Rao's. It Happened.

Allow me to begin with - no words can describe this night.

Rao's Restaurant
455 E 114th Street
New York, NY 10029

Founded in 1896, starting as a saloon, family owned - 4 generations in. From the famous NFL Manning brothers throwing a football outside of the restaurant which is on East 114th street to Sting and Bon Jovi both being in the restaurant and by the end of the night singing Sinatra's famous "New York" hit together and with the entire restaurant, to topping it with Sophia Loren walking in and the always noisy restaurant dropping silent. This place is home. We walked in, greeted with such kindness by the owner, Frank Pellegrino (with no reservation I might add as they do not accept them - however they are somehow booked for 2015), we fell back into the era circa 1930 and I felt like I was a main character in Goodfellas - it was amazing. I am still unsure how it happened, starting with a few drinks with Dee behind the bar - who comes across as the friend you grew up with - followed by our dreams coming true as we were told a table is being set for us. Dining and having the seafood salad, calamari (duh), meatballs, lemon chicken, broccoli rabe, vodka penne, of course a bottle of wine and topping it with lemon cello courtesy of the down to earth, classy, stylish Mr. Pellegrino - it sure was one of the best nights in New York City. To get a seat here is unheard of, the tables are allegedly each given to certain family's for life and theirs whenever they want them. The generous, kind owner Frank, makes you feel like he's your uncle Frank seating you at his birthday party. He was born on East 114th street in Harlem - his wife of 40+ years also is from the same area - he keeps tradition alive in numerous ways. This is an establishment you will find no where else. (Well, you can try in Hollywood and Vegas as they opened there too :) but I'm confident it will not be as original as the Harlem location. 

Another example of you never know where life will take you - be optimistic and wonderful doors can open. 

Try.

Quote from Frank: “I tell my wife all the time, I wish I had a Rao’s to go to” 

Thanks to Wikipedia, below are a few fun facts I did not know about Rao's..

"Film

In the movie The Wolf of Wall Street, which premiered in December of 2013, Leonardo DiCaprio is seen eating dinner in Rao's Restaurant.

Music

In 2009, Jay-Z shot the music video for "D.O.A." (Death of Autotune) at Rao's.^{[citation needed]}

Television

Rao's was the basis for "Raimondo's," a fictional restaurant featured as the site of a murder in the Law & Order episode "Everybody Loves Raimondo's." The owner of the fictional restaurant was played by actor Ray Abruzzo, who later co-starred with Pellegrino on The Sopranos.^{[citation needed]"}

Facts via Wikipedia