As Ricky Lewis likes to say, “I’ve always had pizza in my blood. … Any chance I get to throw some dough around and work with the ovens is a good time.” Lewis is not only the regional manager for the Las Vegas market of Pizza Rock, but you can find him most days at the brand’s Green Valley Ranch location, where he’s the general manager.
Growing up in the suburbs of Vegas, he worked at various restaurants and eventually helped run a local mom-and-pop pizza shop for years. He later joined the Las Vegas National Guard and then the Army, but the food and beverage industry called him back. So he enrolled in UNLV’s hospitality program. One day, he found the Pizza Rock job listing on Craigslist, and as he says, the rest is history. He helped open Pizza Rock’s original location in downtown Vegas, and for the past three years he’s been managing the Green Valley location, a more locals hot spot.
Friends With Benefits: Ricky Lewis
“Here, we’re roll-up-our-sleeves managers,” Lewis says. “I make pizza every single day for guests. We’re busing tables, making drinks; we’re running food, we’re seating guests. We’re active managers.” And that’s the way Lewis likes it; he prides himself in being a multipurpose manager, he says. “I really like being able to (get hands-on)... and be able to help where I can.”
When Lewis isn’t running one of the city’s favorite pizza spots, he’s spending time with his newborn son and cheering on the Vegas Golden Knights—he’s a season ticket holder. “You could say I’m a big fan,” he says, as a big smile spreads across his face.
The Jade Can
Lewis is proud of Pizza Rock’s beverage offerings. He points out that there are 40 beers on draft and 100 brands in bottles and cans; Pizza Rock also makes its own barrel-aged cocktails, and every Friday a new beer menu is printed with about a dozen changes. “We always have the latest, freshest craft beers you can get,” he says. A popular new addition is The Jade Can from California’s Black Market brewing company. Lewis points out that the beer, a fresh, highly hopped, New England-style double IPA, is served in a zombie glass—created by a local artist whose artwork can also be seen around the restaurant.
