Rocco Restaurant

Rocco Restaurant
Restaurant information
Established	1922;103 years ago (1922)
Closed	2012;13 years ago (2012)
Previous owner(s)	Rocco Stanziano, Antonio DaSilva, Gianni Respinto
Street address	181 Thompson Street
City	New York City
County	Manhattan
State	New York
Postal/ZIP Code	10012
Country	USA
Coordinates	40°43′40.8″N74°0′0.8″W / 40.728000°N 74.000222°W / 40.728000; -74.000222

Rocco Restaurant was an Italian restaurant on Thompson Street in Greenwich Village. ^[1]

Ralph Redillo, the superintendent of the building, has said it was a “big mob joint” and in the 1950s, attracted Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio. Later celebrity guests included Johnny Depp, Robert De Niro and Screw Magazine editor Al Goldstein. ^[1]

Mario Batali worked there as a chef. ^[2]

It is said that in 1952, Anthony "Tony Bender" Strollo ordered a hit there. ^[2] In September 1952, he met with Joseph Valachi for dinner. He was given a hit on Eugenio Giannini, a Bureau of Narcotics informer from the Lucchese crime family. ^[3]

History

Rocco Stanziano opened the restaurant in 1922. ^[1]

According to owner Antonio DaSilva, (Rocco Stanziano's great-nephew) Rocco's closed in 2012 because of “greedy landlords.” The lease was up at the end of the year and the landlord wanted to raise the monthly rent from $8,000 a month to $18,000 a month. Mario Carbone and Rich Torris took over the lease and opened the original location of Carbone. ^{[1] [4]}

Stanziano ran the restaurant until 1966 until his nephew Gianni Respinto took over. Respinto's nephew DaSilva took over in 1992. ^[5]

References

1. "Classic red sauce restaurant is closed after huge rent hike". amNewYork. January 19, 2012. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
2. Simonson, Robert (June 26, 2008). "Who Goes There?: Rocco Restaurant". Eater NY. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
3. Maas, Peter (January 13, 1969). "Anatomy of a Cosa Nostra Contract". New York Magazine. p. 27. Retrieved May 22, 2023– via Google Books.
4. "New York Italian Mafia Restaurants". Greenwich Village Italian. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
5. Mastropolo, Frank (March 22, 2023). "10 GHOST SIGNS OF DOWNTOWN MANHATTAN". Untapped New York. Retrieved May 21, 2023.