Big Chill Makes 120 Pizzas For Stateville Workers

JOLIET, IL — As Neil Diamond's "Coming to America" played in the background, the kitchen crew at Joliet's Big Chill & Grill labored under an intense deadline Wednesday morning. They made pizza after pizza for what the restaurant owners agreed is the largest carryout order in Big Chill's history.

They delivered a total of 120 pizzas Wednesday to feed employees at the Stateville Correctional Center on Route 53 north of Joliet. The first delivery, 54 pizzas, hit the road at 10:35 a.m. The second delivery of 38 pizzas went out the door around noon.

The third and final delivery was scheduled to occur around 5 p.m.

One of Stateville's employees who has recovered from the coronavirus returned to work on Monday. She helped organize Wednesday's efforts for her fellow coworkers at Stateville.

"I just thought it would be a nice gesture to do," the employee said, asking that her name not be published.

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Stateville has been one of the largest institutions in Illinois impacted by the coronavirus. Not only did some employees become ill, but scores of inmates needed to be hospitalized at the AMITA Health Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet in recent weeks. At least one inmate at the Stateville Correctional Center has died from the illness.

Donations from area businesses and residents in Illinois locally and from afar covered the costs for the 120 Big Chill pizzas.

"I wanted to pick a small local business and that's why we picked them," the Stateville worker told Joliet Patch's editor, adding that she did not need to be hospitalized during her recovery.

"I'm doing good," she remarked Wednesday.

The 120 pizzas will feed Stateville's 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift and the 3 to 11 p.m. shift. The Stateville worker said she would also pick up food Wednesday night from Joliet's Mr. Submarine on West Jefferson Street for the overnight shift that works at Stateville.

Stateville has a wide variety of employees, including security officers, nurses, doctors, mental health workers, clerks and counselors, she said.

"I just know the staff has been working there 24/7 and they never stop," she said.

Meanwhile, back in the Big Chill kitchen, owners Phil and Paige Daniels stayed focused on the task at hand as they raced against the clock. Shortly after 10 a.m., they received word that the employee from Stateville was on her way to their restaurant to pick up the pizzas.

Besides the husband and wife owners, Anthony Pesavento, Steve Young and Leslie Bartolo were also hard at work.

Everyone working at Big Chill had a task. Some put ingredients on the dough and pulled pizzas out of the oven. Others folded cardboard boxes. Others oversaw quality control — making sure the boxes got properly labeled with the same ingredients as the pizzas.

Located at 623 Wilcox St., Big Chill has been around Joliet for 27 years. The small local restaurant is at the corner of Wilcox and Plainfield Road, near the University of St. Francis campus.

Amid the ongoing health crisis, Big Chill is remaining open for carryout and delivery orders from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday. It's closed on Sunday.

Paige Daniels told Joliet Patch that she's been fortunate that the Big Chill has remained busy amid the pandemic.

"It's been good," she said. "The community has been great."

Big Chill's phone number is 815-722-0355. Besides pizza, Big Chill also makes sandwiches, appetizers, salads and pastas.

Big Chill is one of the most recent small businesses to fill out Joliet Patch's simple online survey to let everyone know they are open and their current hours of operations during the coronavirus outbreak. Nearly 125 Joliet businesses have now been added to Patch's list so far. If you want to add your business to Joliet Patch's list of open and closed businesses, you can do so here.

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