Knowing many diaspora Indians with the fore- or surname Rao that would be my first inclination - they pronounce it just like the Brit word for fight, “row” which pretty closely mimics “cow”.
This service, pronouncenames(dot)com pretty closely agrees with what @Miss_belle found, except a bit heavier initial rolling on the R. Still more or less rhymes with cow.
Interesting point. Thanks.
Ray-o, Ray-o
Ray-o sauce makes we want go home.
Adding to the dissonance on how Italian words are pronounced and then spelled by Americans, how many times have you seen someone write at the end of a message “chow?” Chow is a dog, chow is food. The chow you meant to use is spelled ciao. There’s a natural tendency when we see an unfamiliar word and have no knowledge of the original pronunciation we hit every letter. I recall a friend who once excitedly told me about a new Italian bag she had bought that was called see-oow. She shows me the bag and the logo and I go you mean “chow.” She looked at me like I had lost my mind. 
Ma che ne so? Non lo so.
“Walla!” I see this on Allrecipes all the time.
Anybody who knows anything knows that that’s what some Chinese call soy sauce! 
Funny. Rao’s pronunciation came up among friends this summer. They assumed the proper Italian pronunciation while we had always called it Ray-ohs. We didn’t let the difference of opinion fester long, but the next day I was still puzzling. So I just called the restaurant, off hours, and the answering machine picked up, “Ray-ohs.” Done.
Just back from the Safeway and noticed Rao’s had pasta dishes in the freezer. Dunno if these are new or just never noticed them before.
They are a bit pricey, but the ravioli was on sale ($6) so I snagged one for dinner tonight (was gonna do pasta anyway - and this will be way easier). Will report back as to how good it was.
Meanwhile, I pronounce it voy-la, because I am very sophisticated.
Well, that’s what it looks like 
Hooked on phonics!
Rao, like Wow or Mao
Not even.
So that was my problem …
I remember bookoo from a novel I read decades ago, can’t remember the author or the plot, just that. 
We knew a couple whose persistence paid off, so to speak; and the review was to the effect “fine, but meh – the fuss is the buzz”.
Nice! (As you are probably aware,) Mezzetta is a “local” brand, and I am happy to see it “touted”!
Ok… did the Rao’s ravioli baked in conventional oven exactly as instructed, and then plated on a warm dish topped with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Pasta: this was by far the most disappointing part. Way too thick… texture too firm (almost rubbery), totally obscuring the filling.
Filling: this was a 4 cheese filling that was much better than any other frozen (and some restaurant) cheese ravioli I’ve had. You could tell it had real parm and romano, however the amount of it given the size and thickness of the pasta was WAY too little.
Sauce: meh… not as good as the Rao’s I remember, soupy, and nothing to write home about.
Overall… because of the pasta this is nothing I would buy again. If I am too lazy to make it, I’d much prefer another brand of sauceless frozen ravioli with meat or veggie fillings… boiled, and served with a fav jarred sauce.
For the record; when I write that, I am trying to be funny!
I was similarly disappointed with the Rao lasagna (on sale, impulse purchase). But in this case it was too thin, just two single layers of noodle with a little meat sauce in between.
One thing I thought was odd (and illegal) was that the packaging read “Made for Rao’s… New Jersey”, but not by who. In any case, I am done with the brand entirely.
Lasagna is the only frozen entree of Rao’s that I’ve had, and I didn’t think it was very good. The only other frozen Rao’s product I’ve had is a pepperoni pizza which I thought was not bad for a frozen pizza, but it was far too expensive for what it was, so I haven’t bought any others.
