Guerrilla Pizza to open its first independent pizzeria in downtown Las Vegas

For Guerrilla Pizza, a revolution (of sorts) approaches.

The viral purveyor of deep-dish Detroit-style pies, which hasn’t had a permanent home since leaving the kitchen of the Hard Hat Lounge when the bar closed for renovations in April 2023, is about to launch its first-ever independent operation.

Guerrilla Pizza, led by founder Robby Cunningham, will occupy the space that housed Far Side Pizza, for about four months this year, on the ground floor of the Soho Lofts condominium on Las Vegas Boulevard South downtown.

City of Las Vegas records list a temporary active business license for Guerrilla Pizza at 900 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Suite 120, the onetime address of Far Side. A temporary license allows a business to operate while a full license is pending.

Records also indicate the city has approved the pizzeria’s application for “conditional use verification for alcohol, on-premise beer/wine.” This conditional use verification is a step in the process of obtaining a license to serve alcohol.

Neon has requested comment on the new restaurant from a representative for the pizzeria.

Anticipating a downtown return

In the past few weeks, Guerrilla Pizza has been firing up enthusiasm for its opening among the Instagram faithful (@guerrillapizzaco).

A Nov. 3 post: The wait is over. The pie that put Detroit-style deep dish on the Vegas map. Share it, tag your crew, and get ready. Guerrilla Pizza is officially making noise again.”

Then on Nov. 5: “We’ve been cookin’ in silence, plotting the comeback of Vegas’s favorite Detroit-style deep dish. Now we’re almost ready to make some noise.”

A little tease Nov. 7: “Oh, Vegas … Not open just yet, but any guesses where we’re settin’ up shop?”

An equipment update Nov. 10: “Cooking cooking and COOKING! Dialing the ovens in for you all!”

And the most recent word Nov. 15: “Getting the shop locked in.”

It started with homemade pizza

Cunningham, a Michigan native, began his journey to professional pizzaiolo by cooking pies in his Vegas kitchen out of nostalgia for his home state. In April 2019, he founded Free Pizza DTLV, giving away his pies for free through an Instagram page, @freepizzadtlv.

What might have started out as a novelty developed into real enthusiasm for Cunningham’s pizzas because they were accomplished incarnations of the Detroit style: crisp crust, crisp-chewy cornice, cheese spread to the edges, two wide stripes of sauce, all baked in a deep metal pan. Cunningham had a hit.

Then the pandemic arrived. Cunningham lost his job as a bartender. Could he turn his Instagram pizza giveaway (and its fandom) into a paying business? He couldn’t catch a break until the Hard Hat Lounge got in touch — we’ve heard the buzz about your pizza; our kitchen is available.

In October 2020, Cunningham began sending out Detroit pies under a punchy new name. Guerrilla Pizza was born.

Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram.