it. Mike won, and made a seemingly selfless choice in naming it Armand's Victory Tap. In reality, he chose the name so that anyone who wanted to complain would ask for Armand.

This amusing anecdote is just one in the restaurant's long history dating back to 1956, a story that proves complaints have been few and far between at this beloved pizzeria.

Although the name has changed to Armand's Pizza, almost everything else is the same as the early days. Mike's family continues to run the pizzeria with food made to his late grandmother's notoriously high standards. And Armand's remains a neighborhood staple, so popular that it has added locations throughout Chicago and its suburbs. The menu still focuses on hand-tossed pizzas and calzones, and the Italian sausage continues to be made in-house, studding everything from Uncle Mike's pizza with roasted red peppers to an Elmwood Park combo pie with Italian beef and hot giardiniera.