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AWARD-WINNING ICONIC RESTAURANT Piero’s Italian Cuisine brings people together for 40 years with great food, service and history.
Sharing a meal with family and friends remains a special time to share food, beverages, and laughter while creating lasting memories. The family-owned Italian restaurant Piero’s Italian Cuisine treats everyone as if they are part of the family. Founded by Freddie Glusman in 1982 directly off the Las Vegas Strip, Freddie has become the patriarch of this treasured Vegas institution. His son, Evan Glusman, is its operating partner, but Piero’s is so much more to him. It is indeed in their DNA, with a third-generation expanding their operation. When it opened, Piero’s quickly became the hangout for politicians, celebrities (including the Rat Pack), conventioneers, locals, and even notorious mobsters. Today, Piero’s has a long and impressive list of regulars and guests, including George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood, and Justin Timberlake. Las Vegas regulars include the Las Vegas Golden Knights, the Las Vegas Raiders Owner Mark Davis, Mike Tyson, Dana White, and Steve Lawrence. Piero’s creates that polished old-school Italian aesthetic, where fine dining and service are at the forefront of the guest experience. The menu still has most of its signature dishes from its inception in 1982. Piero’s continues to receive annual awards for its incredible Italian food and seafood and five-star service under the operation of Freddie and his son, Evan Glusman. Speaking of mobsters, film buffs might recognize the old-school Italian restaurant in Martin Scorsese’s film “Casino,” filmed and released in 1995. Based on the real-life gangster Tony Spilotro who operated the Leaning Tower of Pizza, Joe Pesci’s character, Nicky Santoro, ran Leaning Tower Restaurant in the movie. Pesci also is a real-life fan of Piero’s.
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“Joe [Pesci] came to Piero’s one night and lit up a cigar. He is a friend of mine, but I had to tell no cigars in the restaurant,” explains Freddie. “When the producers came back to use the restaurant for the movie [Casino], Joe had a lit cigar and blew the smoke in my face. But I had to laugh.” Evan was in high school when the movie Casino was filmed at the restaurant, and he told all of his high school friends that they had to come to see Sharon Stone during her scenes. The restaurant was closed for five days, and Evan and his friends ditched school to watch Sharon perform. Another funny story is when Freddie used to operate the pizza parlor in the Stardust with the president of the Stardust. One day, the president asked Freddie to make him a bag of chocolate chip cookies, and Freddie did. The president gave the bag as a gift, but the man with the bag of cookies was arrested when law enforcement mistook the bag for money being skimmed from the casino. Evan remembers very clearly the time Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, former New York police detectives until retiring to Las Vegas, were arrested in Piero’s. Evan was bussing tables and, suddenly, AR15s came out with law enforcement swarming the place. In many ways, Piero’s reflects Las Vegas, the story of moving to Las Vegas from somewhere else, working several jobs, and finding success. Born in Canada, Freddie personifies the Las Vegas dream. He became a U.S. citizen, served in the Army, and moved to Las Vegas from California in 1957. He operated different businesses, sold carpet,
