When Mike and Christine Perricone saw the vacant building on Grand Avenue in Fox Lake, they knew they found the perfect location for a restaurant. The kitchen was small, so the husband-and-wife team would only serve soup and sandwiches. And thus, Perricone’s — A Soup & Sandwich Joint was born two years ago.

Perricone’s offers two homemade soups daily and seven cold subs and seven panini — it’s panini for one and panino for two in Italy, and Mike Perricone describes himself as a proud Italian-American. He said each sandwich has something a little different from the norm. “I try to do a little flavor in every sandwich,” he said.