Pop Up Pizza felt like a godsend. When Michael Vakneen began offering his delicious pizza from an unassuming counter at the Plaza casino in 2012, we Downtowners rejoiced, gorging ourselves silly with crispy pepperoni and rib-sticking veggie pie. For several years, I’d see Pop Up boxes crowding the tables at nearly every Fremont Street party and event I attended.
Now, Vakneen has set down in another fast-growing district. It’s just as transformative an arrival, although the circumstances, and the city itself, have changed substantially in 11 years. 00 Pie & Pub, located near the western edge of the restaurant-stuffed Chinatown district, appears in a Las Vegas that Pop Up helped make—a city that now boasts scores of great local restaurants, with many of them mere steps from 00’s front door. That this sublime Tokyo-inspired pizza pub has what it takes to stand out in that crowded field speaks volumes about Vakneen’s talent and smarts.
If you’ve never tasted Vakneen’s pizza, 00 Pie & Pub can sell you on looks alone. A red-lit, brick-walled space that looks simultaneously brand new and comfortably lived-in, 00 exerts a powerful pull the second you walk through the door. Once you’ve peeked at the menu, you’ll want an immediate seat at a table or at the long bar. And once you’ve tasted the offerings—the sublime woodfired pies, the Japanese beers and whisky cocktails, the killer bar snacks, the top-shelf 00 Caprese—you’ll begin planning your next visit well before they drop the check.
Take, for example, the Bresaola ($23). This white pie, topped with fior di latte, mozzarella, salsa verde, arugula, lemon vinaigrette and Parmesan, is a rock-solid convincer. My bartender said it was his favorite pie on the menu: “It almost tastes like a cream pasta,” he said, and he was right. The flavors are rich, but perfectly balanced, and 00’s pillowy, lightly charred crust gives every slice a light smokiness. I washed mine down with a Hitachino Ale ($11) that was absolutely the right choice—a Italian-Japanese power duo.
The next choice is a tough one. Do I go with the pepperoni ($22), with its enticing combo of vodka sauce, fior di latte, chili crunch, basil, EVOO and dry-aged pepperoni? Go hale and hearty with the Eggplant Caponata—red sauce, fior di latte, Dorati tomatoes, Calabrian chili oil, olive tapenade, herb labneh, chives and the namesake nightshade? Or brave the fiery Diavola, with its spicy sausage, pickled vegetables and roasted peppers? Watching other patrons’ plates go by, one gets the sense there are no wrong answers.
It’s worth noting that 00 offers happy hour specials Wednesday through Sunday from 4-5 and 9-11 p.m., with $7 beer, wine and cocktails and a trio of $7 snacks: truffle chips with pecorino, goat cheese balls and a plate of “Pickled Things” that includes piparra peppers, lemon pickles and 20-month aged Parmesan chunks. And the desserts, particularly the creamy tiramisu ($6), are exceptional.
It’s a rare spot that can win you over both coming and going, but 00 Pub & Pie manages it with aplomb. We’re lucky it popped up where it did.
00 PIE & PUB 3853 Spring Mountain Road, 702-463-0755, doublezeropie.com. Wednesday-Sunday, 4 p.m.-11 p.m.
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