The Pizza Guys: Arena, Facchini bring decades of experience to Las Vegas chain

Ken Miller

Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2005 | 8:19 a.m.

John Arena and Sam Facchini are used to relative anonymity. That's not to say they aren't well known. The first cousins have operated restaurants in Las Vegas since 1980, and they've been actively involved in their community during that time. It's just that nearly every time they're recognized, it's by someone who saw them making pizza at one of their three Metro Pizza locations. "It's usually, 'Hey, the pizza guy -- and, the other guy,'" Facchini, 49, said, grinning.

But neither man minds it a bit. Pizza has been part of their lives for 38 years, and they've dedicated themselves to the preservation of the authentic pizzeria, not just in Las Vegas but across the country.

They've developed quite a sense of humor about the whole thing, actually. A large sign over the pizza ovens at their 1395 E. Tropicana Ave. restaurant reads "The Pizza Guy and the Other Pizza Guy."

"Ask us which is which," Arena, 50, said. When asked, the two men pointed to each other, a move they've no doubt perfected over the years.

The two have been inseparable for nearly four decades, and own and operate three Metro Pizza restaurants throughout Las Vegas -- the others are at Ellis Island and 4001 S. Decatur Blvd. -- with more planned.

Despite the constant closeness -- the cousins and their wives even vacation together -- Arena and Facchini say there's rarely been an unkind word between them.

"We're like brothers," John said. "You hear horror stories about people being in business, but I think that happens when partners think they're contributing more than the other.

"I think we're much stronger together than we could ever be alone."

Their camaraderie has paid off. They were named Nevada Restaurateurs of the Year in 1999 by the Nevada Restaurant Association and National Pizza Operators of the Year in 1986 by Pizza Today Magazine. They are regularly given high praise in Zagat Restaurant Review.

The Tropicana restaurant is the first designed by the partners, and will be used as the template for all future Metro Pizzas. It's a 5,200-square-foot room divided by an island of booths near the bar. On the other end is the kitchen.

There's seating for 240, with 40 tables and 16 booths. An arched ceiling looks down on a multicolored floor of muted tones ("food tones," according to Facchini). A large mural of a cityscape overlooks 16 framed pictures (each featuring a famous pizzeria across the country) throughout the restaurant.

It is those and other pizzerias the cousins are hoping to sustain through their efforts. A large map of the United States, which nearly covers one wall, features names of pizzerias the men hold in high regard. If any customer visits a featured pizzeria and brings back a picture of themselves dining there, they get a $25 gift certificate, Arena said.

"We wanted to build a place that would pay homage to all these places," Arena said. "We don't want these places to become extinct."

"We respect the sacrifices these families have had to make from generation to generation," Facchini added. "We are immersed in our profession. It's not just work."

East Coast 'brothers'

Facchini was born in Manhattan, and Arena was born in Brooklyn, but both were living in Franklin Square, a suburb of New York, by the time they were 5.

Both cousins' families worked in the restaurant business at one time or another. Facchini's grandparents had operated bakeries and food stands in the early part of the 20th century, and his uncles -- including Arena's father -- started a coffeehouse in the 1950s, which became the Centurion, a pizzeria.

Arena and Facchini lived two blocks apart in Franklin Square, and they attended all the same schools until they graduated high school.

Arena, an only child, and Facchini became best friends, and although they shared different interests as children -- boxing, wrestling and martial arts for Arena and baseball for Facchini -- they were rarely apart.

"We played ball together, rode bikes together, got into mischief," Arena said. Growing up the oldest of 24 first cousins, Facchini said he and Arena were looked up to by all their younger relatives, and they tried to set good examples for them. That included a strong work ethic.

Arena began working at the Centurion when he was 11, building pizza boxes, taking out the trash and washing dishes. After a year he recruited Facchini.

"I was lonely," Arena said. "It was boring there by myself."

Facchini, who wanted work solely as a means of making money, still remembers his first day:

"I walked in the door and Uncle Rocky (Arena's uncle Rocco) said, 'What the heck is he doing here?' " Facchini said. "John said, 'I brought him,' and Rocky said, 'OK, but you have to split your pay with him.' "

So began the cousins' restaurant partnership.

Upon hearing the story, Arena said, "Oh, so now it's my fault."

"I have to blame somebody," Facchini said.

Different paths

Facchini and Arena spent the next few years working their way up at Centurion, learning all aspects of the restaurant industry, from food preparation to service to bookkeeping.

Facchini wanted to pursue baseball as a young man, but he was too busy with work.

"I didn't allow myself the enjoyment of extracurricular activities in high school," he said.

After graduating high school, Facchini majored in accounting at St. John's University in New York, and worked at the restaurant while he went to school.

"I became a CPA for three years after college, but I never got the restaurant business out of my system," he said.

Arena, a movie and radio fan, pursued communications at Adelphi University in Garden City in Long Island, graduating in 1979.

"I thought I'd go into advertising," he said. "I was interested in how the media is used to persuade buying habits."

While Arena didn't end up in advertising, he feels the skills he and Facchini learned in college are invaluable in their chosen field.

"There are a lot of guys who know how to cook, but they fail in the restaurant business because of finances and marketing," Arena said. "Between the two of us, we've got those things covered."

