Famed Italian eatery Rao’s is expanding to Miami Beach.
The iconic New York City restaurant will open a new location at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel early next year.
The impossible-to-get-into Italian hotspot will be the first new permanent location outside of its hallowed East Harlem home and its Hollywood outpost.
The restaurant’s meatball maestro, executive chef Dino Gatto, is said to have been in talks to bring Rao’s to Miami Beach for months to join the city’s hopping hospitality scene and cater to local power players and out-of-town New Yorkers.
A spokesperson for Loews Hotels confirms to Page Six, “The New York City icon Rao’s is opening inside the Loews Miami Beach Hotel, in early 2023.
“Loews Hotels & Co and Rao’s will be sharing additional details as they become available.”
It has not yet been revealed whether the new Miami Beach location will be exactly modeled on the Harlem venue, which opened in 1896. Insiders say the decor would likely combine the restaurant’s classic design and that of the Loews Hotel, which is at the heart of the city’s vibrant Art Deco District.
But it will very likely have more than the 40 seats of its counterpart, which has been dubbed “New York’s Most Exclusive Restaurant” because reservations are mostly only available to longtime regulars.
Rao’s traditionally opens pop-up venues for the Super Bowl, where it welcomes team owners and NFL stars in the host city.
The restaurant’s Las Vegas restaurant closed late last year after a successful 15-year run.