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Mon-Fri. 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 a.m.
Sat. 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 a.m.
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After hitting quite a few bars, we stumbled into Rocco's for some pasta and wine to finish off the night (just what we needed). The bartender Aaron (I think. Tim thought it was Eric.) was so fun! I'm going to assume he has a following because they were cheering "Give me an A!" (or E) and spelling out his name from accross the bar. The cheer was well deserved. We both had pasta (mine with sausage) and it was fabulous.
We've never had a bad experience at Rocco's. We're lucky that it's in our back yard! Five stars to you Aaron er...umm..Eric!
I'm surprised by the one star reviews of Rocco's. We used to go to Ranalli's all the time because… Read more »
My review is based on the late night hours of 9-midnight. I laugh as I read the one star reviews on here for Roccos. They all are essentially regarding the harshness of the patio staff late at night and the prevalence of the rats on the same patio. Perhaps they are related?
On one of my trips to Roccos (my softball team has come to enjoy hanging out here post-game on Friday nights) we did see the rats outside. Um, hello. This is a place with great smelling food and a very very large patio nestled in a neighborhood in the middle of a large city. Are you really shocked at the rat factor? Or, the urgency of the staff to remove their guests from having to experience something they have no control over? I invite anyone to venture about a 1/2 mile east to the park to witness the cohabitation of the rats with the rabbits in the fields, flowers, etc. Unless Daley goes all Giuliani on the rats, they aren't going anywhere.
Anyway, we enjoy the $1 and $2 draft and $5 12" pizza specials on the late night menu. The place is always calm and inviting with the staff being very helpful yet cognizant of our lack of need for babysitting at that hour.
My wife and I were on the way to eat at Bricks pizza and the wait was at least an hour. So we headed down the street to see Ranalis gone and Roccos in its place. Ordered the double dough pizza and it was really really tasty. Though we've been in Chicago, we love NYC style pizza with softer dough and we loved it at Roccos. Prices were mid-range and service was great. Hard to find really good pizza around town that is not Chicago Style besides Pequods....
Definitely fans of this place....
Took a friend here on a Friday night in exchange for helping me with some electrical work. I started with an X Martini which tasted better than I expected, she had beer. We split the antipasto platter, which we had ordered for two but apparently was the large by accident. It was fine for two, I think it would have been kind of small for 3-4. It was pretty good though. She had a bowl of minestrone, and I had the vegetarian pizza. It was okay. I must confess I prefer NY style, so I am not the best judge of Chicago pizza, account for that when weighing my review. The service was friendly and very quick to take care of the error for charging me for the large antipasto platter, I appreciated that. The restaurant itself has a nice cozy feel, and the patio is awesome in warm weather.
Rocco's is pretty much what you'd expect, walking by. American bar food. We sat at the bar and were chatted up by the nice, type A-ish bartender. He kept our beers flowing without us even asking for refills. He was definitely working the "guy's guy" angle with my buddy and I. I think it worked.
Good chopped salad.. not too much blue cheese in there. Sometimes too much of a good thing is, well.. not good.
Also, fun 80s trivia night! I believe Tuesdays are trivia nights going forward. (Trivia guy is REALLY into trivia. And proud of it. It's..amusing..)
Since my review in June, I have been back to Rocco's several times and today I've made the decision to just skip this place all together in the future.
It seems as if the food goes downhill each time I come back and I keep bringing new people because I used to love it here and I end up looking like the schmuck who doesn't know how to pick a good spot.
Today I came late in the afternoon and I was in awe at the condition of the patio. There was not a single customer in place, yet there were at least 4 dirty tables covered in used glasses and dishes while the staff was just sitting around inside and the hostess was doodling.
It's sad, when my friend and I left she goes..wow, the only good thing there was the bread in the basket that they gave for free. We got chop salads and 30% of the lettuce was brown, it tasted like it was made the night before and stuck in the fridge overnight.
The pizza is still good, but I would rather have delivery then dine in at this place. Pizza will most likely be the only thing I'll order from here.
The servers have always been friendly but not very attentive and then they seem to rush you at the end to close out.
It's a shame because their outdoor patio gives them such potential.
