About Raffetto’s

When the patriarch of our family, Marcello Raffetto, opened M. Raffetto & Bros. in the heart of Greenwich Village in 1906, it’s hard to imagine he would have expected his little pasta shop to last into the next century. And have it be thriving now more than ever. Throughout these 116 years, many dedicated family members and relatives have kept the business going and growing through all the changes that time brings – from two World Wars and the Great Depression to Vietnam and into the web revolution. And for this, our family is truly grateful.

In its early years, M. Raffetto & Bros. made three basic products: egg noodles, meat & spinach ravioli (Genoa Style) and, a little later, cheese ravioli (Naples Style). Since refrigeration was the exception more than the norm at the turn of the century, we produced and sold dry egg noodles much more than fresh egg noodles, made with the one roller machine our grandfather bought in 1916 (that machine is still used today). From the 1970’s on, the popularity of fresh noodles and having only one machine to roll out the dough made us discontinue making dry noodles. Today, Raffetto’s produces about 50 different kinds of pasta. We often wonder what Marcello would think about our range of homemade creations that include pumpkin ravioli, black squid ink linguine and rosemary pappardelle. Regardless of whether it is a classic pasta or something a little new and creative, our family still chooses to follow the same principles that has guided our family’s philosophy since 1906: use the best quality ingredients to produce the best quality pasta.

As life styles, work schedules and family dynamics have changed, our customers’ needs and desires also shifted, giving rise to our ever expanding offerings of homemade sauces and prepared meals that have been created by our matriarch, Romana Raffetto, who in true Italian motherly fashion, welcomed the idea of a few more mouths to feed. When you enter our store, we like to think it is just the beginning of a wonderful culinary experience, from our “house” to yours. There’s the unmistakable aroma of Mom’s sauces simmering on the stove. It’s the caring warmth of everyone who works at Raffetto’s, making a recommendation for that perfect sauce to go with your favorite ravioli or noodle, or suggesting no sauce, just butter on certain pastas so that you get to fully appreciate and savor the taste of that dish fully. The quality of our customers’ culinary experiences has always come ahead of our “bottom line.” For us, nothing beats the pleasure of seeing the fourth generation of Raffetto’s cutting noodles on Marcello’s guillotine machine that’s been working its magic since 1916. We take our family traditions very seriously, and we are proud to hear the daily feedback from those who shop at our store, whether for the first time, or the first time that week. Our passion for quality sustains our commitment to continue to make our products in small batches so that everything you taste from Raffetto’s is always as close to “homemade” as possible. Come on over.