Giant Pizza and Cake Slices Invade the Strip at Buddy Valastro’s PizzaCake

Buddy Valastro’s two favorite things to eat? Pizza and cake. So the Cake Boss decided to combine the two at his new restaurant now open at Harrah’s. PizzaCake officially opened at the front of the resort spanning 1,800 square feet and serving a roster of New York and Sicilian crusts, cookie dough dessert pizzas, slices of cake, and the namesake, PizzaCake.

“Just the thought of walking down the Strip and grabbing a slice of pizza, like I’m in New York City,” Valastro says of the inspiration behind his newest restaurant.

On the Strip side of the fast-casual restaurant sits a small patio, currently awaiting a six-foot-tall, six-layer, rainbow-colored vanilla cake sculpture, more tables, a walk-up window for ordering, and a cake ATM. Inside, the restaurant features photos of his family decorating the subway-tiled space, the walk-up counter, and another cake ATM facing the casino floor.

Valastro brought his father-in-law Mauro Belgiovine to Vegas to run the restaurant. Valastro and Belgionvine, who owned a pizza shop in Union, New Jersey, worked on the dough for more than six months before coming up with the final recipes.

Jose Salinas

That namesake pizza cake features layers of pizza stacked like lasagna. “We actually wanted to come up with something that was like a layer cake. So we made these really thin pieces and then we kind of layered them like lasagna,” Valastro says.

The usual pizza combinations make the menu, along with a chicken Parmesan variety, a shout out to the best-selling dish at his Buddy V’s Ristorante at the Palazzo. The Sicilian squares feature a light but thick baked crust. Diners can order by the slice or a full pie.

On the dessert side of the menu, cookie pizzas come with fruity cereals, S’mores, chocolate and peanut butter, a sweet and salty variety with potato chips and pretzels, and his wife Lisa’s inspiration, a Nutella version. Monster cake slices from his neighboring Carlo’s Bake Shop at the Venetian include red velvet, rainbow, chocolate, and vanilla. Those cake ATMs go live in about two weeks, doling out slices 24/7.

The restaurant holds its grand opening on March 7.

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