Rao's has been located at 455 East 114th Street in East Harlem since 1896. It was originally a saloon, one room with a bar, purchased by Charles Rao, and as the current owners of Rao's state on their website, "Tradition and ritual are the heart and soul of Italian cuisine. Since 1896, the Rao's family has believed in sharing those traditions." Rao's is also reportedly one of the oldest family-owned restaurants in the country. Charles' son Vincent ended up owning the restaurant with his aunt, Anne Pellegrino, and then it came to be co-owned by Frank Pellegrino Sr. (who died in 2017, as Fortune reported), his son, Frank Pellegrino Jr., and Vincent's nephew, Ron Straci.
Frank Pellegrino Sr., the late co-owner of Rao's, told Famous Foodies, "It's a throwback, it goes to another era. My grandmother, my grandfather, my aunts, my uncles, this is what they brought to America. ... That's my objective, that's my goal, is to carry on that ancestry, to honor it, to respect it, and to share it with the people who come here."
Rao's has also displayed Christmas decorations all year round for over seventy years. Pellegrino Sr. said, "What it really means ... [is] every day in America is Christmas. Every day. So therefore, they will never come down."
Rao's is a ten-table restaurant — four tables and six booths — and that's obviously one of the reasons why it's practically impossible to get a reservation. But there's more to it than that. The turning point where Rao's went from a well-kept secret to the hardest restaurant to get into came in 1977, when dining critic Mimi Sheridan gave it a three-star review in The New York Times (via Vanity Fair). After the review ran, the phone began ringing off the hook and never stopped. As Frank Pellegrino Sr. explained to Famous Foodies, "That's when I started assigning tables. I figured out the only way I could protect those who were loyal to us ... was by giving them tables. ... Every table, every night, has been booked since 1977."
Rao's regulars have their own table assignments (weekly, monthly, or otherwise), and these were set in stone by Frank Pellegrino Sr. and Anna Pellegrino (per Vanity Fair). When the members who have table rights pass on, their family usually inherits the table. Those who have a table can arrive whenever they want on their assigned night, or they can lend it out. Essentially, for a newcomer to come in, they have to know one of the regulars.
Indeed, Frank Sr. earned the nickname Frankie No because he turned down so many people trying to get in. Ironically, there were times when Frankie had to call a table regular to see if they were willing to give up their place — and if they turned him down, even Frankie No couldn't get a table in his own restaurant (per Famous Foodies).
The menu at Rao's – which is used at the Los Angeles location — consists of Italian family recipes that came from Frank Pellegrino Sr.'s grandmother Paulina, his aunt Anna, and his Uncle Vincent, according to Bon Appétit. The meatballs at Rao's are a thing of legend, and they're made with ground veal, pork, beef, and seasoned breadcrumbs. Uncle Vincent's chicken is also a popular dish, where the chicken is charcoal broiled and topped with Vincent's personal lemon sauce (via USA Today).
The New York location has no menu. As USA Today explains, one of the owners "pulls up a chair and runs through a litany of pasta, seafood, veal and chicken options, basically making whatever you want ... the waiter kneels at the table while explaining the menu." Dinner costs about $75 a person, they don't take credit cards — you have to pay with cash or check only, according to Vanity Fair.
