Carol C.
Yelp
Date: 12/2/2017 Time: 2:20 PM 53° Partly cloudy
Today Ratto's had its 120th anniversary celebration of being in business. They are still going strong after these many years.
I remember Ratto's over 55 years ago when my mom used to bring my brothers, sisters and me to get the stelline pasta noodles from them. She would prepare it with some warm milk, sugar and an egg in it. She fed it to us for breakfast before sending us off to school.
We didn't have to walk too far to Ratto's back in the days. It was within walking distance to and from Oakland Chinatown, along with other businesses in the area - Swan's, Housewives Market, Peerless Coffee, 8th Street Meat Market, 9th Meat Market, Gallen Kamp Shoes, Woolworth's, Hartfield's Women Clothing.
The various pasta noodles were stored in large barrels and sold in bulk. (Double up on the paper bags and use the scoop to get the amount of noodles). Then there were the Italian cookies, jars of green olives and the deli meats and cheeses. Ahhh...the fond memories of Ratto's.
When the Elihu M Harris State Building was opened in August 1998, several of my coworkers and I walked to Ratto's for lunch. It was our go-to place for pesto pasta. One of my favorite pasta dishes was the radiatore with a creamy mushroom sauce. I had it the one time and they never served it again on the days we had lunch there. The penne pasta with bolognese sauce was my other choice. Those days are gone. I don't believe they serve the pasta dishes for lunch anymore.
Since it has been over 16 years that I have stepped into Ratto's, it took this anniversary celebration to bring me back. I definitely stayed away too long.
Well, I couldn't just walk in, browse and then walk out when they have a decent selection of sandwiches that is freshly prepared. Okay, the drill is: 1. Fill out a form for the type of sandwich I desire - either made to order, signature or hot pressed. 2. Print my name. 3. Drop the order form in their box. 4. Wait for my name to be called. 5. Pay up - cash or credit card. Okay, I can go for two sandwiches - one for my husband and one for me. Besides there was a 10% discount on my purchases.
Eats: Made to order pastrami sammie on Dutch crunch roll with mayo, Dijon mustard, lettuce, tomato, pepperoncini and cheddar cheese for my husband. A signature sandwich of avocado and pepper jack on Dutch crunch roll (out of soft roll) with the usual fixings: mayo, Dijon mustard, lettuce, tomato, red onion and pickles.
The sandwiches were very good - freshly made and the pepper jack cheese was way better than the processed ones in the packages at the supermarket. Their prices were reasonable. My husband enjoyed his pastrami sandwich, such that he is looking forward to return visits to try other sandwiches.
Employees were courteous and pleasant. The gentleman helping me was nicer than the guy who owns the neighborhood deli sandwich place around the corner from my home. Even the prices of the sandwiches are better than what I had seen at my neighborhood deli.
Drawback: Street parking can be problematic. Public transportation is near by, which is a good thing.