Ray's Pizza

The first^{[citation needed]} Ray's Pizza at 27 Prince Street on the northern edge of Little Italy, Manhattan

Ray's Pizza, or many variations such as "Ray's Original Pizza," "Famous Ray's Pizza," "World-Famous Original Ray's Pizza,", etc, is the name of dozens of pizzerias in the New York City area that are generally completely independent (a few have multiple locations) and that may have similar menus, signs and logos. ^[1]

History

The oldest of the current Ray's Pizzas^{[citation needed]} was opened by Ralph Cuomo of Little Italy, Manhattan at 27 Prince Street in 1959 near the country's first pizzeria, Lombardi's. He does display articles in the restaurant noting that his is the oldest existing restaurant of that name. The spur for "a Ray's on every corner" in the 1970s, was Ray's at 6th Avenue and 11th Street owned by two brothers who immigrated from a town named Roio del Sangro in the Abruzzi region of Italy. The marquee now has in big letters "The Famous Ray's Pizza" and in smaller letters "Famous Ray's of Greenwich Village." Mario DiRienzo, the former owner, had this explanation for the name:

It's a small town I come from. Although I am a Mario, in Roio I am also a Ray. The name Ray is a nickname for the family name of Di Rienzo. Every family has a nickname in my town. Someone asks, 'Did you see Mario?' and there are so many Marios in town you have to ask 'Which Mario?', so the answer is Mario Ray. And so my restaurant became The Famous Ray's Pizza. If it were The Famous Mario's, you would have to ask 'Which Mario?'^[2]

There was a Ray's avalanche of the '80s. As of 2007 there were at least 34 restaurants by some variant of that name as noted by the telephone directory.^[3] Ray's Pizza pizzerias were so numerous that one pizzeria owner opted to name his pizzeria Not Ray's Pizza. ^[4]

References

External links

• rayspizzany.com