With a large menu featuring pizzas, pas-ta dishes, homemade meatballs, and sandwiches – Clara & Ray’s Ristorante Italiano has provided Lexington with a taste of premium Italian cuisine for 16 years.
“It’s a family business,” Clara and Ray’s owner John Immerso said of the restaurant now entering its 17th year in business.
Clara and Ray’s Ristorante Italiano is named after Immerso’s parents. His mother’s culinary expertise helped to shape and inspire the menu with authentic Italian recipes from John’s family.
“Between both families, we have 10 children, who have all worked at the restaurant. Most of them still do. They know how to make the food, the pizza, and serve. They are very talented, and we are proud to have this family business.”It all began 17 years ago when John and his wife Tracey, along with friend Brian Clancy and his family, first moved to Lexington.
“We were looking around for a “mom and pop” pizzeria that made New York style pizza and there was only one. So, we decided that we would like to venture out and see if we could open our own place in Lexington and that’s how it all started,” said Immerso.
Though Clara and Ray’s features a wide variety of dishes and desserts, pizza remains a restaurant staple. One of their unique pizzas, the Monstro, is 24” in diameter! “It is so big that people can’t help but smile when they see it and those smiles make us very happy! I think we’re the only ones locally that make such a big pizza. We had to get a special pizza peel made to get it in and out of the oven,” said Immerso.
The pizza at Clara and Ray’s has another unique aspect – the dough. “We’re proud of giving people in Lexington a good product – a product that we feed our own family. We use unbleached and unbromated flour which we special order. We also make our pizza dough fresh every single morning.”
Throughout the past sixteen years, Immerso recalls the challenges the restaurant faced with the recession and COVID-19. “One of the highlights of the past 16 years was being asked to cook at the Masters in Augusta, Georgia. We made over 200 pizzas a day, cooked on site,” exclaimed Immerso.
Immerso credits his wife Tracey for much of the success of the restaurant. “Her skill as a Master pizza maker (pizzaiola), her warmth, and her love have carried us through these past 16 years. She has taught everyone, over the years, how to make pizza and she is an inspiration to us all! She is the heart of our family,” he shared.
Family continues to be an important part of the ongoing legacy of great food through the restaurant.
Clara & Ray’s Ristorante Italiano
5140 Sunset Blvd Suites E & F
Lexington, SC 29072
(803) 951-0051