Forward I sat anyway.
It's brand new in Vegas, but it started out in 2002 by Anthony Bruno in Fort Lauderdale. Mr. Bruno had another restaurant prior to the apparent success of his chain of Brooklyn style pizza parlors called Anthony's Runway 84. I've looked around, seems to be a favorite Italian joint among South Floridians.
On to the food. Now, I need to tell you that I'm pretty particular with my pizza. During my tenure in New York, got to taste the best of the best (John's, Lombardi's, Patsy's, Grimaldi's, etc) and so I approached my tasting with caution, an attitude of "prove me wrong." I only say this because I've seen and tasted how good this ubiquitous round of goodness can truly be. Really it's only being fair to those artisans that take real seriousness in what they do. I take that pride with me.
The menu was pretty streamlined. Right from the get-go, it's the pizza they want you to get, smack up top their one-page bill of fare. All the other salads, chicken wings, sides and sandwiches on the bottom playing the red-headed step-children.
So I will go ahead and breeze through these. The Fresh Mozzarella and Tomato Salad was spectacular. They put red and green peppers on top that at first glance thought it would taint the simplicity of the dish, rather gave it depth. If it wasn't my friend's salad, I would've finished it all myself.
Skip the Coal Oven Roasted Chicken Wings. The concept is good with flatbread lining the pile of roasted wings and onions—sadly it was overcooked, dry and salty. The onions seemed like they needed to be more caramelized and it was hard to eat with it falling off all over. We ordered 20 and couldn't bring ourselves to taking the leftovers home.
As a lunch special, we ordered two personal-sized pizzas. To me, the ultimate way to measure pizza (not to mention fairly) is to get a plain ol' pepperoni pizza. From here I can gauge the ingredients and technique. No time passed from the time the waitress placed it on my table that the first slice hit my face. The sauce is tangy and runny, and you can tell that it's fresh. The pepperoni and the cheese were left to be desired. Halfway through the slice, there's this inner struggle within me to want to really like it but alas, overseasoning got the best of it as it was salty. It wasn't overpowering but enough that I couldn't truly devour it without stopping and drinking liquids to wash it down.
A friend on the other side of the table ordered his with calamata olives, long hot finger peppers and I think, the Italian sausage. He on the other hand told me that it was amazing because it was great to order it with the peppers as his Italian wife's family made them from scratch. He was happy to see it on the menu...his mouth red from the heat.
I have to mention that Grimaldi's made its presence known in Vegas lately and it's been my place to go when I miss the Big Apple. Granted it's not quite the restaurant under the Brooklyn Bridge, and they do have hit or miss nights. Nevertheless it has fundamentals of an amazing pie with solid ingredients, great crust and simplicity. To me it's the best in Vegas.
If we're comparing, Anthony's to me is a good attempt at best at New York style pizza. I would go there because it's convenient, nice enough environment (nostalgic photos of Marilyn Monroe and of like era—don't really get it so much), and pizzas aren't that bad. I will give them props on the end crust which is tasty, seemingly butter or good olive oil brushed on it.
I think what Anthony's succeeds in doing is making a non-offensive pie...well done.
Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza
6569 Las Vegas Blvd. Town Square. Suite 176
Las Vegas, NV 89119
702.361.7500
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