Meant to be

Arena's father, John Sr., wanted to open a restaurant in 1979, and the two spent the next year looking for an opportunity. They asked Facchini if he wanted to be a partner, and he agreed.

"My first love came back," Facchini said.

It was also the year that Facchini and Arena vacationed in Las Vegas for the first time.

"We came in the summer, and we absolutely loved it here," Facchini said. "For guys in their early 20s, it had a lot of appeal. Everything was the opposite of where we were from."

The most intriguing aspect of the city was its lack of pizzerias, Facchini said.

"We saw it as a great business opportunity."

A Vegas opportunity did indeed arise, and Facchini said it was meant to be.

Facchini's father, Joe (who died in 1987), enjoyed the Italian-language newspaper Il Progresso, and one day handed Facchini a small section from it, advertising a pizza restaurant for sale in Las Vegas.

"I put it on my bureau and left it there for six months," Facchini said. "One day I just picked it up and said, 'Oh, yeah, I never called.' It was still for sale."

Facchini was surprised to learn that not only were the owners from Queens, another section of New York, but that they had advertised only in Il Progresso.

"They wanted a New Yorker reading the Italian newspaper to take it over," Facchini said.

The cousins kept the restaurant's original name -- Original New York Pizza -- for several years. Their original location at the corner of Flamingo and Sand- hill roads drew plenty of business from the schools.

"Our first day of business, kids rode horses up to our store to buy pizzas," Facchini said, referring to the more rural nature of the neighborhood at that time.

They bonded quickly with the community's youth, and hosted the 20-year reunions for the Chaparral High School classes of 1981-'84.

"We were their official hangout when they were in high school," Facchini said. "It was a natural for them to gather up at our place."

Culture change

As the city's food landscape began to change, so did the cousins' business practices.

"As people began opening New York-style pizza restaurants, we realized we couldn't protect the name," Arena said. "Add to that everyone was saying their pizza was the best -- Chicago, Boston, you name it."

The men started to tweak their menu to include other types of pizza, starting with one called the Metro, a thick-crust, Sicilian-style pie.

"We realized we had to change the name of our restaurant," Facchini said. "That was an emotional thing to do, but you've got to adapt in this business."

They opened the first Metro Pizza in 1986 at Flamingo Road and Decatur Boulevard, nicknaming it "Metro West." In 1988 the cousins opened another at the corner of Tropicana and Eastern avenues, nicknaming it "Metro East."

Five months later the original restaurant was moved across the street into a new shopping center and redubbed Metro Pizza.

Arena said giving into the "pizza debate" made Metro Pizza stronger.

"We wanted to say, 'They're all great,' " Arena said. "Pizza's a social food. People have a feeling about pizza they don't have about any other type of food."

That's why their menu contains not only the traditional Olde New York pizza (a cheese-only pie made "the old-fashioned way") and the "East Side Pizza" selection -- including the Mott St. (sausage, peppers and onions) and the Thompson St. (spinach, ricotta and garlic) -- but also the Memphis (barbecue chicken), the Honolulu (ham, pineapple, onions, peppers and bacon bits) and the Modesto (roasted mushrooms, garlic and roma tomatoes).

The original menu was also expanded to include baked ziti, giant baked ravioli and Pasta Luna (rigatoni with roasted mushrooms and tomatoes).

Over the next decade the cousins decided they wanted to design their own restaurant.

In 1999 they began construction on the building at 1395 E. Tropicana Blvd. During construction, they sold the original location, and moved the Metro East business into the new building.

They opened their third location in 2000 at Ellis Island. They began in 1980 with one part-time employee and now employ more than 100 at all three locations.

Family men

Both men married later in life -- Arena has been married to Christine for five years, and Facchini married five months ago -- and both plan on having children in the future, but Arena and Facchini already feel like fathers many times over.

"We've watched people grow up here," Facchini said. "We could fill this restaurant with former employees who are close to us."

Everything Facchini and Arena do is with the intention of keeping traditional pizzerias alive, including holding monthly pizza-making seminars.

"We took a trip to New Orleans, and a pizzeria we loved had closed there because no one in the family wanted to continue it," Arena said.

In addition to seminars, the men do their part for charity. This month they're selling heart-shaped pizzas, and part of the proceeds will benefit the American Heart Association. They also participate in the holiday food drive, collecting cans of food and trading them for pizzas for local shelters.

Education is a priority for the cousins, who sponsor a scholarship program through the Nevada Restaurant Association. Pro-Start, an internship and mentoring program for high school students, evolved out of that program.

"We've had more than 5,000 employees over our 25 years here, and we've guided several hundred of them," Facchini said. "Many of the people we've guided are going to be participating in future restaurants with us."

Arena said he's never regretted his decision to enter business with his cousin, and while he wants his children to make their own decisions, "I'd want to show them how rewarding the hospitality industry can be."

As the restaurant began filling up with patrons, Arena added, "When you look out over this dining room and realize you've given people something that enables them to enjoy themselves, it's the most gratifying feeling in the world."

Facchini echoed his cousin's sentiments.

"Being able to have a positive and lasting impact on not only our families but also our customers' and employees' lives has been extremely gratifying."

That positive impact stretches to them personally as well.

"He's my big brother," Facchini said, knocking fists with Arena. "It's a respectful and supportive relationship, like a brother pushing another brother along to make sure we both stay focused.

"It's also a lot of fun."

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