National Award Winners: Franky's Wins First Place in the Sicilian Category at the 2026 International Pizza Challenge

Franky's Team Celebrates International Pizza Challenge Win — This one’s for Warren!

When we opened Franky's Pizza & Delicatessen, we never set out to build a competition pizza.

We set out to build a pizza we believed in.

Franky’s *Sunday Sauce Sicilian —* First Place (Sicilian) 2026 International Pizza Challenge Winner

A pizza inspired by the Sicilian pies we fell in love with across New York City, the half-sheet pizzas we grew up eating throughout the Mahoning Valley, and the Sunday dinners that brought our family together around the table. Real food for real people.

But as the restaurant and following grew, so did our curiosity.

How would our pizza stack up against the best in the world?

There was only one way to find out.

So we got to work.

For months, our team tested recipes, adjusted processes, debated toppings, considered judges’ expectations, tweaked presentations, and practiced execution. Every detail mattered. Competition pizza isn't just about making something delicious—it's about making something extraordinary under pressure, in an unfamiliar kitchen, on a strict timeline, surrounded by some of the most talented pizzaioli on the planet.

Then came Las Vegas.

The International Pizza Challenge is one of the most prestigious pizza competitions in North America, drawing hundreds of competitors from around the world as part of the International Pizza Expo. In 2026, more than 750 pizza makers competed across multiple categories and styles.

For Franky's, the competition stretched across two days.

Day one was all about execution.

Making dough in an unfamiliar environment. Working with equipment that wasn't ours. Managing nerves. Managing time. Trusting the process that got us this far.

We met with operators from all over the world. We talked shop, learned new things (and words!) We shared ideas, our passion for the art that is pizza-making. We bumped elbows with legends (seriously.)

Then came the judging.

Our entry was the Sunday Sauce Sicilian—a pizza inspired by traditional Sicilian sfincione and the long-simmered Sunday sauces that have been part of Italian-American family gatherings for generations. The pie starts with extra-virgin olive oil, mozzarella, and our signature white seasoning before being layered with a slow-simmered bolognese made from beef meatballs, pork, and mild Italian sausage. House-made seasoned Italian breadcrumbs, grated Pecorino Romano, and fresh basil finish the vision, creating a pie that is at once deeply traditional and now, distinctly, our own: The Sunday Sauce Sicilian, from Warren with love.

When the scores were finally announced, we learned that the Sunday Sauce Sicilian had earned First Place in the Sicilian category at the International Pizza Challenge. Franky's also finished fourth overall among approximately 70 competitors in the broader Pan Division.

First Place. In Las Vegas. Against the best pizza makers in the world.

For us, the trophy matters.

But what matters even more is what the trophy represents.

It represents the early mornings, the late nights, the failed experiments, the notebooks full of chickenscratch hydration math, the hundreds of batches of dough, the kicked over trash cans, the sweat equity of revitilizing a forgotten building, and the belief that a small independent restaurant in Warren, Ohio can compete on a national stage.

It represents our staff. Their consistent, quiet effort, spread over hundreds of hours, forming the identity of our food.

It represents our customers. Their loyalty, encouragement, and willingness to believe in what we were building long before anyone outside Warren had heard of us.