TV Restaurants

What Happened to Rao's (Caesars Palace) After Best Thing I Ever Ate?

Best Thing I Ever Ate, Season 5 Las Vegas, Nevada Closed November 2021

Current status

Closed

As of October 2026, Rao's (Caesars Palace) has closed — confirmed via neon.reviewjournal.com, October 7, 2021.

What the source shows: The Las Vegas Review-Journal's Neon section reported Rao's would permanently close on November 28, 2021, after a nearly 15-year run at Caesars Palace. How we decide a status →

What happened after Best Thing I Ever Ate? 2 episodes

Best Thing I Ever Ate, Season 5, Episode 5

Rao's at Caesars Palace was a Las Vegas outpost of the famously exclusive East Harlem, New York, Italian-American restaurant, serving red-sauce classics such as meatballs and lemon chicken in a Strip setting styled after the original Manhattan dining room. The Las Vegas location opened at Caesars Palace in December 2006 under co-owners Frank Pellegrino Jr. and Ron Straci. According to a Las Vegas Review-Journal Neon report published October 7, 2021, Rao's was set to permanently close on November 28, 2021, ending a nearly 15-year run on the Strip.

The same report said the owners gave no reason for the closing but indicated a future Las Vegas restaurant could be in the works, without naming a location or date. No 2026-dated source was located describing a new restaurant occupying the former Rao's space or confirming whether Pellegrino and Straci opened another Las Vegas venue.

Food Paradise, Season 16, Episode 9

The Food Paradise episode "Viva Las Vegas" (S16E9) featured Rao's, the Caesars Palace outpost of the century-old East Harlem, New York City restaurant. Rao's built its reputation on family-recipe Italian-American dishes served in a small, clubby dining room, with meatballs, marinara, and lemon chicken among its signature plates. The Las Vegas location opened inside Caesars Palace in 2006, bringing the same recipes and reservation-only exclusivity that made the original famous, and it operated for years as one of the resort's marquee Italian dining rooms on the Strip.

The episodes Best Thing I Ever Ate

Episode 5
Air date not confirmed
Title: Las Vegas · What was featured: Rao's East Harlem-born Italian-American classics inside Caesars Palace
Food Paradise, Season 16, Episode 9
Air date not confirmed
Title: Viva Las Vegas · What was featured: Signature meatballs, marinara, and lemon chicken at Rao's Caesars Palace

Also in Season 5 Best Thing I Ever Ate

Season 5: 61 of 104 still open · 7 renamed, moved or under new owners

All 13 Season 5 episodes →

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Before you go: Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.

Sources we checked 4 references

  1. neon.reviewjournal.com https://neon.reviewjournal.com/entertainment/food/iconic-italian-restaurant-closing-strip-location-2455034/
  2. news3lv.com https://news3lv.com/news/local/raos-caesars-palace-las-vegas-closing-november
  3. Yelp https://www.yelp.com/biz/raos-las-vegas-5
  4. cheapovegas.com https://www.cheapovegas.com/raos
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Record btiea-0434 · checked by Cal Marchetti.