Question of the Day - 30 November 2006

No apologies necessary, since we've never tackled this question before and we're always happy to discuss good pizza, although we'd rather eat it. Back in August of this year, we did survey the best stromboli in town in LVA, with Four Kegs and the Tap House coming out as top staff picks, but this is our first pizza survey.

We're certainly fans of Metro Pizza, which was also recently ranked #1 in the nation by USA Today and specializes in stuffed pizzas (double-layered dough), plus interesting toppings like chopped clams and garlic or roasted mushrooms and roma tomatoes, in addition to your more classic cheese and pepperoni-type fare. It has three locations at Flamingo and Decatur on the west, Tropicana and Maryland Parkway in the east, with the third inside Ellis Island, on Koval Lane.

Here's what the LVA staff had to say about these and the other best pies in town:

• Las Vegas's best pizza isn't there anymore. It was Regina's Pizza, famous in Boston for more than 80 years. Regina's Las Vegas started out at the Fiesta, then moved to the Palms with the Maloofs. After a brief stint in business at the Palms' food court, it closed up shop and has been sorely missed (by me) ever since. Boston Pizza (1507 Las Vegas Blvd. Sth., next to Olympic Garden), which makes Greek-style pizza also beloved in Beantown, is a distant second to Regina's, but now my first choice. (Deke, Snr. Editor).

• When I first moved here, my boyfriend's mom always talked about this place called Payless Pizza (469 S. Decatur Blvd. T: 702/877-1900); once I tried it, I was hooked. They sure know how to pack on the good stuff and the prices are pretty reasonable, too. The first time we ate there, I had a Chicken Gyro and Matt had a Meatball Sub and they were both so good that we couldn't decide which one was the best. The second time we went there we had a vegetarian pizza: It was overflowing with veggies and cheese and it was so good! I highly recommend this place for any pizza lover. Oh, and they deliver too! (Tanya, Research Asst.)

• Brando's, on the corner of Green Valley Parkway and Sunset. (Of course this is a bar and grill, so who knows if they will be eliminating their kitchen, as many are being forced to with the smoking ban. I say dump the smoking and keep the pizza, and I'm a smoker!) We always order the deep-dish cheese only, as we don't like "busy" pizza. They claim to be Chicago-style and I have to take their word but my dining partner, a Chicago native, says that it's pretty darn close to authentic. They have another location on Blue Diamond and Valley View, but I've only been to the Sunset/Green Valley one. (Becki, Office Manager)

• Northside Nathan's on Lake Mead Blvd. at Buffalo. OH MY GOD!!! This has to be hands down the best pizza I have ever tasted. This is Detroit-style pizza and it comes in a square, not round like traditional pizza, so the person who gets the middle oooey, gooey cheesey slice of heaven is one lucky SOB. On the heartburn scale from 1 to 10, this is definitely, without a doubt a 1 -- no heartburn at all. The restaurant interior is great too: They have a huge buffalo head above the counter that blows smoke out of its nose for a quarter and they have screens all over and show all the games.

  My second choice: Sammy's Woodfired Pizza on Sahara. Delicious! Go with someone you love who doesn't mind sharing their pizza with you. You get to choose from one of about 25 different gourmet personal pizzas and they have this to-die-for Asian chicken salad that I could live off of. Not too expensive at all, either. Heartburn scale 6 (but worth it).

  Runners up include Metro Pizza on Decatur and Flamingo, which is also very good. Not quite as good as Nathan's, but nothing can hold a candle to them in my opinion. I have never eaten there, but I've heard from numerous people that BJ's Brewery has very good pizza, too.