The only reason why I'm not giving Rocco's 5 Stars is because of the fact that they don't allow… Read more »
First things first: If you are claiming to an Italian restaurant, then you better put some bread on the table prior to the main course. Bread is cheap. No excuse.
Secondly, the pizza is not good the next day.
That being said, those are the only two flaws I have with Rocco's! The patio is to die for, and the inside is pretty darn cozy. Pasta is very flavorful and authentic. Pizza eaten at the restaurant is amazing. I wouldn't say the sauce is chunky, but it definitely has more texture than most pizza sauces.
The service on the patio is a little slow (not unbearable thought), but that's to be understood, since in the summer, EVERYONE is sitting outside. If you're in a rush, sit inside, I'm sure it will be much faster.
I was really bummed when Ranalli's closed, opened and re-closed this location last year. I always loved enjoying a pizza and some cold beer on this great patio near my house.
I had heard about Rocco's opening in the space and put it on my list of places to get to sooner rather than later. It must have been kismet because a few days later I got a postcard for a FREE 12" pizza with the purchase of ANY beverage. That got my attention, buy a Coke, get a free 12" with 1 topping? Sold!
I came to Rocco's on Tuesday with a friend and we had our pick of patio tables. There are trees in the patio so you can catch a little shade even when the heat is oppressive; unfortunately they don't have a cure for the insane humidity.
Our server was really nice. When we gave her the coupon she let us know we could use its dollar value and get a larger pizza and only have to pay the difference. Nice! We ended up going with a 16" spinach pizza with a couple of Magners to wash it down. She was also great about checking on us and filling our water glasses.
The pizza was quite good. We went with a 16" because we figured we could split the leftovers, but before we knew it there were only two slices of pizza left on the tray...oops!
Bottom line: Nice addition to the neighborhood, I'll be back - especially if I get another one of those coupons!
My 1 star review is based on a delivery order gone missing. After a long night of drinking and a whole day of being severly hungover on a Sunday evening my roommate and I decided to order from Rocco's. I hate to admit this, but my roommate and I were feeling extremely lazy and ordered for delivery even though we only live 2 blocks away. Which we thought meant we would get the pizza sooner than later. We ordered a small cheese pizza to be delivered 2 blocks over. Guess how long it took us to get our COLD pizza?? JUst guess?
An HOUR AND A HALF!! The pizza was cold and soggy. I will never order for delivery ever again.
We went for our Chicago Pizza Tour. It was better than expected. The outdoor seating was great. The drinks were not. The pizza was thin, crispy, covered with generous amount of toppings. The Meat Lover was too salty for me. The pepperoni was delicious. Just about every inch of the pizza was covered by crispy pepperoni. The Vegetarian was a great choice as well. The spinach and eggplant was great. Here's the full Pizza Tour review with photos! http://humblekitchenad...
I was very excited to have a big group of friends sit outside on the gorgous Rocco's patio to celebrate my husband's birthday on a lovely summer evening. I had never been before but after talking to the friendly person on the phone and being assured that we would be able to have drinks outside until midnight I decided to have everyone meet there.
When we arrived the host tried to get us to sit inside even though the weather was perfect and it was only around 10. After some insisting, she let us set up outside and it went downhill from there. Aside from the disgusting rats scurrying under our feet from nearby dumpsters, the staff was incredibly rude to us despite our large group racking up quite a hefty bill. Our waitress was impolite and snippy with the birthday boy and nearly ruined our celebration! It was such a damper on an otherwise enjoyable evening. While the patio is lovely, I do not recommend this place at all. I cannot comment on the food as we just went there to have drinks on the patio.
Rather than update, I'm just going to edit, and edit with really big props. I was a little skeptical at first because I have a long time relationship with the Ranalli organization who operated the venue for a really long time. They were exceptionally good to me and I even pulled shifts there between gigs and always had a place to call home.
Times changes, deals went bad and eras ended. A friend was involved in the deal to reopen but pulled out, my neighborhood "Cheers" was never going to be. And then it was. Courtesy of a savvy nightlife veteran and a really ambitious and driven Chef.
My original review was "Went to soft opening and service was rocking. Went back again and it was still spot on. The food is pretty good and the menu is focused on pizza, pasta ,salads and sandwiches. Not huge or overwhelming, but good and decent.
Tried the antipasto platter and liked the selection of cheeses and meat except the prosciutto was cut so thick, it didn't look like proscuitto. Tre Colore salad with lemon vinagrette was outstanding as was the Rigatoni and sausage. Loved the Chicken Limone although the potato wedges were actually slices, not wedges. Desserts (lava cake) could use a little work as well but its the first week. Will update accordingly.
Wine list needs some work but there is lots to choose from as far as draft and bottled beers. Place is definitely family friendly, clean and most importantly, by my pad. Very welcome addition."
My new star is for for me. Me being a pain in the ass, always ordering something that isn't on the menu, configuring my own creation. And Rocco's always going above and beyond to meet my crazy dietary restrictions, picky habits and borderline nuisance request. Really, you will make a au jus reduction from scratch because I want an Italian Sausage but not with marinara or bread that is too dry? I can have special tomatoes on my caprese? Seriously, the menu might be limited but only by your vision. The patio is amazing and the service is still spot on. All of the things I had hoped for in a replacement restaurant to my beloved Ranalli's and then some.
My high school year book had the saying "After change upon change, things are more or less the same" and that rings true for Rocco's!
Bouna fortuna!
Can I give this place negative stars? It is a nightmare. There are way too many cool places in Chicago to put up with one like this.
We went for my friend's birthday intending to sit outside and enjoy the nice weather. From the moment we walked in at 9:30 pm, the waitress and multiple hosts continuously informed us that we ONLY had 1.5 hours to sit outside, then we'd have to go inside. They were so rude about it!! Any person who has ever sat on a patio in Chicago knows that there is a cutoff time when they'll have to go inside to comply with city regulations. I eat and drink on patios all the time and have never been reminded of this literally at least 10 times in an hour. It was so rude and absurd.
But that wasn't the worst thing about our experience here. After we'd been there about 20 minutes, the RATS started coming out. Running from underneath the porch of the house next door and directly under our table!!!! THey had no fear. We were sitting on our feet all night or standing on our chairs. It was disgusting. I said something about the rats to our obnoxious waitress and she said "oh it was probably a squirrel" and laughed.
Obviously this place didn't want our business, so I'll be happy to take my money and thirst elsewhere in the future. If you like rude staff and rats running over your feet, this is the place for you!
The patio is huge and a big bonus but would have been better with some heat lamps for the chilly evenings. However, it's June and the evenings shouldn't be chilly so i'm not faulting the restaurant for this-just hope they get some before fall. Our service wasn't the greatest, but i know the place has only been open for a little over a month so i can look past this. The waitress was friendly, just not attentive.
i gave Rocco's four stars because while i really enjoyed my meal (Linguine Con Vongole), it wasn't anything extraordinary. It did taste very fresh but was lacking something i can't place. My husband ordered the Chicken Scaloppine and he said it was tasty but should have gone with his gut and ordered something different. The menu says it comes with potato wedges, but they are more like buffalo chips hidden under the chicken. He thought they were left out until he went digging for them. We split the lava cake for dessert and that also wasn't anything spectacular but it was good. The serving portion wouldn't typically be split-able but i only wanted a little bit. Other guests around us ordered the pizzas and they looked amazing. i'll definitely come back-ideally on a warmer night so we can enjoy the patio again and i plan on trying a pizza.
The experience was so bad it was almost funny.
We noticed the first rat at about 9:00. We saw probably 3 different tables run inside after seeing rats under their chairs/tables and I saw one group of girls standing on their chairs.
At around 9:30 the rats seemed to be growing more and more confident and getting closer and closer to the remaining tables. As I proceded to go in, I saw one heading towards the kitchen/bathroom area before changing direction and heading back toward the east end of the patio.
So the night was full of some pretty good laughs(We also got a kick out of those savvy real estate investors who bought condos above this rats nest).
It almost seems like a dream...did I really spend sat night eating Pizza with rats running at my feet?.......Did I really write a post about it?
