Ron R.
Yelp
This restaurant is owned and operated by a lovely family who WANT everything to be great. It just isn't. They have their moments, mind you--but developing a loyal clientele of LOCALS means being consistently great, not hit-or-miss.
When I heard Robert Irvine's "Restaurant: Impossible" TV show would be targeting Vinny's for a redux, hope sprung like a morning flower. The POSSIBILITIES a Boulder City, well-traveled joint was going to get the infusion of world-class Chef Irvine's culinary expertise as well as his interior redecorating crew's makeover had me more than hopeful that an at-best average eatery would become exceptional.
Having spent my entire career working in and around "Tinseltown," I know better than most that what you see on television is 10% meat, 90% filler. However, Irvine's show pretty much nailed what he found, and left, post airing of the program which in and of itself is amazing.
The physical flip of the restaurant made substantive changes, increasing the visual appeal of the facility as well as the ergonomic flow--although not exactly "Fung Shui." It went from "clunky" to "classy" virtually overnight. To be clear, I doubt any Hollywood location scouts will want to do feature film movie shoots at Vinny's, but the improvements were a quantum leap in the right direction. It's a nice, clean place. And, when you're going out for good food, having a "nice place" in which to dine will suffice.
Reality check: few people I know patronize a restaurant, especially one that emphasizes their takeout offerings, for the look of the joint. It's all about the food, the choices and here's the biggie: CONSISTENCY. Irvine gave D-/F+ ratings to most of what Vinny's plated for his initial food critique. His biggest dig: the SWEETNESS of virtually every sauce coming from Vinny's kitchen. Pasta sauces, meat and marinara, as well as on their pies.
If you are a routine follower of Irvine's Impossible show, you'll know the program's formula often pits him against the owner when it comes to the taste and quality of the victuals being offered. Perhaps more than any other I've watched since becoming a fan of the show, Vincenzo flatly disagreed with Irvine's assessment of everything being too sweet. He argued he was using his "mother's recipes" and they "were not the problem." That said, even Vinny's beautiful wife Tina, who basically runs the establishment, took Irvine's side, urging her husband and partner to LISTEN. Making a long story short, he didn't and wouldn't. Univeral criticisms of Vinny's food center on one common complaint: everything with sauce is "sickeningly sweet." Not good!
To be clear, this reviewer has enjoyed more than a few pepperoni pizzas from Vinny's. I'm guessing that the sharp, tangy appeal of the pepperoni mostly overpowered the sauce's sweetness. I've even had what I considered to be great pies from Vinny's. But I come back to the "C-Word," consistency. The last pizza I ordered on a whim was simply awful. I have to believe someone ordered a pepperoni pizza hours earlier and cancelled their order. Instead of giving the pie the heave-ho, I'm assuming I GOT IT. Because what I found opening that box had the look and feel of saccharine-sweet, but TIRED sauce on a cardboard Frisbee that lived under a heat lamp for who knows how long. I tried to power through a couple pieces but wound up tossing that chum in the trash--sadly, where it should have been placed hours prior.
Although I will gladly concede MY final experience wasn't the norm and YOU might luck out and dine on a peak vs. valley day, I cannot recommend Vinny's. Sorry.
