After months of anticipation and a major reshuffling of the Metro Pizza empire, Sliceteria is finally open at The Bend. It’s a new concept and new direction from the team that has spent more than four decades helping shape Las Vegas’ pizza scene.
Sliceteria by Metro Pizza is designed as a destination slice shop, showcasing styles and techniques that don’t always fit within Metro Pizza‘s traditional full-service restaurants. It’s an idea that Metro Pizza founder John Arena first outlined during a Food and Loathing interview late last year. And co-owner Sam Facchini brought us up to date during the restaurant’s busy “soft opening.”
“It’s a great relief, and we’re very excited,” Facchini told the podcast, as he and his team began welcoming customers to the state-of-the-art shop.
“It’s a new concept, so it was born from all the great ideas that we’ve had over the years. We wanted to create a slice concept that was unique, and really reflected the values of Metro Pizza.”
Arena and Facchini have worked together for more than 40 years, building Metro Pizza into one of Southern Nevada’s best-known independent restaurant groups. While longtime customers recently said goodbye to two of the company’s historic locations, the partners see Sliceteria as an opportunity to move forward rather than look back.
“We dealt with the nostalgia of it all,” Facchini said of the closings. “We’ve got great memories. But we’re building new memories.”
That evolution is reflected in the menu. Alongside the New York and Sicilian pizzas Metro fans already know and love, Sliceteria offers Roman, grandma and other styles that have become increasingly popular with pizza lovers over the past decade.
“People’s pizza palates have gotten very, very sophisticated,” Facchini noted. “John … is really always ahead of the curve as far as what’s going to be the next greatest thing, and we always try to incorporate it into what we’re doing.”
Although the concept emphasizes slices, customers aren’t limited to ordering one piece at a time. Extra-large 18-inch round NY pies are available, along with whole Roman, grandma and Sicilian pizzas, as well as takeout-only tavern-style pies.
When Arena first discussed the project last year, he explained that Sliceteria would allow Metro Pizza to experiment in ways that weren’t practical inside its traditional restaurants.
“Every artist gets tired of playing their greatest hits,” Arena said at the time. “Let’s do something different. Let’s allow me to evolve.”
Now, after months of waiting, Las Vegas pizza fans finally have the chance to see what that evolution looks like.
Hear the complete interview with Sam Facchini on the July 24 episode of the Food and Loathing podcast.
