R iganaldo Loperchio was born in Syracuse, a southern Sicilian province in the year 1920. The youngest child of four sons and daughters of Michael and Genevieve Loperchio, he was not content to work the vineyards that were the family pride for generations. It wasn’t in his blood, and hard work of any kind held no appeal for him. It was on his 15th birthday that he stole 5,000 lire from the biscotti jar & bought his ticket to paradise, aboard a rusty freighter bound for Ellis Island. He languished for weeks among the thousands of immigrants waiting to be processed. Finally, when a harried Immigration Official asked for his final destination, he spoke the only English he had learned, “To New York”. The careless agent subsequently recorded his name “Rig. To N.Y.”

What else is a shrewd, young, enterprising Italian boy to do on the streets of New York except join “La Familia”? He was a handsome, tough looking young man and he reminded people of that new singing sensation Frank Sinatra, although he couldn’t sing a note. It wasn’t long however, until the family discovered that RigaTony wasn’t as tough as he looked. He botched job after job, and as they say, was more talented with amore than muscle. Uncle Johnny gave him one last try, with a job laundering large amounts of cash at a corner Pasteria, and it was there, at what ultimately became “The Original RigaTony’s” in New York’s Little Italy district, that RigaTony discovered his one true talent; he was “one great cooking coomba!” People lined up and down the street for his home cooked pasta and tasty pizza pies.

And so, with a combination of research, heredity, and as little hard work as possible, we have endeavored to recreate the spirit and the great pasta of “The Original RigaTony’s”. Mangia & Enjoy!