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Allright so it has been a loooong time since I've been there. About 25 years. I'm going in a few days. I've heard that the food is basic red sauce Italian, but is good. Is there anything in particular I should order? Yes, yes, the famous meatballs. But what else should I aim for?
Also, what is the dress code these days? I am hearing some folks say wear a tie, and others say jeans are fine. Color me confused.
I started a new post about this yesterday but it got deleted after a few replies, not sure why though, and I didn't get to see any of the responses. Would love some input. Thanks all.
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re: captainspacefood
shaogo
Jan 27, 2010 04:29 PM
It's changed a lot. 25 years ago, maybe jeans were okay. Not now.
Beside the meatballs, veal dishes are good. Start with the fish salad unless you hate seafood. Don't order steak.
The singing and the fun that're part of the show these days didn't happen 25 years ago. It was a different place. Not worse, not better -- just different.
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re: shaogo
Rao's was great. The food was solid all around. Seafood salad was a great start. Calamari. Sausage and broccoli rabe pasta. A ziti red sauce pasta too. The meatballs. Very good, tender. Veal piccata. Pork chops. Chicken. Ice cream. Cheesecake.
I would encourage everyone to check this place out. The bill was rather large, but we drank a lot of wine. Definitely get there for a meal, it's a great experience and staff were super accommodating and friendly. I can't wait to go back. It's been too long.
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Somehow many years ago my wife was able to get a reservation at Rao's twice. Once was in 1986 and again a year or 2 later. As has been stated, the food is good, not great. It's your typical red sauce meal. Service was good and there was the requisite celebrity or 2. It's expensive for what it is or was.
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shaogo
Nov 10, 2009 01:51 PM
I'm so dismayed by all the allusions to mediocre food. I have memories, from my youth, of delightful fare, well-prepared and simply served.
We went at least once a month back in the late '70s-early '80s. Ann and Vincent were alive then, and working in the restaurant. My "in" was the guy I worked for. Eight or more of us would go up.
I have memories of richly-flavored hot appetizers contrasting with a cool, delightful salad of good mozzarella and *perfectly* ripe tomatoes.
I recall angel hair pasta, done perfectly, and sauced with a bright red, almost orange fresh tomato sauce that was an exercise in lightness.
Entrees tended to be full of flavor and very rich.
The meal ended with espresso and anisette for everyone, and then a splendid platter of the most perfectly ripe fruit -- chilled -- would be put before us with knives and plates as accessories. The grapes, plums, and oh, the peaches!
I was young and not very experienced in restaurant eating, but I had already gotten a taste of haute cuisine and mediocre cuisine. Rao's wasn't haute cuisine but it certainly wasn't mediocre at all.
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re: EJC
Bob Martinez
Nov 12, 2009 05:17 AM
The building is still there but it's been closed for more than a year.
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Elaine Snutteplutten
Nov 10, 2009 12:57 PM
I went a few times several years ago when I was dating the son of someone with a regular table. You can make better Italian-American food at home without even trying too hard. It's all about the mystique.
But if you have your heart set on it, as Harrison also mentions in his post , I have seen dinner at Rao's offered for auction at more than one NY-area charity event, most recently at a food industry event this fall. So, you could sniff around in that direction or just ask everyone you know if they know someone with a table.
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iluvcookies
Nov 10, 2009 12:25 PM
Buy the cookbook and have your Italian grandma help you make one of the dishes (that's what I did).
It's about as close as most of us will ever get to eating there.
If you don't have an Italian grandma, you can borrow mine for a day--Grandpa won't mind as long as you save him some food :) -
I got there when a friend won a table at a charity auction. Agree with everyone else that the food is very good, but not spectacular. The theater is priceless. I'll never forget Frank P and 2 very well known moguls who were dining together all singing Under the Boardwalk. Lucky for them, this was way before anyone had video on their phones - it would have been a You Tube sensation!
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Bob Martinez
Nov 10, 2009 09:29 AM
Since it's not likely you're going to be able to eat there here's a link to a CH post which will give you a feel for the food. (It's good, not great.)
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shaogo
Nov 10, 2009 09:17 AM
Sorry.
If one has to ask, one ain't gonna eat there.
There was a time when one could enjoy a cocktail or two at the bar and feel quite comfortable. There was a time about a year and a half back when people were abusing that privilege. There is *no way* you're going to segue from the bar to a table *unless* you're invited by the "owner" of the table.
Vinnie Rao's in Heaven, and he's probably laughing at all the people carrying on about things down here on earth...
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Restaurant Dish
Nov 10, 2009 09:16 AM
There is no way that I know of, unless you are a guest of someone who's a "member". I've been only once with this way and the best part hands down was the scenery. The food was totally secondary. Don't get me wrong, it was good and fresh and well prepared, but no better or worse than you'd get at your Italian grandmother's house.
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