I have been anxiously awaiting the opening of Rocco's for several months! This new pizzeria is just a few feet from my front door, so I have been watching their progress with interest. When they finally opened to the public on May 11th, I was determined to check it out. With it's amazing patio space, this place could be my neighborhood hangout this summer!
My girlfriend and I walked in at 6:30 pm, and there was a decent crowd at the bar. This place prides itself on having LOTS of TVs, which is NOT my favorite thing about a restaurant. (On their website they say that have over 20 flat-screens). They seem to have them installed in every nook and cranny! On the plus side, not ALL of them were tuned to sports - one near our table was showing the Travel Channel. So, probably not a good spot for a date, but could be a good place to grab dinner and watch the game or hang out with a group of friends. Rocco's also seems to be quite kid-friendly. I saw several families with little kids, and their kid's menu is very reasonably priced - nothing more than $5!
Rocco's wine list isn't huge, but they have a nice variety of domestic and imported selections. All of their house wines are $6 a glass, and the Cabernet my friend ordered was drinkable. The wine is served in lowball glasses, which I always find charming. It was also a very generous pour! The beer list is already a hit with me, because they have my new favorite beer, Goose Island Matilda, on tap for $5.50! NICE! They also have the usual suspects, plus some Three Floyds selections and a few Italian beers.
The menu covers all the basic Italian classics. For an appetizer, our waitress recommended the bruscetta. I wanted to try something different, so I ordered the artichoke fritters, which she said were also one of her favorites. I thought the portion size was a bit skimpy, and the flavor was just average. The aioli dipping sauce was really good, but somehow the flavor did not compliment the artichokes well. Next time I will try the baked clams.
My friend wasn't super-hungry, so she just ordered a small salad, but she couldn't resist getting a side order of meatballs! Our waitress really talked up the meatballs! I had read that the owner is from a Sicilian family, so I was expecting the meatballs to taste just like something out of Nonna's cucina! But alas, they were mediocre at best. The texture seemed very mushy, and the sauce wasn't all that either. Kinda chunky, but watery at the same time.
I ordered Rocco's Special pizza, with Italian sausage, mushrooms, onions and roasted peppers. Rocco's has thin and "double dough" crust options, but for some reason double dough wasn't available that night. No worries, I like thin crust. The pizza came out looking very tasty, and was actually pretty good. The crust was nice. Decent sauce. Good proportion of toppings. I like their Italian sausage, it has a nice lil kick to it. Was it the best pizza EVER? No, but since Rocco's is so close, I would definitely go there again for pizza.
The menu also features a variety of pastas, entrees and sandwiches. Our waitress said the spaghetti & meatballs are great, but after trying the meatballs and sauce, I don't know that I will be ordering that any time soon. However, the penne with shrimp in pesto broth and the rigatoni with Italian sausage in garlic-cream sauce both sound tasty.
Of course I had to order dessert as well! We ordered the tiramisu, and after 1 bite, my girlfriend declared that it was the best thing we'd ordered all night. Again, I thought it was fine, nothing to write home about.
So what would make all this so-so food worth it? The patio! Nothing makes food taste better than a little sunshine and a warm breeze! In my opinion, Rocco's patio is their main attraction. They have just re-bricked it, and added a wrought-iron fence around the whole thing. Unfortunately the patio was not open for seating that night (still a bit chilly!) but it will be a GREAT place for a few drinks and a pizza on warm summer nights!
Rocco's food is mediocre, but I think their patio is what will draw me back. A great place to go before hitting the bars around LP or Old Town, or after a day at the zoo or the beach!
I went to Rocco's for their preview night with no expectations. I'm pleased to say my no expectations have been surpassed!
The calamari was well portioned, tho slightly overcooked. It was their first day, so it's forgivable. The pizza was flavorful, with a particularly nice sauce.
My date had the scampi, which looked good, and it made her smile a lot while she ate it, so good work there.
They twisted my arm and made me get their house made tiramisu, which was light, rich, and wonderful.
Service was attentive, courteous and prompt.
It's also some of the best pizza in the immediate neighborhood aaaaand they have a huge patio.
