Augustus Casear Award | 2026

Frank Battaglia

Committee, First and foremost I would like to mention my utmost gratitude for the opportunity to be a part of such a prestigious ceremony. To have my name even in the same category as other nominees and award winners in years past means a whole lot to my family and I. I also realize that I must be doing something right if I am being selected to write my application for all of you. As I reflect on what makes me a great candidate for August Cesar Award I can mostly conclude that it has all to do with my unbelievably gracious family, my loyal friends, and the culture of bloodline of being an American Italian. From a young age I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I was Raised by a father who is a business owner, who was also raised by a business owner, and even his father was also a business owner. We have generations of business owners and by no means did I want to be where it came to an end. My family has found great success in the food industry, but none of that came without immense work, risk, sacrifice, and determination. So naturally I was drawn to the same industry yet I felt that I should try a different end of the industry. Retail. Battaglia Food’s has been one of Chicago’s standouts in Italian wholesale for over a hundred years, so to pivot away from distribution and to attempt something very different was by all means intimidating. I was truly blessed to have my older brother decide to join me on this adventure. As we were taking classes at our local community college deciding whether or not to stick to this or find a different direction we were also spending a lot of our time with our (on my mothers side) Grandpa Pellegrino “papa” or “pops” to me. Sadly pops was diagnosed with parkinson disease and did a true number on him. My brother and I would spend a lot of time trying to help in any way we could. From taking him to the barber shop, Bank, or just getting burgers he was our best buddy. After his passing in February of 2017 we decided to truly indulge ourselves into something we find a passion in. Italian Ice is what we found a passion in. Well we could say that about most desserts. The mothers day following that february we were sitting on my fathers patio just thinking how good some fresh Italian ice would be. My brother somewhat jokingly said he felt bad that no one gets to have Italian ice fresh out of the machine. I responded “ well why don’t we just make it fresh and sell it to people?”. What started as a goofy conversation has now led us down quite the path. We hit the ground running. My brother pulled out our great grandma Lena’s recipe book and started to figure out how to make the best Italian ice around. I started to do the legalities from permitis to licensing. We quickly realized that we will not have the funds for a whole storefront, so we came up with the idea that we go to events all summer. After the summer of 17’ we went back to school and picked up our old jobs. But by that spring we had that itch to get back into being business owners. So we decided if we are going to do it again we have to make sure that we do it just right and expand upon what we did in years past. So we did just that. Going from fifteen events the first year to then doing over fifty all over the Chicago land area. We went from reaching out and negotiating prices of the vendor fee to being invited to events free of entry. By all means it was a whirlwind but such a rewarding summer watching our tiny business grow. At that point we knew we wanted to stay in the food industry and be business owners. We ran into a major issue: Chicago gets cold. At this point I suggested we should utilize the profits we made this summer and reinvest into starting a pizzeria with our Italian ice. My brother thought that was a great idea, but that we need to learn a whole new end of the industry. So we went back to the drawing board. After doing our due diligence we concluded that we need to master our culinary skills. We came across “Bivero pizzaiolo school” in Florence, Italy. After reading about it we knew we had to take this course so we did just that. After spending three weeks in Italy we came to a realization that this style pizza may not work on the southside of Chicago. Yet we truly wanted to utilize the skills we obtained from the culinary classes we just took. As we got back to the states we started to work on a hybrid pizza. A hand rolled pizza that can withstand Chicago style toppings. It took us months to figure out the dough, the ratios, the oven temp, the correct proofing process, so on and so forth. All while at the same time I was on the prowl to find an affordable restaurant we could start our new venture in. That is when we came across a small pizzeria for sale on the southwest side of Chicago just near midway airport. We put a low bid on it thinking no way would we get it, and sure enough he accepted our offer. From June of 19’ to September we started practicing the day to day operations of running a carry out pizzeria. We soon realized that we needed to rebrand and come up with our own name. For months we tossed and turned and we could not think of anything. That is when after a late night with a few glasses of wine, walking into the house my mother said, “What are you some sort of STUNOD coming into the house this late like that”. I laughed and said that is what we are naming the pizzeria. That is when the Stunod brand was born. October eleventh of 2019 was our official grand opening. We hit the ground running. Within just a few months of our grand opening we faced our biggest challenge yet. Covid-19. After pouring all of what little finances we had into this let alone blood sweat and tears, we decided we were to stay open at all cost. We faced the fact that we truly could not afford to close. Mostly because our finances were slim, but most of all were the new guy on the block and just started building our clientele. Last thing we needed was to lose all the customers we had just gained. We had so much momentum and we were not going to go out with a fight. At the ripe age of twenty three I was truly shaken to my core. The streets were empty, the phones went quiet, my loved ones were becoming sick. Wishing nothing more than for a book with the step by step directions on how to navigate out of this one, but trust me there is no such thing. Tough times create tough people. So we got tough. So we did what we knew we could do. Clean, we always had a clean operation but now it needs to be so clean that not even a pandemic could reside in our walls. So we cleaned, sanitized, scrubbed, and then we cleaned some more. Covid never stood a damn chance inside our establishment. We then decided that any time we got slow that we would make extra food for the local first responders. I will never forget the feeling of coming together for a common good. Being able to deliver so many meals for nurses, doctors, firemen, and police officers was possibly the most rewarding feeling of them all. Through determination we did not close for a single day because of Coivd. Then came the riots. The only day that we have ever closed early. Chicago’s small business went through hell and back in six short months. The punishment did not fit the crime. Sitting out front of the shop till the crack of dawn praying and hoping that we did not face what some of our local favorites endured. I can truly say I was intimidated. By all means there was a moment where I felt like I bit off more than I could chew. To deal with all of this all while still just learning the ropes of truly operating a business was beyond stressful. I am extremely thankful that I have my brother, his companionship made this process a lot less difficult. Even with all of this the goal never changed. The American dream did not waver! We just wanted to fight harder to achieve what we signed up for so that is what we did. This is what you sign up for as an entrepreneur. Hardship, difficulties, risk, and sacrifice. I knew that, and I am a better person for these hard times. Consistency has been key. Showing up every day and attempting to accomplish just one goal a day. Before you know it all of a sudden you have achieved so many small wins that they become huge wins. In the past five years since we started “Stunod’s Pizzeria” we have surpassed any sort of anticipation we had. Being featured in the likes of NBC Chicago, the Chicago Tribune twice, Featured in a Chicago pizza book, a sandwich ranked top ten in Chicago on Yelp, An article in “Only In Your State” claiming we have the best pizza in the midwest, and even winning an award for best pizza in the Southwest side of Chicago! On top of all these awesome accolades we have also been able to maintain a Google and Yelp rating over a four point five. Our social media has surpassed four thousand five hundred followers on instagram and another thirty five hundred on facebook. All from us posting authentic relatable content. As well as just recently surpassing a hundred thousand orders. Alright I’ll quit bragging, but I am truly proud of the trail we have blazed. As important as these accolades are to us it seems that the unsung wins are the biggest ones of them all. We have become a staple of our neighborhood, an area in Chicago that is facing tough times. We have been able to create a place to go to have a good time, even in the limited space people still come in daily just to have a slice and a chat. We have even been able to serve pizzas at the local ballpark concessions ever since the covid restrictions let up. Stunod’s has also become a big part of “Brotherhood of the fallen” a local foundation to help support families of officers who lost their lives in the line of duty. We have made donations to each of the local schools in the area. We have sponsored local baseball teams. Stunod’s has been there for many families on special occasions from weddings to funerals. People have thought of us when they wanted something to cheer them up or for the proper celebration. We have been able to become an integral part of our community and that is something that I will always be proud of.