This family-owned Italian restaurant in NYC has been a celebrity hideaway for more than 70 years

Patsy's Italian Restaurant of New York

While New York City sees a constant shift in its restaurant scene, one family-owned restaurant is still going strong after 70 years.

Since Patsy’s Italian Restaurant opened on 56th Street in between 7th and 8th Avenue in 1944, it has only had three chefs: Pasquale Scognamillo (or Patsy, as he became known), his son Joe, and his grandson, Sal. 

Four generations of Scognamillos have worked at the restaurant, including Sal's brother, Frank, and Frank's son, Paul. 

Today, the restaurant is famous for being Frank Sinatra's favorite, but it's drawn in a slew of celebrity diners, from George Clooney and Al Pacino to James Gandolfini and Tony Bennett. 

"The Scognamillo family dynasty is not unlike the Sinatras'...theirs is in food and ours is in music," Nancy Sinatra wrote in Patsy's first cookbook, “Patsy's Cookbook: Classic Italian Recipes from a New York City Landmark Restaurant.”

We visited the historic eatery to learn about its fascinating history and to see why it's become a beloved hit with some of entertainment's most noted names. 

*Note: Patsy's Italian Restaurant on 56th Street and 8th Avenue is the only location associated with the Scognamillo family.  

Thanks to its location and the love of music that Pasquale Scognamillo had, Patsy's quickly became a popular spot for Broadway performers. It took Pasquale, who was given the nickname Patsy from immigration officials on Ellis Island during his arrival to New York in 1928, 14 years to raise enough money to open his own restaurant in the city.

It also became a favorite for countless celebrities, whose photos elaborate the restaurant’s walls. “Everyone who came to Patsy’s for dinner was treated like family,” Ben Stiller wrote in the restaurant’s second cookbook, "Patsy's Italian Family Cookbook." “Titans of industry, entertainers, people on a first-time trip to New York all came through, and all, it seemed, felt the same way—special,” Stiller wrote.

For celebrities like Stiller, whose parents would pop into Patsy’s after performing on the "Ed Sullivan Show", and George Clooney, whose mother used to dine at there restaurant while she was pregnant, Patsy’s has been a restaurant they’ve visited, dined at, and had memories in for years.

Source: "Patsy's Italian Family Cookbook" and “Patsy's Cookbook: Classic Italian Recipes from a New York City Landmark Restaurant”