Ten years ago, Chef Gio Mauro opened a high-quality, low-priced pizza shop in hopes of alleviating some of his community’s financial stress following the recession. Ten years later, he’s telling the same story.
Old School Pizzeria will be opening its second local outpost in mid-April at 1920 Rock Springs Dr.
Gio and Naomi Mauro see this expansion to be more necessary than ever.
“We’re here to make your life easier,” Gio Mauro told What Now Las Vegas. “I know that’s a very old-fashioned way of looking at the restaurant business, but it’s just what our mission is. Getting high-quality pizza to working families at an affordable price.”
Chef Mauro explained that pizza is uniquely positioned to hit both of those marks. Quality steak restaurants are necessarily expensive. Pizza, on the other hand, can be baked to perfection without breaking the bank. The secret lies in the dough.
“The reason we call it Old School Pizzeria is because we make our dough in an old school way,” Mauro said. “Dough was good for 10,000 years and then we messed it up.”
Who’s to blame, you ask? Mauro points to the popularization of commercial yeast. Old School Pizzeria stays away from commercial yeast entirely, opting for natural starters. This, Chef Mauro says, makes for a more nutritious pizza with bolder flavors.
One of the chef’s most popular creations is the “Vegas Meets Italy” pizza, which combines traditional Italian toppings, like prosciutto, arugula and heirloom tomatoes, with ingredients that grow in the Nevada desert, like pistachios and dates.
Before opening Old School Pizzeria in 2011, the chef already had years of restaurant experience under his belt. Mauro also owns Monzu Italian Oven & Bar in Spring Valley, and is a member of the Nora’s Cuisine family.
