Father-And-Son Pizzeria Going Strong Despite Pandemic Challenges

NORTH AURORA, IL — Raimondo’s in North Aurora has seen its share of struggles over the past five months as the coronavirus upended normal life and business. But through it all, the family-owned pizzeria’s customers have been there to support them, owner Mike Treve said.

Treve — who co-owns Raimondo’s with his father, Raymond — attributed the restaurant’s relative success during the pandemic to the sense of community it has built with longtime customers and employees since it first opened in 1989.

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“People wanted to be here for us; people wanted to see us survive and make it. That’s one of the coolest things,” Treve said. “You can’t say enough about how people come together, and when you have a community that works for each other, it’s probably one of the greatest feelings any business owner could experience.”

Raimondo’s employees have always worked to make patrons feel like more than customers, and the staff is like a “very tightly knit family,” Treve said.

“People know that we care,” Treve said. “This is more than just a business.”

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That philosophy led Treve to help out when Gillerson’s Grubbery in Aurora was forced to close its doors for a few days last month after an employee was in close contact with someone who had the coronavirus.

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Raimondo’s held a benefit for Gillerson’s and donated 15 percent of all sales that night to support the restaurant’s staff, Treve said. Brother Chimp Brewing, located just down the street from Raimondo's in North Aurora, also held a benefit for Gillerson's staff after it temporarily closed.

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“Do unto others. Treat people the way you want to be treated,” Treve said, explaining his eagerness to support Gillerson's staff. “There are times in life when you lose more than you win. Those successes, and the connections you make along the way, the relationships you build, that’s everything.”

Fortunately, the Treves had two decades to create those relationships and build a sense a community before the coronavirus brought normal life to a grinding halt in March.

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Raimondo’s opened in 1989, but the Treve family’s pizza business got its humble beginnings several years before that.

Raymond Treve was a police officer in the 1980s and often had very few places to eat during overnight shifts. Sally Treve started baking pizzas in the dead of night to feed her husband and his partners, and her pizzas were an instant hit, Mike Treve said.

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Officers eventually began ordering pizzas from the Treves — so many that they had to buy supplies from local pizzerias to keep up with the growing demand.

A local businessman tried the Treves’ pizzas and took a chance on the couple, giving them a “postage-stamp-sized space” in the back kitchen of Mike’s Place, a longtime bar on Route 25 that’s since been torn down, Treve said.

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A year later, in 1990, the family took over a restaurant at a strip mall in North Aurora, where it remained in business until 2001. Raymond Treve sold the restaurant and entered retirement, but he made a triumphant return a decade later when he reopened Raimondo’s alongside his son, Mark, in 2011.

Nearly a decade later, the restaurant still uses time-tested family recipes for many of its dishes, but diners have learned to expect the unexpected from Raimondo’s.

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The restaurant runs a “‘Za of the Month” promotion, featuring some outlandish-sounding flavor profiles, including a McDonald’s Big Mac-inspired pizza — the pizza of the month for August — and a Reuben-style pie in March to mark St. Patrick’s Day.

Treve said September’s selection will be the “I Knead Your Like Never Before” pie, topped with Canadian bacon, smoked brisket, onion rings, tomato slices and cheese over a blend of barbecue and tomato sauce.

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Treve admits some of the pizzas are “off the beaten path for your typical pizzeria/pasta house,” but diners often rave about Raimondo’s new concoctions and ask for them to be permanently added to the menu.

“Mom and Dad always love putzing around in the kitchen,” Treve said of his inspiration to spice up his offerings.

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Raimondo’s also sells more than 100 beers from around the world, “something I think makes us as unique as my family’s recipes,” Treve said, adding “we specialize in quality, not just the basics.” The restaurant also has a growing list of mixed drinks for diners, which Treve takes great pride in.

“We really do put our heart and soul in everything we do here,” he said.

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