Charles Rao

Charles Rao was a child when his mother and father arrived in New York. As a bright and resourceful young man Charles Rao bought a small saloon from the George Ehret Brewery at the corner of 114 Street and Pleasant Avenue in upper Manhattan.  It was 1896.  He called the place Rao’s. Charles Rao died in 1909 of a heart attack, and his brother Joseph took over and ran the restaurant until his death in 1930.  By then Charlie’s sons Louis and Vincent had become the operating owners.

Louis Rao

Louis Rao, in his Chesterfield topcoats and white-on-white shirts, was, by neighborhood standards, very suave.  He had his hair cut at the Waldorf –Astoria.  He traveled during the age of steamships.  He enjoyed being behind the bar at Rao’s and ran the place until his death in 1958.

Vincent Rao

Vincent Rao was a very different kind of man. Instead of tailored clothes and Waldorf haircuts, Vincent Rao preferred a cowboy hat and casual clothes.  He also preferred cooking in the kitchen at the saloon.  He was born in 1907 in the house next door to the bar, 453 East 114th Street.  He was raised in that house, he was married in that house and he died in that house, at age eighty-seven, in 1999.

Anna and Vincent Rao

In 1974, business had become so brisk that help was required in the form of Vincent’s wife, Anna Pellegrino Rao, who arrived from their house next door with her pots and recipes.  Anna was an unlikely restaurant chef.  She was as elegant as her husband was homespun.  Anna’s deft touch improved all the traditional Italian dishes and Rao’s became a favorite for a small army of steady customers. Frank Pellegrino, Anna’s nephew and now co-owner of Rao’s, was a singer with his own group and also had a budding acting career when his Aunt Anna would call him and ask him if he could help at the restaurant when available.  Eventually, the restaurant became full time for Franka nd he continues to sing at the restaurant as well as having outside movie or television engagements.

Ron Straci and Frank Pellegrino

Ron Straci, Uncle Vincent’s nephew and now co-owner of Rao’s, remembers serving as an informal waiter in 1947 at the age of twelve during the Feast Of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.  During the feast, Rao’s closed its kitchen so as not to compete with the sidewalk stands set up during the holiday.  “I was allowed to don the famous white apron the uncles wore and help serve our customers.”

“Having spent every Sunday dinner I could remember with “Mama Jake,” as my grandmother Francesca was called by her children and grandchildren, Rao’s Bar and Grill, next door to my grandmother’s, seemed like such a wonderful haven of good friends, fast smiles, and wonderful smells.  I can still remember the smell and taste of the sauce and meatballs that Mama Jake would make for our family.  She would make enough to feed the family and the customers at the restaurant Uncle Lou reminded me of Clifton Webb; Uncle Vincent was casual, but polished. I remember the cars, usually convertibles and mostly black Cadillacs.  I remember the dogs, usually large and black, always secondhand.  Strays found a home at Rao’s, always wondering in and out of the restaurant.   Only the passage of time has made me an owner, but the fond memories of family, food and friends live through our line of food products.”

Through the years the owners often wondered how they could bring this simple Southern Italian cooking to the customers they couldn’t fit into this tiny restaurant.  Finally, in 1993, the owners developed the marinara sauce based on the recipe that had been passed down for generations.  The most important criteria for making the sauce was that it had to be made with the same finest, freshest all natural ingredients, that the restaurant used, without additives or fillers, and that it taste just like the customer had made it fresh at home to serve their families that day.