Italian restaurants expanding in downtown Arlington Hts.

Mike Caringella sat a few feet from Phil and Regina Campanella at an Arlington Heights committee meeting on Wednesday.

The three never spoke, despite having a whole lot in common. Both Caringella and the Campanellas run Italian restaurants in downtown Arlington Heights. And both are planning major remodeling projects, although neither have been approved by the village.

Caringella runs Armand's at 70 N. Vail Ave. The Campanellas run Regina's, located a block away at 27 W. Campbell St.

Caringella wants to almost double his seating area and expand next door into the spot formerly owned by Metamorphoses.

"We'll knock the wall down by the private dinning room," Caringella told some members of the village's plan commission on Wednesday. "We'll also add a new bar, more seating and restrooms."

Armand's opened in March 2007 at the corner of Vail Avenue and Wing Street. The expansion would bring the restaurant's seating from 92 to 171 spots.

Down the street, the Campanellas are planning to remodel their restaurant. Their plans include adding windows so diners have a view of Harmony Park. Plans also include moving Regina's bar to the front of the restaurant and moving the door to the corner of Campbell Street and Vail Avenue. The Campanellas want to add a second story to their building for office and storage.

"To do this, we'd have to be closed for maybe four months," said Phil Campanella. "I don't know what people will do for four months without Regina's."

If approved, Regina's seating won't change.

Regina's opened in 1985, which makes it one of the oldest businesses in downtown Arlington Heights. The Campanellas opened a second Regina's restaurant in West Dundee in 2005.

Many restaurants like Regina's and Armand's are expanding or changing up their menus in order to thrive in increasingly competitive downtown Arlington Heights, said Jon Ridler, executive director of the Arlington Heights Chamber of Commerce.

"Restaurants are the anchor for downtown," he said. "That's great, because restaurant customers will walk around and shop at retail merchants."