Paisano's owner opens sandwich shop, crab shack Panino's in Richmond

RICHMOND – The owner behind the popular Paisano's On Broadway in Richmond admittedly feels bored since his veteran employees – some with 20- and 30-year tenures – are more than capable at managing the sit-down Italian eatery.

So on Tuesday, Phil Gilardi officially made his work schedule a bit busier, opening his second restaurant in Richmond called Panino’s Italian Sandwiches and Crab Shack a few hundred feet away from Paisano’s along Broadway Road.

“It doesn’t take a lot for me to run the other place. This gives me something to do,” Gilardi said with a laugh.

The lunch and dinner place located within a converted historic home in Richmond should provide the quaint downtown with a quality sandwich shop, Gilardi said. After 4 p.m., Panino’s starts selling crab legs, clams, oysters and “anything with a shell” to diversify the menu for dinner, he said.

[ PHOTOS: Panino's Italian Sandwich and Crab Shack grand opening in Richmond ]

Panino’s sandwiches, offered daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., include a classic Italian sub, Italian beef, brisket burger and other Italian-inspired dishes. Customers can dine in or carry out.

The combination sandwich shop and crab shack features some of Gilardi’s favorite meals. He partnered with Richmond residents Victor Mares and Shayne O’Leary to launch Panino’s in the village.

“It appeals to me,” Gilardi said. “What I like, other people are going to like. I already proved it next door with Paisano’s.”

A longtime restaurateur with a family history tied to the food service business, Gilardi opened Paisano’s in 2006 upon relocating to the Richmond area. A year earlier, he sold the former Gilardi’s he ran for years in Vernon Hills to his son Phil Gilardi, Jr., who has operated the Italian restaurant under the name Philly G’s ever since.

His son also opened a sports bar and restaurant in 2013 called Tavern on 60 in Mundelein. The Gilardi’s pride themselves on their food, the owner of Panino’s and Paisano’s said, having learned the family’s Italian recipes from his mom and grandma.

For his latest creation in Richmond, Gilardi purchased an old home along Broadway Road and knocked down everything except the front wall as part of a six-month renovation to prepare Panino’s for business.

The restaurant sports an open concept and features exposed wood, some of which original to the home and dating back 140 years, Gilardi said. The amenities inside Panino’s often feature an old-fashioned look, an atmosphere Gilardi said he wanted to create for customers looking for sandwiches and seafood in Richmond.