THE GREASY FOODIE: RAO'S

The Greasy Foodie

The story begins blustry day Friday after Thanksgiving in 2008 in a cramped booth at a fake NYC deli in Nashville called Noshville. In between my wife, Rachel, and my brother, Michael, I sat across from my "cooler than me" cousins Mark and Sarah, and Sarah's just as cool husband, Danny. Mark, who lives the awesome life being a lawyer living in San Francisco working for Facebook, with his only downfall being his SEVERE lactardation..which has never been medically or scientifically proven to exist in Mark.. Sarah and Danny are foodies from NYC who have tried every dive "chicken finger" hut and "curry on a stick" in the big city. Danny and Sarah had discussed that they were trying to go to as many places from Bobby Flay's 'Throwdown' show as they could, and that there was one in Nashville we had to try.....a place that I had never heard of in my 13 years of living there..I will get to that adventure later.

I got an idea from my cool cousins idea. An idea became a hobby. And the hobby became an obsession. And thus produced the list.....a world-famous spreadsheet...of every restaurant that has ever been featured on Food Network and Travel Channel....every restaurant from the famous shows like "Throwdown", "Man V. Food", "Man v. Food Nation", "Food Feuds", "Food Wars", "Best Thing I Ever Ate", "Food Paradise" and "Diners Drive-Ins and Dives" to the obscure "Best Food Ever", "Meat and Potatoes", and "101 Best Places to Chowdown", plus my additions of the restaurants of famous chefs, favorite catergories (burgers, wings, pizza, bbq, and sandwiches) and local places of legend. Names, cities, food they are famous for, and addresses. It was and still is an obsession. As of 11:31am on November 27, 2018, THE LIST HAS 4,660 RESTAURANTS ON IT...WITH A FEW OVERLAPS HERE AND THERE. And then over Pastrami Eggs Benedict at Nate N' Al's Deli in Beverly Hills, Hannah and Andrew, our good friends, gave me the idea of the blog. Document every place I went. And thus, "The Greasy Foodie" was born. I will log the places, the shows they are from, and what I had. So far, every place I have been has been amazing, except two, one being mediocre, and another being down right awful.

If there is a city you have been to, or are going to, or are from and want to know what from my list is in the city, send me a email at agmarks@gmail.com

Thursday, May 15, 2014

RAO'S

From Throwdown with Bobby Flay

Caesars Palace Dr, Las Vegas, NV 89109

https://www.caesars.com/content/dam/clv/Dining/Upscale/Raos/Caesars-Palace%20Las%20Vegas-Dining-Upscale-Raos-7.pdf

Old School Italian Restaurant! Mafia-style, drink a lot, eat a lot, sing and dance a lot with family and friends kind of place! Great over the top, portions that would feed small countries, red sauce and oil on everything, gluttony to the highest degree kind of Italian! The best kind of Italian! Plain and simple, this place is great, nothing worth travelling across the world for, but truly great!

There is a location in NYC, as mentioned in the Wolf of Wall Street, but you can't get in to that one, not because there is a line or reservations, but because its impossible. There are 12 tables, each one owned, YES OWNED, by a family and passed down by generations. Unless you have a family member with you to dine, you are not getting in. What kind of families you ake? This is an italian restaurant where the meatballs are made by grandma and as they say in Goodfellas "(They) used a razor and he used to slice it so thin that it would liquefy in the pan with just a little oil. It was a very good system." I think you get the hint!

THE GREASY FOODIE