When the casinos came to Atlantic City NJ in the 1970s, folks of my parents' generation would board casino-bound buses from our Philly-area suburbs, lured by the free transit and a ten-dollar roll of quarters for the slots. Such day trippers didn't spend a lot for food (exception: a big gambling win), opting instead for buffet restaurants with for low prices, abundant offerings, and long lines. In my short experience there during the 80s, the food at casino buffets was uninspiring.
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| The Brooklyn Pepperoni |
The Premise: Vegas Pizza Compared to NYC, Chicago, Trenton, New Haven
Vegas food offerings traveled a parallel path, and in this century, most of the seedy buffets have been replaced by midscale and upscale restaurants. Love it or hate it, you probably recognize that Las Vegas has many great dining choices. I was able to confirm this in 2011, when I visited
DOCG Pizza inside the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas. It was among the best Neapolitan pies I had tried. Was that typical for Vegas, or an outlier?
The Promise: Las Vegas Has Some Great Pizza Makers!
Fast forward to 2017, when I visited the
Pizza Palooza event near Washington DC. Here was an astonishing assembly of Pizza Royalty making fresh pizzas for sampling. These top pizzaioli were slinging pies that day: John Arena (of Metro Pie
in Vegas), Robert Caporuscio (Keste), Giulio Andriani (Forcella), Paulie Gee (Paulie G's), Nino Coniglio (Williamsburg Pizza), and Vincent Rotolo (Good Pie
in Vegas). Key takeaway was that my top 2 pies that day were from the two Las Vegas pizza makers! I vowed to focus on pizza if I ever returned to Vegas.
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| "Johnny Be Good" Grandma slice |
The Discovery: Testing the Promise from Pizza Palooza
Nine years later, that trip to Vegas happened as the third and final stop of a "western desert" vacation that included Palm Springs and Death Valley. I had to make some hard choices and wasn't able to visit
Metro Pie, but we did get to Rotolo's
Good Pie for dinner on a warm January evening.
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| The cozy confines inside Good Pie |
The menu presented a challenge: there were four major styles of pizza offered, including Brooklyn round, Grandma, Sicilian, and Detroit. At the Pizza Palooza, I had said this about the gluten-free Detroit slice:
"It was spectacular pie, one of the best I've eaten all year. Crisp, dense yet chewy, and topped with the perfect balance of sauce and cheese. Vincent talked with me for a long time about his method and his passion for creating this pie. I was nearly speechless. If you are in Las Vegas, you have to try this pizza." |
| A slice of the Brooklyn Pepperoni |
Despite that praise for the Detroit style, we selected the
Brooklyn Pepperoni (fresh mozzarella, aged mozzarella, sauce, basil, parm, pepperoni) as our primary choice. Happily, because Good Pie also sells slices, I was able to also sample a
Grandma "Johnny Be Good" slice (tomato sauce, mozzarella, fresh garlic, caramelized onions, mushrooms, Italian sausage, basil & parm).
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| Beautiful undercarriage of the Grandma slice |
The slice came to the table first, and it hit all the right notes. The medium-thick crust was delightfully crisp on the bottom and airy inside. It had the structure to properly support the relatively large payload of toppings. All the flavors and textures were in harmony in this umami-laden slice.
The Brooklyn round pizza was beautiful to the eye. I can't fully articulate why, but there are visual clues in the cornicione of a well-crafted pie, and this one was telecasting its expertly made dough. The edges were puffy and dark, but without char marks. Much like the Grandma slice, the crust was a perfect vehicle to support the sauce, cheese, and pepperoni topping.
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| Underside of the Brooklyn pie |
The sauce was deeply flavored, and the pepperoni was a high-grade "cup and char" variety. The cheese was similarly excellent, but also the one element that was a bit out of balance. It seemed like too much cheese relative to the other ingredients, so much that the center of the pie was a bit droopy. To my dismay, pizzaiolo Vincent Rotolo wasn't at the pizzeria that night. It's been my experience on many occasions across America that pizza staff can't fully replicate the genius of the creator, and the most common error is overloading the toppings.
Conclusion
This, though, is a minor quibble. Both pizzas were fully delicious and showed their heritage. The pizzeria had the perfect vibe - looks, lighting, service - to complement the food. The deep and narrow interior space felt like a place that had been there for decades, and I'd be eager to return on my next pass through Las Vegas.
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| Lots of cheese |
For the pizza die‑hards - the folks who debate hydration percentages and can spot a cold‑ferment crumb from across the room - Good Pie is one of the rare spots off the Strip where the craft actually matters. It's a place doing proper Grandma squares with real chew and caramelized edges, and New York style slices that show off a confident hand with dough and sauce. These aren’t the breathless takes you see on Yelp; they’re the nods of people who’ve eaten enough great pizza to know when someone’s sweating the details and having fun doing it.
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