For three days this month, Moneyline Pizza & Bar at ARIA Resort & Casino will hand its keys to Che Fico Pizzeria, the San Francisco outfit that spent five years perfecting its dough before ever opening its doors. The pop-up runs March 19 through 21, with Chef David Nayfeld and partner Matt Brewer of Back Home Hospitality transforming both the dining room and the slice counter into a full extension of their Bay Area operation.
The backstory is worth knowing. When Nayfeld and Brewer opened their first restaurant, Che Fico, in San Francisco in 2018, the pizza was immediately the thing. Within a week, guests were lining up on the street before opening just to get a table. Gwyneth Paltrow, Anderson Cooper, and Poppy Harlow all posted about it. A pizzeria felt like the obvious next move, but Nayfeld was not ready. He spent the next five years refining his naturally fermented dough until it met his standards, and Che Fico Pizzeria finally opened at Thrive City in San Francisco in 2024.
The menu arriving at Moneyline centers on 20-inch pies, available whole or by the slice, made with that naturally fermented dough and hand-pulled cheese. Che Fico classics anchor the selection, including the Pineapple and Calabrian Chili Bomba, built on the restaurant’s housemade chili bomba with red onion and mozzarella; Pepperoni and Long Hots; a Broccoli Rabe White Pie; a straight Cheese Pie; and a Tomato Pie.
Beyond pizza, the menu fills out with Calabrian Chili Bomba Wings, House-Made Mozzarella Sticks, and Supplì al Telefono, the Roman-style cheese-filled rice croquettes whose name refers to the strings of melted cheese that stretch like telephone cords when pulled apart. Salads include a Che Fico Chopped Salad and a Caesar, while the antipasti side of the menu offers Marinated Warm Olives and Charred Spring Peas with Burrata and Grilled Sourdough Bread. Dessert brings a Dark Chocolate Budino with Hazelnut, Olio Verde, and Sea Salt alongside Chocolate Chip Cookies and Meyer Lemon Sorbetto.
Moneyline Pizza & Bar is located on ARIA’s casino floor near the BetMGM Sportsbook. The slice counter is open March 19 from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m., March 20 from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m., and March 21 from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. The dining room is open March 19 and 20 from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and March 21 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.