Rao’s Italian restaurant opened at Caesars Palace during the holiday season in 2006—an appropriate seasonal arrival considering the colorful decor and year-round Christmas lights made the Strip dining destination feel like the red sauce joint around the corner where you make an annual reservation to gather with family and friends and escape your own kitchen this time of year.

In East Harlem, that’s sorta what the original Rao’s did, starting in 1896. Sometime in the 1970s, the tiny but iconic New York City restaurant became known as one of the toughest reservations in the country, because it was so small and its devoted regulars wouldn’t give up their tables. So when Rao’s expanded to Las Vegas 15 years ago, it became easier for more people to experience the Rao’s family’s hospitality and homey cuisine, including signatures like the huge veal, pork and beef meatballs; linguine frutti di mare loaded with seafood and red chili flakes; Uncle Vincent’s lemon chicken; and Sunday gravy simmered with a variety of meats that isn’t on the menu but was tasty enough to threaten your nonna’s recipe.

After a terrific and long run, Rao’s Las Vegas will serve its last meal on November 28. Locals and tourists have been regulars here, and we’ll all miss the food, the friendly ambiance, sitting at the bar and sipping the E. 114th after catching a show at the Colosseum, and bumping into family scion Frank Pellegrino Jr., who was always quick to fill your Champagne glass. Every night has been a celebration here, and you can’t say that about every restaurant on the Strip.

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