Food

Ferraro family expands with Pizza Forte at Sunset Station

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The Ferraro family works together at Ferraro’s Italian Restaurant and Lounge. From left are Mimmo, Rosalba, Gino and Theresa.

Pizza has always been the plan, says Mimmo Ferraro.

His family’s restaurant—Ferraro’s on Paradise Road, just east of the Strip—is a Las Vegas Italian food institution. Now the Ferraros, in business here for 30 years, are expanding with Pizza Forte, a quick-casual restaurant set to open April 3 at Sunset Station in Henderson.

“This has always been on the plate, to open up a pizza place and diversify from what we do at Ferraro’s,” Ferraro said. “We’ve just been very particular about the location. We never wanted just another brick-and-mortar place on the street somewhere, there are too many of those to compete with. Having a high-traffic location is important for us, and we’ve found the right property.”

Pizza Forte will serve New York- and Roman-style pizza by the slice along with meatball sandwiches and three varieties of Hofmann hot dogs—beef, pork and beef, and pork and veal. “Hofmann is a sausage company in Syracuse, which is where my parents originally migrated to from Italy, and they’ve been in business 130 years,” Ferraro said. “It’s a phenomenal product with no preservatives or additives or fillers, and they are exclusive to the East Coast. We are the first to carry their brand here.”

Pizza Forte at Sunset Station, open for lunch and dinner, is just the first step for this new brand. A second restaurant is already under construction at the Hard Rock Hotel, right across the street from Ferraro’s, and should open in late spring or early summer. “It’s very exciting,” Ferraro said. “We’re hoping to have 10 locations up and running in the next 18-24 months.”

Tags: Dining, Food
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Brock Radke

Brock Radke is an award-winning writer and columnist who currently occupies the role of managing editor at Las Vegas Weekly ...

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