Rocco Restaurant

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

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″N 74°0′0.8″W

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]