Pizza in Las Vegas is flourishing as never before, with the city recognized as one of the country’s top destinations for pizza in a host of styles. The Food Network added to that recognition Monday with the debut of “Food Network’s Top 10,” a new series in which leading chefs select the best dishes in the U.S. in a variety of categories.
The inaugural episode counted down the country’s top pizzas, and two Vegas standouts made the list.
Grandma without red sauce
Good Pie, founded by owner-pizzaiolo Vincent Rotolo, has three shops in the valley; the original (and flagship) is at 1212 S. Main St. in downtown Las Vegas. The Grandma White Pie takes the No. 5 spot. (Although the show refers to the pizza as a Grandma White Pie, which is listed as such on Good Pie’s menu, the pizzeria calls the dish a 7-Cheese White Pie Remix on social media.)
Rotolo spreads the dough to the edge of a rectangular pan, then presses the dough with his fingertips to create dimples that, he says, prevent the formation of large bubbles. The build proceeds: garlic oil, nutty Pecorino, fresh and shredded mozzarella (the fresh mozz from Brooklyn).
When the pie emerges from the oven, Rotolo cuts it into squares and tops it with creamy ricotta florets, shreds of burrata, red chili flakes and hot honey. A jolt of lemon zest and a flurry of Grana-Padano complete the white pie.
Rotolo and John Arena of Metro Pizza are among the founders of the Las Vegas Pizza Alliance, which connects Vegas pizza makers and promotes the city’s pizza scene. Since 2019, the Alliance has joined with Greco & Sons, a distributor of Italian specialty foods, and The Industrial Event Space to present the Las Vegas Pizza Festival, which returns Nov. 14.
Visit goodpie.com.
The Don of Dough
The Sicilian pizza from Metro Pizza, with three locations in the valley, comes in at No. 10, with its focaccia-like crust made from dough that ferments for five days.
The crust is shaped into rectangles, baked, then topped with Sicilian sauce (house marinara, raw tomato, perhaps a bit of anchovy umami), sliced mozzarella, more sauce, Romano cheese and Italian sausage. After a quick stint in the oven, the pie is finished with dollops of ricotta, green stripes of pesto, Fresno peppers, pine nuts and fresh basil leaves.
Metro Pizza co-founder Arena, an OG Vegas pizzaiolo sometimes affectionately called the Don of Dough, opened his first pizzeria here 46 years ago. His latest project, an on-trend slice shop called Metro Sliceteria, is nearing its debut at The Bend development in the southwest. Visit metropizza.com.
Other winners
Pizzerias in Chicago (2); Detroit; Jersey City, New Jersey; Los Angeles; New Haven, Connecticut; and New York City (2) round out the top 10, including a lobster roll pizza from Grandma Bob’s in Detroit, a Danny’s Special deep dish from Labriola Ristorante in Chicago and a clams casino pie from Modern Apizza in New Haven.
Burrata pizza from L’industrie in Brooklyn takes the No. 1 spot.
Contact Johnathan L. Wright at [email protected]. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram.