• Meghan Markle wrote about her favorite New York City spots on her now-defunct blog, The Tig.
• One of the places she singled out was Rubirosa, which she called her "holy grail of pizza."
• I visited twice to try out their food, and I enjoyed almost everything I ate.

Rubirosa, an Italian restaurant beloved by Meghan Markle, is in the Manhattan neighborhood of Nolita on Mulberry Street, between Prince Street and Spring Street.

Nolita is bordered by SoHo to the west, NoHo to the north, the Bowery to the east, and Little Italy to the south. Nolita technically used to be considered part of Little Italy ("Nolita" is derived from "north of Little Italy"), but as the area evolved (and Little Italy shrank), it became its own little neighborhood.

I visited the restaurant, which opened in 2009, twice: first in January 2020, and then again in January 2023.

Rubirosa is a family-owned restaurant, originally owned by AJ Pappalardo and his father, Joe. Joe got his start in the business with Joe & Pat's, a pizza place on Staten Island. In 2009, John and AJ took their business to Manhattan, opening Rubirosa.

AJ died in 2015 at age 40, Eater reported.