Popular Las Vegas pizzeria closes after strip mall fire cuts its power
Lucino’s, a family-owned pizzeria named among the top 100 in the U.S. by Yelp, had to close suddenly on Saturday because an electrical panel caught fire on the exterior of the building that houses the restaurant at 3421 E. Tropicana Ave., near South Pecos Road.
In a statement, the Clark County Fire Department said that the fire did not reach the inside of the building. Businesses occupying suites F through L lost power because of the fire.
The statement did not indicate what caused the fire.
On Sunday, a red notice from the Clark County Building Department appeared on the exterior of Lucino’s.
The notice deems the structure unsafe and forbids entry without permission from the building inspector.
Giuseppe “Joey” Scolaro owns Lucino’s with his parents. He said the fire came as the pizzeria was in the middle of lunch service.
Losses near $10,000
Scolaro said that he met Monday with a building inspector, who informed him it was up to the landlord to make the necessary electrical repairs so that the pizzeria and other affected businesses could reopen. Scolaro said his property manager, Stephanie Paleczny of Colliers International, has not replied to his request for information and assistance.
“We depend on theses businesses to feed our family,” Scolaro said. “Our landlord has no answer for us. It’s just an uphill battle with this plaza. This is a continuous thing.”
Scolaro said that he has lost close to $10,000 in sales to date from the closing. His family plans to reopen Lucino’s in another space on East Tropicana, but construction has only just begun. Scolaro said that his family could not sustain the current pizzeria if it were closed much longer.
Paleczny did not return a request for comment from the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Kevin Gravely, the building inspector who signed the red notice, also did return a request for comment.
Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram.
