2 Las Vegas pizzerias named among 50 best in US

By Johnathan L. Wright Las Vegas Review-Journal

6 months ago

A Romana One pizza at Pizza Rock in downtown Las Vegas. Celebrated pizzaiolo Tony Gemignani's r ... — A Romana One pizza at Pizza Rock in downtown Las Vegas. Celebrated pizzaiolo Tony Gemignani’s restaurant has been named among the 50 best pizzerias in the U.S. for 2023 by the 50 Top Pizza guide, based in Italy. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Pizza Rock in downtown Las Vegas, owned by celebrated pizzaiolo Tony Gemignani, has been named among the 50 best pizzerias in the U.S. for 2023 by the 50 Top Pizza guide, based in Italy. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)

World champion pizza maker Michael Vakneen pulls a pizza from the oven at Double Zero Pie & Pub, in Chinatown Las Vegas. The pizzeria has been named among the best in the U.S. for 2024 by 50 Best Pizza guide, based in Italy. (Rachel Aston/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @rookie__rae

50 Top Pizza, the highly regarded global pizza guide founded in Italy a decade ago, has announced its 50 Top Pizza USA for 2024. Two Las Vegas pizzerias have been recognized: Pizza Rock at No. 28 and Double Zero Pie & Pub at No. 45.

Tony Gemignani, a multiple World Pizza Champion, co-founded Pizza Rock, which debuted in fall 2013. The pizzeria is fueled by Gemignani’s flair for interpreting different pizza styles: from classic Neapolitan and New York to Sicilian and Detroit to California, Roman and gluten-free.

This year, Tony’s Pizza Napoletana, Gemignani’s shop in San Francisco, was ranked No. 2 on the list, bested only by Una Pizza Napoletana in New York City.

Double Zero, in Chinatown, is celebrating its first anniversary. Michael Vakneen, also a World Pizza Champion, leads the pizzeria, which is named after the finely milled 00 flour used to make Neapolitan pies. Vakneen continually experiments with his dough to create a light, fragrant, springy, gently crisp crust for his progressive Neapolitan pies.

Anonymous inspectors

To create its list, the guide employs a pizza survey and anonymous visits by paying inspectors. The pizzerias were evaluated not just on the quality of their pies, but also on beverages, service and approach to hospitality. Besides Italy and the U.S., 50 Top Pizza ranked shops in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the world overall. The guide also ranked the world’s best artisan pizza chains.

Pizza Rock and Double Zero also recently were included in the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s list of the top 100 restaurants in Vegas. For all 50 Top Pizza rankings for 2024, visit 50toppizza.it.

Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram.