Pie Town Pizza offers an authentic taste of Chicago-style fare

PHOTOS BY LARRY CRUIKSHANK/VIEWClockwise from top left, the Barness family, from left, Bryan, Matt, Terry and Jean, enjoy a Chicago-style dinner at Pie Town Pizza, 2833 N. Green Valley Parkway. General manager Barry Gifand slides a deep-dish pizza into the oven. Pie Town Pizza?s menu also features Chicago hot dogs. Advertisement

Chicago-style food is easy to find, but Illinois native Ari Farah said authentic Chicago grub is nonexistent outside of the Windy City.

Farah decided to change that by opening Pie Town Pizza with his childhood friend Barry Gifand.

"Food to a Chicagoan is like a religion," Farah said.

So food is where Farah and Gifand started when putting their Henderson-based restaurant together.

They hired a friend, David Cavanaugh, to come on as executive chef. Cavanaugh and Farah met while attending the University of Arizona.

The menu features pizza, Chicago dogs and hot Italian beef sandwiches. Many of the ingredients are imported from Midwestern suppliers, including cheese from Wisconsin and hot dogs with poppy seed buns and condiments from Vienna Beef Hog Dogs. Merkts cheddar, Gonnella bread, Eli's cheesecake and Green River soda also are available.

Pie Town also boasts that the water used has the same pH balance as Lake Michigan.

"There's nothing that's not from Chicago," Gifand said. "Even most of the staff is from Chicago, but that was an accident."

About half of the 12 staff members just happen to be from Chicago.

Gifand, Pie Town's general manager, ran a pizzeria in his hometown for almost five years before relocating to the valley.

The traditional deep-dish pizzas are made from scratch when they're ordered and can take up to 25 minutes to bake. Patrons can call in their order before they arrive for pickup or dine-in meals. Delivery is $3 and available within 31/2 miles of the eatery.

Pizza, which comes in thin crust or deep dish, can be ordered by the slice, but Farah said it's better to get a whole pie fresh out of the oven.

A lot of Chicagoans have stopped by the store to eat, but, Farah said, "The best thing is when a New Yorker comes in and says, 'Wow.' They're pizza people; they take it seriously."

Farah said the store at 2833 N. Green Valley Parkway is meant to be a prototype. The owners looked at other cities and decided starting in the Las Vegas valley made sense because they could get the reaction of many groups, including tourists, locals from around the country and students. Farah said they will open a few restaurants in Southern Nevada, and if all goes well, he wants to bring Pie Town Pizza to other cities around the country.

"It's not just the food," Farah said. "We do things in a certain way. With a certain style."

Farah said it feels like Chicago when you enter the restaurant, which has six red booths and is decorated with custom murals painted by Chicago artist Joe O'Conner. The paintings have Chicago scenes, history and famous faces, including people who are either from the city or celebrities who got their start there. There also are televisions showing games from Chicago sports teams and movies set in Chicago.

Appetizers and salads start at $2.50, Chicago dogs are $3 to $5.25, and pizzas are $10 to $20.

Pie Town Pizza is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday with delivery until 1 a.m., and from 11 a.m. until 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday with delivery until 3 a.m.

For more information, visit www.pietownpizza.com or call 244-2246.