The NYC Italian Restaurant Frank Sinatra Made Famous

You can hardly walk a block in New York without finding good Italian food. But some restaurants have a more impressive pedigree than others, and Patsy's on West 56th Street might have the most impressive of all. The restaurant has been around for an amazing 81 years, opening in the building next door to its current location in 1944, and moving to its permanent home a decade later. Since day one, this Theatre District staple has served locals, tourists, and celebrities. But Patsy's most notable cheerleader was 'Ol Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra.

Sinatra had plenty of favorite restaurants, spanning from Las Vegas to LA to Chicago, but Patsy's was at the top of his list. This family-owned restaurant was a retreat for Sinatra, who first visited in the 1940s and loved the place so much he kept coming back. According to The New York Times, he even spent a lonely Thanksgiving there in the 1950s, with the restaurant opening just for the down-on-his-luck crooner (he didn't find out they'd unlocked their doors especially for him until much later). Sinatra also begged the restaurant's founder, Patsy Scognamillo, to open a Florida location so he could enjoy his favorite meals when he was in the Sunshine State. Although Sinatra was almost part of the family, Scognamillo refused.

This didn't dampen Sinatra's enthusiasm for the Midtown haunt. He remained such a fan that he instructed other celebrities, including Bono, to visit the classic Neopolitan eatery. Sinatra probably recommended the all-time favorite arugula salad and the veal Milanese, extra crispy.

Sinatra didn't live to see the expansion of Patsy's. He probably wouldn't have approved, anyway, as Patsy Scognamillo's grandson, Sal, opened a second restaurant in Atlantic City rather than Florida. Sal, who runs the kitchen in New York to this day, also began selling jarred tomato sauces and even wrote a cookbook. The book, named simply "Patsy's," features a foreword from Nancy Sinatra, Frank's daughter. She's been visiting since she was 11, calling the eatery "a touchstone." It's hard to imagine the singer whipping up Scognamillos' recipes at home or doing a grocery run for essential Italian ingredients, but as a tireless cheerleader for Patsy's, he'd no doubt appreciate Sal's business mindset and the restaurant's growth.

That growth led to the sauce wars, a drama worthy of a Godfather movie, which Sinatra might have gotten a kick out of. It started a few years after Sinatra's death when the owner of a rival Patsy's, this one a pizzeria, tried to trademark the name (which would have ruined Sal's jarred sauce business). The case was backed by the rival Patsy claiming Frank Sinatra used to eat their pizza, which was refuted by the Sinatra children. Eventually, the Patsy's Sinatra really did love won out, but not before a battle that The New York Times described as, "a pungent New York drama, boiling over with family tradition". Clearly, nothing can stop Patsy's, where 'Ol Blue Eyes' magic still seems to cast a spell.

If you want to experience the old New York glamor of Patsy's for yourself, you can. Reservations are as old school as the restaurant — you'll have to call to make one. For the full Sinatra experience, request a table upstairs by the windows and order one of the crooner's favorites, like the stuffed artichoke or the clams posillipo. There's no word on Sinatra's favorite dessert, so you'll have to ask a member of the Scognamillo family, who are still very present at the restaurant, or perhaps consult a ouija board. 

Can't make it to New York at the moment? Recreating the ambiance might be tough, as waiters clad entirely in white and a dark wood dining room are quite an investment, and you're unlikely to spot Al Pacino, Madonna, or Sinatra's grandchildren in your own kitchen, but you can whip up must-try Italian classics at home, and perhaps even use Patsy's tomato sauce or pasta in your cooking. Add a Rat Pack soundtrack, and it'll be almost like you're visiting the living landmark and dining with Frank Sinatra himself.