With just four tables and six booths, clubby Rao’s was one city restaurant that was virtually impossible to get into even before the coronavirus put the city dining scene on ice. Now it’s making its full menu available for takeout, we hear.
During the pandemic, the hotspot began making chef Dino Gatto’s meatballs — and a few other signature dishes — available for takeout as a Taste of Rao’s. The move was such a success, “It seems as though plenty of you wanted access to the full menu… We heard you,” said a post on Instagram.
Until now, the only way to get access to the full menu was to be a venerable regular or win at a weekly trivia game that the restaurant started on social media. Of course this being Rao’s, don’t expect any of-the-moment online ordering options: Diners can just text Rao’s manager Marc Mel for info at 646-200-1787.
Meantime, Rao’s has also been donating food to staffers at area hospitals including Metropolitan, New York-Presbyterian, Lenox Hill and Memorial Sloan Kettering, as well members of the FDNY and NYPD.
Its larger LA location has been offering regular delivery and take-out all along.