At Last, Local Favorite Solamente Pizza Finds Its Permanent Home

Local pizza gem Solamente Pizza, which serves up naturally leavened pies by Chef Ethan Spiezer, is finally finding a permanent home this summer, at 8390 W Sahara Ave, Suite 130. If you’re not familiar with Solamente, you’ve been missing out on pizzas that have become a smash hit. On top of that, you’ve probably missed some dramatic episodes in the Las Vegas restaurant world these last few years.

Solamente got its start at the beloved Las Vegas Test Kitchen, taking over for sourdough pizza hit Yukon Pizza.

“My buddies who run Yukon were moving out,” Spiezer told What Now on Saturday. “They said, ‘Your pizza is awesome, you should take over for us.’”

At the time, Spiezer was working as a teacher. But once he got started in the Test Kitchen, he began to build up a following—particularly with local pizza chefs and Italian ex-pats. Solamente Pizza became the pizza-maker’s pizza.

“It’s 100% naturally leavened,” Spiezer said. “You could say it’s like sourdough, but it’s more old-school Italian. They call it ‘mother dough’. It’s not sour; it actually favors more sweet flavors.”

Then, the Las Vegas Test Kitchen closed as founder Jolene Mannina moved on to other projects. Unsure about the future, and in need of a new home, Solamente Pizza moved into a new location at Town Square Las Vegas: a shared space with Down 2 Earth, the vegan concept from Chef Stephen Parker, at 6599 Las Vegas Boulevard S. There, Solamente’s following continued to grow—even unmanageably so.

“Basically, we didn’t have an idea of what it would mean if we actually did well,” said Spiezer, describing the way in which Solamente began to suffer from success. “We only had room for one small pizza fridge, which extremely limited how much dough we’d ever have available.”

So, on the one hand, there were lines out the door, which also meant guests taking up an unfair portion of the seating in a space shared with another restaurant concept. Then, on the other hand, there was the problem of selling out and having to turn people away.

Then, suddenly, Spiezer says, sales began to decline.

“Back in March, I was googling the pizzeria, which I do every once in awhile to see if I missed an article or something. And all of a sudden I realized there was an Uber Eats page where this other restaurant was pretending to be us.”

Solamente Pizza was one of a number of popular Las Vegas restaurants that were being impersonated on Uber Eats (another, reported the Las Vegas Review-Journal, was James Trees’ Esther’s Kitchen).

This was another stressful part Solamente’s long process toward finding a permanent home (“infuriating” is the word Spiezer uses), but now, as spring advances toward summer, the clouds appear to be clearing. Spiezer says he’s now looking forward to launching in a space with adequate space to facilitate his dough’s long leavening process, one where he will able to serve up his pizzas exactly the way he wants them.

“We’ll be reopening in July or August at the latest. We’re going to have so much space that we won’t be running out of dough, and we’ll be able to have a more expansive menu, too.”

That updated menu will include a selection of salads, some sandwiches, garlic knots, and even ciabattas and focaccias made with Spiezer’s signature dough. There will also be wine and beer and several new dessert options.

You can keep up with Solamente Pizza by following @solamentepizzalv on Instagram.