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The pizza stakes are sufficiently high enough in Vegas these days to subject every new pie to a level of scrutiny unheard of even five years ago.
Such is the reason we’re not ready to pass judgment on DeMarco’s pizza yet.
Some things about it are wonderful: top shelf ingredients, a thick and rich marinara, good cheese, even better sausages, and salads that are dressed lightly like they’re supposed to be.
The crust, however, is a different story entirely. Even on the thin pies, it’s too thick and bread-y, and on the deep-dish ones, it’s a disaster — attaining almost a corn bread consistency with no attendant flavor pay-off.
Of course, ELV loathes any- and everything “deep dish,” but this one has none of the over-the-top, caloric catastrophes that obese mid-westerners seem to crave. It’s almost like they want to offer a deep-dish option without fully committing to the cheesy, overstuffed terribleness of a real one.
Pizza aficionados — and by aficionados we mean true connoisseurs, not every yahoo who loves whatever neighborhood, electric oven, Sysco-dependent dreck gets thrown at them — should stick with the thin (but could be thinner) crust, and appreciate the intense toppings, while holding out hope they learn how to get some flavor into the crust, and some thickness out of it.
While they’re working on these things, you can always enjoy your salads, or the killer meatballs and eggplant Parm, while, of course, looking at Yohana.
DOM DeMARCO’S
9785 West Charleston Blvd.
Las Vegas, NV 89117
702.570.7000
Just came back from there few minutes ago. Worst pizza I’ve ever had.
I’m not a big fan of new york style pizza, but I can tolerate metro or grimaldi. Unfortunately this one I had to classify it as waste of calories and leave it on their tray. Tough and insipid dough, too salty and too thick sauce, plenty of grease from the cheese on top, no flavor at all. Kind of reminds me of little caesar pizza. Definitely unredeemable. Loud surfer music, landscape help in the kitchen.
I can see a lot of 4th generation american-italians going nuts over this place from nu yowk but as far as I’m concerned I’ll never go back.
I only tried the thin crust during the first week of operation, and found it a touch too dense for my taste, but better than a lot of places here in town.
Tried the pizza here about a week ago and loved it! Being from Chicago, it’s hard to find a good pizza here in Vegas. I hope, from the previous comments, we didn’t just get lucky. I’m looking for consistency. Many great restaurants here, but to find a place for pizza that will be good every time, haven’t found one yet.
BTW, I have only had the thin crust. Not a thick crust fan of any pizza. Lou’s in Chicago has the best deep dish, but it’s not a thick crust. Lou Malnati’s would be great out here!
There is only 1 pizza of merit.
Fun House in Independence Mo. Google it up.
Pizza in LV sucks overall.
http://www.funhousepizza40highway.com/
Been here a few times. A big fan of DiFara in Brooklyn. Square pie is excellent ! Exactly like the opriginal. Had round and it was good but still working out the kinks. Been open 3 weeks.
Big fan of DiFara. Been here a few times. Square pie is excellent. Just like the original ! Round was good but only been open a few weeks. Still working out kinks. Will be back for sure.
ELV responds: It may look like the actual Di Fara’s special, but this crust is substantially thicker, with none of the crispiness or flavor of the original. But if ELV has learned anything after years of food writing, it is that you can prove to someone that their favorite pizza joint uses dog food in their meatballs, and they’ll still defend it to their death.
There are so many great pizza places in NYC. DiFara was never one of them. All the hype for nothing. The pizza tastes like Lean Cusine frozen pizza.
