John Arena, Pizzaiolo & Restaurateur, Metro Pizza, Las Vegas and Truly Pizza, Dana Point & Laguna Beach, CA

“In 1905 Gennaro Lombardi established the first Pizzeria in America. It was located on Spring Street in the heart of New York's Little Italy. By good fortune, when Las Vegas’ Metro Pizza’s founders’ (cousins John Arena and Sam Facchini) grandparents came to America they settled just 50 yards away. Ever since those early days, pizza has been at the center of their family life. John’s and Sam’s parents got their first jobs feeding coal into the big bakery ovens where Sicilian pizzas were baked and carried out into the neighborhood to feed the immigrant families hungry for a taste of home. Over the years the time-honored skills of the Pizzaiolo, the pizza chef, have been handed down from their fathers, uncles, aunts, brothers and cousins - from one generation to the next.” “At Metro Pizza, John and Sam honor the great traditions of America's landmark Pizzerias. Their dough is made fresh each day and then fermented for 5-days from the finest wheat, hand-stretched and cooked on the stone of their hearth ovens. The sauces are made from only the finest vine-ripened tomatoes and topped with select cheeses, choice meats and the freshest vegetables, herbs and spices available. Each of Metro’s pizzas is a hand-crafted labor of love, backed by three generations of experience.” John Arena is also the Co-founder of Truly Pizza, “the only restaurant of its kind in Southern California, with outdoor garden seating aiming to provide Dana Point residents and visitors with a unique and delicious pizza experience filled with world-class pizza making and generations old techniques. The menu features classic 12” square and round pizzas sold whole or by-the-slice made with award-winning five-day-fermented crispy and airy wood-fired dough along with a selection of focaccia sandwiches, salads and desserts. All pizzas are made with Truly Pizza’s signature, award-winning pizza dough recipe that involves a lengthy fermentation process to ensure rich flavor and a cloudlike, yet crisp and airy texture with each bite.” A new location will open in early 2026 in Laguna Beach adjacent to Urth Café followed by a Venice branch on Abbot Kinney late in 2026.John is the Founder of the John Arena Foundation connecting pizza with Parkinson’s. The mission is focused on empowering individuals with Parkinson’s Disease and other movement-affecting neurological conditions through hands-on culinary experiences and pizza making.Metro Pizza’s John Arena is with us pizza peel in hand.