Evel Knievel-inspired pizzeria succeeding on Fremont
The hair, the outrageous sideburns, the manly swagger and, of course, the white jumpsuit and giant custom belt buckle. It could only be one icon of 1970s Las Vegas.
OK, maybe two. In this case, it’s Evel Knievel.
When Branden Powers and his partners decided to create a pizzeria that captured the spirit of the 1970s, they thought the stuntman represented the passion of the decade. Evel Pie, 508 Fremont St., opened Nov. 9.
“Evel Knievel’s an American legend,” Powers said. “He’s iconic. He’s a working man’s hero. He’s the perfect fit for Fremont Street.”
Powers, who also opened The Golden Tiki at 3939 Spring Mountain Road, said he wanted to re-create the New York street pizza of the ’70s. He brought in Vincent Rotolo, a Las Vegas chef who says he eats, sleeps and breathes pizza.
“I’ve been making different pizza concepts in Vegas for a while now,” Rotolo said. “I opened 800 Degrees in Monte Carlo. I was director of operations for Dom DeMarco’s Pizzeria & Bar in Summerlin.
“If there’s a job in pizza, I want to be there.”
Powers and Rotolo are pleased with their result, a thin-crust pizza they say can hold a lot of toppings.
“It’s foldable, pliable and the cheese is stretchable,” Rotolo said. “We’ve been doing cheese-stretching competitions to see how long we can stretch it.”
Their record is 49 inches.
The pizza parlor has all the usual toppings, plus a few unusual ones — including rattlesnake sausage, made in-house, and man candy bacon, which is bacon cured in brown sugar and maple syrup with chilis on top.
“It’s a great balance of sweet and savory,” Rotolo said of the bacon, a topping on the Hog Heaven pizza. It also features pulled pork, red onions, parsley, smoked mozzarella and barbecue sauce.
The newest item, chicken wings, is set to launch Feb. 5, the day of the Super Bowl. Patrons can get them Buffalo hot, Daredevil Jump or Suicide Mission, which includes ghost peppers.
To get permission to use Knievel’s name and likeness, the partners went to his oldest son, Kelly, who handles the estate. Kelly Knievel partnered with Powers and Rotolo and provided some of the decor. Photos and memorabilia of the stuntman are everywhere, including Evel Knievel pinball machine in the front to the mural of the Snake River Canyon in the back.
It’s already started attracting Evel Knievel fans, including some who came in to show off tattoos of his stars-and-stripes “1” logo and an original ticket to the failed Snake River Canyon jump in 1974.
Powers’ parents owned pizzerias in the ’70s. The restaurant is also a tribute to his family and what he says was the heyday of the sit-down pizzeria.
“In the last decade or so, sit-down pizza parlors have started to make a comeback. It would have meant a lot to my pops to see that.”
Visit evelpie.com.
To reach East Valley View reporter F. Andrew Taylor email ataylor@viewnews.com or call 702-380-4532.