I concur with Monsour – perhaps not as harshly, but I agree. I used to work just blocks from DeMarcos first location on Houston street, it closed within a few years. Mind you, pizzerias in NYC never close… its virtually a recision proof business until the typical 10 or 20 year lease is up for renewal. The biggest problem was the lack of a good crust, an oven that wasn’t ideal for the baking style they were attempting to conduct, and poor choice of olive oil whose flavor was damaged by the cooking process which smothered the pizza (I would have loved this if the right oil was used). With all the pizza options in that neighborhood (as well as Batali’s Lupa just 1 block away for a fantastic quick Roman fix) DeMarco’s was the least favorite option. I havent tried DeMarco’s in Vegas yet, but since I expect more of the same I’ll pass. Demarco’s on Houston Street would have been far superior to the average Vegas metro-area pizza joint, but it would have been crushed by the good places in town such as Grimaldi’s, Settebello, DOCG, OTTO, etc… why settle for subpar when there is brilliance available within reach at the same price point?
PS: I always wondered why they didn’t use the DiFara brand name… hmmmm…..
Been in the pizza business most of my life. Been a pizza lover all my life. Fell in love with Di Fara in Brooklyn, actually cried with my wife while eating it. Dom’s nailed the square. The crust is fantastic, crunchy and bursting with flavor. Grimaldi’s is good but this pie can bring one to tears as well it’s so good. Pizza crust is always going to be inconsistent unless its mass produced and frozen like some of the above mentioned chains. The ingredients are fresh and some of the best I’ve ever had. Atmosphere is awesome, friendly and fun every time so far. New Yorkers will be proud and Las Vegans can finally be proud of a killer NY style pizza.
To In the Cards — I think you are confusing DiFara in Midwood Brooklyn with DeMarco’s on Houston Street. DeMarco’s has always been Dom’s CHILDREN’s place, so please don’t tar DiFara when you have evidently never been there. Monsour does seem to be referring to DiFara. It’s hard to take his comments seriously when DiFara’s pizza, regardless of its merits, tastes nothing like Lean Cuisine.
I went to DeMarco’s last week and was rather impressed with the pizza, although I don’t think it is as good as Settebello (and, of course, but much better than Otto).
For the record, DiFara never refers to his pizza as “think crust.” It isn’t thin in the way Grimaldi’s or Settebello’s are. There is no such thing as “New York Pizza.” There are far too many styles.
Sorry for the typos in the last post. Of course, it should be “thin” pizza and I have no idea what the “and, of course” means in the penultimate paragraph. It’ll teach me to type with a broken finger.
DF – There was no confusion on my part… I was discussing DeMarco’s, not DiFeras in my post. You incorrectly assumed I was belittling DiFaras, I have never eaten there so I would have no point of reference to make such judgement.
But with that said, you just opened a pandora’s box. The marketing hype in both Vegas and also at the Houston street location was that DeMarco’s = DiFara. Take a look at the Difara’s website to verify how the two brands are marketed as originating from Dom Demarco: http://www.difara.com/. It doesn’t matter that the corporate structure is owned by Dom’s children, as long as they continue to promote the brand as the DiFara’s of Las Vegas and a product of Dom DiMarco himself then criticism of DiFara is fair game for those who chose to do so.
I did misunderstand, Inthecards, and thanks for clarifying.
Knowing Dom and the children, it sure looks like they have had outside investment in the Las Vegas adventure. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with them trading on Dom’s exploits, as there is a similarity to DiFara pizza at DeMarco’s, especially in the cheese. I’m assuming the pizza will improve in LV — it is already quite good, and I think it’s worth a shot.
First,Dom Demarcos is Difara period. This is the first time Difara came out from Brooklyn. There is no other Demarcos, so on the above posts you do not know what great pizza is. Dom Demarcos went above and beyond where no other restaurant has gone. You can not rush perfection. People do not want to give Dom Demarcos a great review b/c it just opened. Clearly, Dom Demarcos is a winner from the start. That is the bottom line b/c I said so!!!
We’ve had their pizza three times already, and the flavor/crust is one of the best around town. We’re talking about Philadelphia/New York/Boston flavor pizza…. this was as good!!! Don’t be food snobs and appreciate a good, quality pizza joint in our local area. Give it a couple chances and you won’t be disappointed. It beats Pizza Hut and Dominos. (sorry guys!!, but this place is awesome!)