Getting a seat at Rao’s is like buying a time-share. Since 1896 the tiny Italian-American restaurant has been serving up family-style lemon chicken and seafood salad beneath strings of Christmas lights on a corner in East Harlem. But after New York Times food critic Mimi Sheraton gave it a three-star review in 1977, Rao’s enacted a notoriously strict reservation system to preserve its devout community of regulars.

Now table assignments are made in weekly, monthly, or annual increments, and only a rare few get inside. Forget being somebody—you need to know somebody to get past co-owner Frank Pellegrino Jr. (His father, Frank Pellegrino Sr., was nicknamed Frankie No for his stalwart ability to turn away celebrities and regular folks alike.) After decades of gossip about what exactly goes on inside those red doors, we sat down with Frank Jr. to set the record straight.