Dining

Delicious pizza, with thanks to Liberace

Radio City Pizzeria offers pies with a backstory

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Tivoli’s new Radio City Pizzeria has a great backstory and, more importantly, a great pie.
Photo: Beverly Poppe

Take it easy on Tivoli Village. I don’t want to hear another person complain that there’s nothing there yet, or that we don’t need another big retail development in this economy. We didn’t have a Town Squarish, pedestrian-friendly chill spot with shopping and restaurants in Summerlin until now. How could this be a bad thing?

And have some patience. It’s true that, so far, the restaurant offerings in Tivoli’s first phase are a little ... pedestrian. But coming soon are a burger bar, an Irish pub and an upscale small plates concept, with live music attached. It all sounds fun, but a development like this needs something easy and tasty, not necessarily a bunch of fancy food spots. Tivoli Village already has one.

Restaurant Guide

Radio City Pizzeria
Tivoli Village, 410 S. Rampart Blvd., 998-7580.
Monday-Friday 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.

Pies fly at Radio City Pizzeria in Summerlin.

It’s called Radio City Pizzeria because the creator’s mother was a Radio City Rockette. Then she came to Vegas and was introduced to her future husband by Liberace. Seriously. This is a Summerlin spot with a very Vegas backstory, but it doesn’t need history to succeed. It only needs delicious pizza. The pie style is New Yorkish, hand-tossed, thin and crispy, with a nice chew around the edge. Get it by the slice at lunch time, and add your favorite toppings from a traditional selection at 50 cents apiece. The tomato sauce is just right, not too sweet.

There are no shockers on this menu, but there is a large, colorful antipasto plate and a decent caprese salad. Also, plenty of big, satisfying sandwiches on toasted ciabatta bread, like Chicken Nastro Azzuro. It’s nine bucks for a big, juicy, pan-fried chicken breast with prosciutto, fresh mozzarella that melts a little bit while you bite it, tomatoes, basil and balsamic syrup. It’s a winner.

Like probably every other new venue at Tivoli Village, there might be some service issues at Radio City. On our busy weeknight visit, there were two large parties that seemed to throw off the staff and kitchen. But it was a bustling pizzeria, with families and friends eating and laughing. Again, how could this be a bad thing?

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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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