---
title: "A Chicago Pizzeria is Making Face Shields for Health Care Workers"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/47e16081-bf7c-4328-9c81-239a78af0497
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/a-chicago-pizzeria-is-making-face-shields-for-health-care-workers-2712716
category: "Pizza"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Pizza"
topics: ["Emerging brands","Operations"]
published: 2020-04-06T22:17:16.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:27:49.029Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/82f08da8f0065bdf8150eb62e104dc498788.jpg
---

# A Chicago Pizzeria is Making Face Shields for Health Care Workers

**TL;DR:** Dimo's Pizza, a Chicago pizzeria, is making face shields in its pizza ovens and donating food to area hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pizzeria is still making and selling pizzas, but its ovens are now also being used to produce face shields.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2020-04-06. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/a-chicago-pizzeria-is-making-face-shields-for-health-care-workers-2712716).*

## Story

**While the foodservice industry at large is reeling from the ongoing fallout of the coronavirus crisis, one segment has found itself in an comparatively enviable position. Thanks to a long tradition of takeout and delivery, most pizza restaurants have not had to pivot dramatically to retain their customer bases, and in some cases they are actually** **seeing an uptick in business****.**

**Given that relatively stable positioning,** **some pizza restaurants are finding creative new ways to support their local communities****. Case in point: Dimo’s Pizza in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood, which** **Block Club Chicago reports** **has been making face shields in its pizza ovens and donating food to area hospitals.**

**Dimo’s is still making and selling pizzas, but now its ovens are pulling double-duty, alternating between pizzas and facemasks.**

> **The pizza ovens heat the acrylic to the point it becomes malleable. Once hot enough the acrylic is set in a mold. Dimo’s worked with** **Avenue Metal, Co.****, 1640 W. Ogden Ave., to make molds for the shields.****Once the shield cools, Velcro and foam are added. Syrkin-Nikolau hopes to have a final prototype completed this week.**

**In the meantime, Dimon’s has already found an effective way to support the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic by providing free pizza to local hospitals including Northwestern Memorial Hospital, John H. Jr. Stroger Cook County Hospital and Lurie Children’s Hospital.**

> **“When you think about war, soldiers are on the front line,” [owner Dimitri Syrkin-Nikolau] said. “In this situation, it’s our medical workers on the front line.”**

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- community support (topic)
- covid-19 response (topic)
- pizza industry (topic)
- hospital donations (topic)
- face shield production (topic)

---
Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/a-chicago-pizzeria-is-making-face-shields-for-health-care-workers-2712716). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/47e16081-bf7c-4328-9c81-239a78af0497).