Don't let this one slip by, people. Stop in and eat it up!
A friend told me about this place. They have great outdoor seating. The pizza we had was the Rocco Original. I know here in Chicago we are pizza snobs, but I was really impressed. Ok, we did do the thin crust. So, I don't know about their double crust. I can tell you that we will be back.
Sorry to see Ranalis go under after so many years. Great place for a beer and pizza.
Good news...Roccos still fits the bill when your looking for a slice and a brew. The staff is pleasant and the chef even came out to our table when we commented that the antipasto platter seemed a bit small for a large (do they have mics under the tables?) and brought out additional items. They want to keep the customer happy.
As far as rodents... the Alderman needs to address this better...they seem to have dropped the ball big time this year as the whole neighborhood is full of 'em...not just Roccos.
I would say the food is average, at best. The pizza was nothing to write home about and maybe even a little boring. Also, the appetizer portions were smaller than they should have been. I give the place 2 stars for food but a whole star just for the outdoor patio. Really, that is the only reason to go there. It is huge and it is a nice place to enjoy dinner/drinks with a group of friends on a pleasant night.
I was so excited for Rocco's to open and it didn't disappoint. Although Ranali's wasn't the best place, I missed it. We went there over Memorial Day Weekend with our friends and split a couple of salads and a pizza. The Chopped Salad is not the best...it lacked something, but was sufficient enough. I really like the pizza. It was too cold to sit outside and the patio could have used some heat lamps and I bet people would have been out there. We will definitely be going back and welcome it with open arms in the hood!
We went here for dinner tonight. We were seated in the patio right away. The patio is huge and although it doesnt have any views so to speak of, its very green and nice and calming. I would highly recommend sitting in the patio. Of course I ddidnt go or look inside the restaurant area so wouldnt know how that is. We ordered the artichoke fritters and the ravioli appetiser and both were top notch. For the pizzas we did the Margerita, the Vegetarian and a couple others. All of them were yummy and since they were thin crust we ate more than we thought we would! :p A must try this summer!!
Rocco's is a fun place that has the benefit of being right in my backyard. Minus that enormous plus, it's still a good place. I feel the place is huge. Not only is the inside quite long, there's a large outdoor area as well. The beer selection was nice and the wine is good too. I could see myself spending many summer nights here.
Cozy and inviting bar and dining room, and huge outdoor patio, provide for a great spot to enjoy good pizza and , a nice selection of cold beer. The thin crust pizza was tasty, and topped with an ample amount of cheese and some zesty sausage. The service is friendly and attentive, and the TVs are well placed around the bar to enjoy sporting events. Looking forward to a warm day so I can enjoy the spacious patio, and sample some of the other Italian favorites on the menu.
The patio here is great and spacious. The service was good and the waitress was very friendly. The food was decent, but the appetizer portions were a little small. Pizza we had was better than average. The only reason for the three star rating was nothing really stood out and impressed me about the food we ordered.
We went there for some pizza. Awesome crispy thin crust, really tasty. They even manage to get the spinach crisp rather than super soggy.
Chopped salad was really good too.
Staff was very friendly and our server, Jeremy, was super nice and attentive.
The place has a huge outdoor patio that will be great once the weather heats up (its already June!). Will definitely go back again.
I wasn't sure what to expect when we picked Rocco's for my best friend's birthday gathering. We wanted to sit outside for dinner and drinks and I had heard that Rocco's had a huge patio, so I though why not, and gave it a shot. Honestly I have to say how pleasantly surprised I was with the whole experience. Everything was on point. The service was friendly and didn't hover which was nice considering we sat on the patio for close to 4 hours! The food was great. We started with the Baked Clams and the Calamari- both were done perfectly (and I am a calamari snob). We shared the Rocco's Special and The Margherita pizzas and everything was really fresh and delicious. We finished with the tiramisu and the lava cake which was out of this world. It was just a really fun night. It was beautiful and warm, so perfect to sit outside- and then yummy pizza and wine to top it off? It doesn't get much better. This would be a great spot for a date or to bring a group of friends to have drinks and dinner outside. I'll be back for sure!
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