The story of this cozy restaurant located in a strip mall next to Home Depot is a good one. A young Domenico DeMarco immigrated to New York from the town of Caserta, Italy, in 1959. This young man came from a long line of master bakers and master pizzaiolos. Initially, he worked as a farmer on Long Island until he saved up enough to open Difara Pizza in 1964 on Avenue J in Brooklyn, growing it into an iconic family business.
Praised by critics and foodies alike, the restaurant earned the title of “#1 Pizza in New York,” and “Best Italian Restaurant” by prestigious magazines such as Zagat, New York Magazine, and New York Daily News. Dom himself has been titled a “genius,” and a “pizza god” by many. His dedication and passion for creating the perfect pie created a frenzy with crowds, sometimes waiting up to three hours for one of his creations. He also prides himself on only using only the highest quality ingredients with all of his food and importing the best from all around the world to meet his standards.
His son Dom Demarco Jr. opened this Summerlin outpost of the legendary restaurant in 2010. His mission was to take it back to its nostalgic roots before the hype of an Anthony Bourdain endorsement as well as many other food critics, which created a frenzy that forced the original locations to stop serving their full menu that included salads, appetizers and pastas and just focus on churning out pizza and calzones to meet customer demands. Having worked beside his father since the age of seven, Dom was committed to bringing his family recipes out west with the same commitment of quality that his father taught him.
But, if you’re coming here you’ve got to get the pizza. Choose between square cast-iron cooked Sicilian style, or round New York style. We’ve opted for round each time, but the square looks pretty tempting in person. We have tried the Bianca—their take on a white pie with imported herbed ricotta cheese, roasted garlic with shredded mozzarella and fresh basil. It is a divine creation in its own right, but our favorite, which we keep ordering, again and again, is the Di Fara Special. This pizza is perfection with Dom’s Sicilian sauce made with prosciutto simmered in San Marzano tomatoes, thick, chewy pepperoni slices, shredded mozzarella, house-made fresh mozzarella, Grana Padano, and of course their signature sweet basil topping. Is your mouth watering yet? Mine is.
During their happy hour, Dom’s offers some amazing deals like 50% off all pizzas and wine and $6 orders of those pizzettes that I raved about earlier. I am hopeful that as of this printing all the insanity will have died down, and their dining room will once again be open. If not, stop by and get some take out and keep this gem going. We need this place. Let’s keep this family story going. Now go eat something. Dom DeMarco’s is located at 9785 W Charleston Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89117. Check out Dom DeMarco’s at domdemarco.com or call 702-570-7000. Check out more of my content at foodnerdmag.com.