If you haven’t been to downtown Las Vegas you’re missing out.
The downtown scene has changed dramatically over the last year or so as many new businesses have opened. There are new restaurants and nightlife now. The Grand Hotel opened up downtown and right across the street is a new pizza joint called Pizza Rock (201 N. 3rd St.).
This is not your normal pizza joint as it’s a combination of fine pizza with the energy of a nightclub. Pizza Rock offers gourmet pizzas from the creative mind of Chef Tony Gemignani. Tony’s pizza making expertise has won him 11 world pizza championships.
No matter how you like your pizza they have you covered, whether you’re a thin crust person or preferr a thick Sicilian style. We started off our meal with a Caesar salad and I ordered the wedding soup.
If you’re looking for traditional wedding soup their version is much different but it is very good. The broth was more like a pasta fagioli soup rather than the traditional chicken-based wedding. The soup had large meatballs in it and was quite tasty.
The hard part was deciding on what kind of pizza we wanted based on style, and then which toppings. We decided on the New Yorker, which is a pizza consisting of sliced fresh mozzarella, tomato sauce, sliced house link sausage, garlic, pepperoni and ricotta.
Trust me when I tell you you’re going to have many choices as far as which pizza you want to order. My suggestion is to go to the walk up window as you come in and look at all the pizzas they sell by the slice. You’ll be able to see all the different styles, which should help youorder exactly what you like.
The walk up window is a genius idea as the downtown area continues to grow and become even more of a happening place. Many tourist and people just hanging out on the streets partying at the nightclubs and bars on 3rd Street will now have a place, when they get a little hungry, to just walk up and grab a slice of pie.
In addition to all of their pizzas, they have Stromboli’s and calzones as well. Their menu is extensive, including a wide selection of burgers and sandwiches in addition to all of the pizza items.
Pizza Rock offers a complete menu of Italian dishes as well. They have several pasta dishes and Italian dinners. One of the entrees that caught my eye for a return trip is the sausage and peppers. This dish is made with six house-made sweet Sicilian and spicy Calabrese sausages, roasted peppers, caramelized onions and garlic all in a light tomato cream sauce.
Another interesting dish on the menu is the Chicken Limoncello, which is a bone-in leg and thigh marinated in Limoncello, rosemary, pearl onions and lemon. I’ve got that on my radar for a future trip as well.
Our waiter was very attentive and helpful, explaining all the different styles of pizza they offer. I give Pizza Rock a rating of 3.75 Forks out of 4.
Marco D’Angelo is the senior handicapper at Pregame.com. He co-hosts FIRST PREVIEW every Thursday at 10 a.m. on ESPN 1100 AM/98.9 FM. Follow him on twitter: @MarcoInVegas. Contact him at [email protected].