Ray's Pizza, and its many variations such as "Ray's Original Pizza", "Famous Ray's Pizza" and "World-Famous Original Ray's Pizza", are the names of dozens of pizzerias in the New York City area that are generally completely independent (a few have multiple locations) but may have similar menus, signs, and logos.
Ralph Cuomo opened the first Ray's Pizza, at 27 Prince StreetinLittle Italy, in 1959, named after his nickname "Raffie". In the 1960s he briefly owned a second Ray's Pizza,[1][2] but sold it to Rosolino Mangano in 1964.[1] Mangano kept the name and later claimed that his was the first.[1][2][3] In 1973, Mario Di Rienzo named his new pizzeria Ray's Pizza (which is now closed) after, he claimed, the nickname for his family in Italy. Also that year, Joseph Bari purchased a pizzeria from Mangano and renamed it, and several others, as Ray Bari Pizza. By 1991, dozens of pizzerias in New York City had "Ray's" in their name, as well as those in other American states.[3][1]
In 1981, Gary Esposito purchased a pizzeria from Mangano. After opening several more "Original Ray's" restaurants, he partnered with Cuomo and Mangano to combine independent "Ray's" restaurants into an official franchise chain.[3][1] As of 2011[update] there were at least 49 restaurants by some variant of that name in the New York City telephone directory,[4] including one named Not Ray's Pizza.[3]
The first Ray's Pizza closed its doors on Sunday, October 30, 2011, following a legal dispute over rent and a lease that followed its owner's death in 2008.[5][6] Half of the space that once housed Ray's Pizza has been leased to a new company, Prince Street Pizza.[7] Meanwhile, Famous Ray's Pizza on Sixth Avenue and 11th Street, which had served pizza since the 1970s, closed down in 2011,[8] reopened under the name "Famous Roio's Pizza" in 2012,[8] and closed again in 2013. A Chinese restaurant now occupies the space.[9]
The confusion of various Ray's Pizzas is featured in a gag in the 1997 episode of The Simpsons "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson". While waiting for a traffic officer beside the World Trade Center, Homer spots a pizza parlour named "Original Famous Ray's (Not Affiliated With Famous Original Ray's)."[10]
In the episode “The Maid” in the final season of Seinfeld, Kramer gets lost and calls Jerry for help. He tries to use a Ray's Pizza to describe where he is, but there is confusion over which one he might be seeing.
In the TV show Friends, Rachel can be seen with a pizza box from Ray Bari Pizza. This leads fans to think that the pizza store that the friends frequent is Ray Bari Pizza.
In the episode "The Caste System" in the second season of Sex and the City, Miranda accompanies her boyfriend Steve to Famous Original Ray's Pizza located at 204 West 9th Avenue in Chelsea.[11]
In the 2003 film Elf, Santa Claus erroneously tells Buddy that the Famous Ray's Pizza location in Greenwich Village is the original Ray's Pizza, saying, "…there are, like, 30 [of them]. They all claim to be the original, but the real one's on 11th."[12]
In the episode “Gintars” in the sixth season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Gintars (played by Ike Barinholtz) concocts a story in which he eats pizza at “Famous Ray’s” to make it seem like he is a native of New York.
