NYC Italian Eats: The Old Guard

In with the old, a shout-out to the few: a tour of the city’s old-school Italian classics

It's hard to imagine that there was a time not long ago when Italian food was considered exotic. Italian restaurants proliferated in New York post–World War II, serving up many of the same dishes you'd find today: veal scaloppine, eggplant Parmigiano, spaghetti carbonara.

Nowadays, the image of a plate of spaghetti-and-meatballs served on a red-checkered tablecloth is as iconic as it is clichéd. Still, as Italian cuisine continues to evolve, a cadre of old-school stalwarts—some stretching back a century—carries the torch for traditionalists everywhere: New York's Old Guard. —Jane Lerner

Pictured: Rao's impenetrable, century-old façade