Italian restaurants in America were founded in the early 1900's.
The first restaurant was located in New York City, called La Rinascente. It opened in 1901 and served only Italian food. The second restaurant was called La Trattoria. This was a small Italian restaurant in Chicago, Illinois that was owned by an Italian immigrant. In the late 1800’s, Italian immigrants came to America looking for work. They would find work as dishwashers, bakers, and in other places. They were very hard workers.
In 1910, the first Italian restaurant in America was opened in New York City. It was called the Ristorante Vittorio. It was owned by Vittorio Vitelli. He was a chef from Italy. He had come to America to work in a factory. After he had worked there for awhile, he decided to open his own restaurant. He hired an American cook named James Beard. Beard was a famous chef at the time. He taught Vitelli how to make Italian food. Vitelli then went back to Italy and learned how to make many different kinds of Italian food. He came back to America and opened his restaurant.
The next restaurant was called La Rinascente in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This was another Italian restaurant that was owned by an Italian. This restaurant was also very successful. It was one of the first Italian restaurants in America. Then in 1913, a restaurant was opened in Detroit, Michigan. It was called the Ritz-Carlton. It was owned by a man named Angelo Rotta. He was an Italian immigrant. His restaurant was very successful. It was one the first Italian restaurants in America that made it big. In 1916, another Italian restaurant opened in Detroit. It was called the Sogno. It was owned by Luigi Raffo. He was also an Italian immigrant. He came to America to work in a shoe factory. When he found out that there wasn’t much work in the shoe factory, he started working in a restaurant instead. His restaurant was very successful.
