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Rocky & Carlo's Restaurant & Bar
Rating Details »
Categories: Southern, Cajun/Creole, American (Traditional)
613 W Saint Bernard HwyChalmette, LA 70043
(504) 279-8323
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good for:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
17 reviews for Rocky & Carlo's Restaurant & Bar
this is st bernard
this is chalmette
this is rocky and carlo's
and this is some damn fine southern homestyle cookin
and I doubt you can finish everything on your plate...
Classic! Absolutely Classic!
Extremely out of the way, but extremely worth it. EVERYTHING IS GOOD! The main problem with this place is its location (very far), but if you feel like taking an adventure to St. Bernard Parrish, Babe, then this is your spot. Great for lunch and dinner. Expect to spend about $12 per person and get about two portions worth of food compared to the OP. Make sure and choose your time of entry wisely because this place gets packed up real fast and sometimes has nowhere to sit...you can sit at the bar if there is nowhere else. And if the line to order is too long, have your buddy wait in line & put $3 in the video poker and become Louisiana's next millionaire.
Baked Chicken, BBQ Chicken, Mac, Oysters, its all good!
I give this place 4 stars for food. Good but not great. However, if you are really hungry, this is the place to go. A small portion of macaroni and cheese weighs (no lie) about 5 lbs.
Rocky & Carlo's gets 5 stars for the entertainment you get just being a customer. I've never been here when I didn't get to know the people immediately ahead or behind me in line. The service staff is like your family (in a good way) and the general chaos (again in a good way) swirling around if you are there at the dinner hour say on a Friday night is better than going to a movie!
Oh! And since the hurricanes, the bathrooms (at least the Ladies...I'm not sure about the Men's but probably that too) have been remodeled and are totally spiffed up and clean clean clean.
And i don't know why, but their motto "Ladies Invited" just makes me smile every time I see it.
I love this place!
My half po boy was two full sandwiches loaded with nice lean roast beef and the sloppiest gravy imaginable. Delicious.
Tried the intriguing neopolitan cheesecake. It has bits of that dried fruitcake fruit in it. Very pretty to photo, didn't like the taste so much, but I was in a food coma after the po boy so I wouldn't trust my judgment here.
The macaroni is pretty tasty, too.
I don't....I don't get it, guys. and I know, this is like a huge institution in da parish. But I'm not from the parish, nor have a I ever driven a cherry-red camara, brah...
Okay, those were cheap shots. I genuinely appreciate the cultural significance of this establishment, but I fear it may not be for me.
I went with a fine band of new friends, some skilled champions. I've heard that they have conquered entire servings in one sitting. We approached the counter, and i began to drag my heels. I was overwhelmed and a touch confused by the smorgasbord before me- i had not been warned.
My dear friend decided for me, I would have the veal. Our servers were kind, if a little disorganized, but i think that's part of the charm.
I recieved, for 12 dollars, a bottle of sweet tea, and a plate heaped with macaroni and cheese, and what i was told was "veal with red gravy".
The portions are enormous. But I'm not huge on huge portions. The thing is, I don't like to go out for things i think I could have made easily. The mac and cheese, while in ample supply was good, not great. I'd eat it if hungry, but I wouldn't go out of my way to purchase some.
I think my problem really lies with the "veal." Hard, breaded discs of some meat-like substance, advertised as "veal". I recognize this preparation from my highschool cafeteria- which isn't nearly as negative as a review as it sounds. I ater there often in high school (we were forced to buy a meal plan) and i would by no means call it gross-- well, not always. But yea, the "veal" must have been hastily deep-friend and then tossed in to soak in the red gravy.
And maybe it's really because I read a blog entry about how veal gets tenderized...before it's passed on from this life... and maybe that was my issue.
Either way, I'm giving you 3 stars, Rocky&Carlos, (when right now, you deserve 2) because maybe i just ordered the wrong thing, and maybe I'm a wannabe-foodie-snob, and mostly, because I'm afraid that one day, my tiny fuel-efficient car will stall out and be surrounded by a group of angry chalmette loyalists who will push it onto it's side with me inside, thus spilling my tall nonfat iced mocha with and extra shot all over my skinny jeans.
I'm going to go back and try something else, and then we'll see.
All up in here it says: "Ladies Welcome." I wonder...is that strange for women to be invited to dine? This is man food though, just sayin!
The best food I had on my trip, no lie!
Me: I'm pretty hungry.
My mom: Ok, let's not get the whole po boys, we'll just get halfs.
Me: Sounds reasonable.
I order the shrimp, she orders the catfish variety. Both dressed (blasphemy to get it undressed, mine came with some sort of cocktail sauce/mayo=heaven).
Mine comes out first. I think "oh, they must've not heard me...I only wanted the half size." Oh well, we'll take it home for later.
My mom's arrives, same portion problem.
Then we realize, THIS is the half. Which is more like a sandwich that is approximately a FOOT LONG and 6 inches high. Holy man. If I ate like this as a half portion, I'd easily weigh 500 lbs. Easily.
Regardless, these were the best po boys I had in Louisiana! I tried them at many places, and this beat everyone else by a long shot. Crispy, fresh, French bread...fried shrimp, awesome sauce. Mmmmmm. So good. So very, very good.
Someone rec'ed that we get the mac 'n cheese, so I ordered a small plate. Again, with the portion problems :) It fed 4 of us. A SMALL. Fed 4. It was DAMN good, too.
This place is somewhat cafeteria style...you go up and order from the waitress, then pay...then sit down and they deliver. It's busy, but really fun...and the food is fantastic. The location is sort of out of the way, but it's basically just like the best diner I've ever been to, with the biggest food that's ever been called "half" or "small" in the world. Cheap, too. I think mine came out to about $10 (with drink, tax, tip) and I took some home for later...
Best Po Boy. YAY! If you are down in St. Bernard, New Orleans or Chalmette...def make it a destination, and bring your eatin' pants!
Ahem, I mean...I'm a lady. I don't have eatin' pants. Oh whatever, yes I do...
OMG.
The portions at this place are extraordinarily huge! I recommend getting the small macaroni and cheese (so cheesy) and splitting it with two people. Po-Boys to be ordered in halves because a whole would feed you the whole day.
I don't get the "Ladies Welcome" slogan everywhere and was too hungry to ask anyone the story behind it.
The servers are super nice and try their best to help you order via cafeteria style. The place is pretty big and good for groups, which is good because sharing food is a must.
Rocky & Carlo's, where portions challenge the elasticity of the human stomach and ladies are always welcome. The food is by no means spectacular, but you really have to see the mountain of it they'll stack on your plate to believe it. Like other reviewers have said, it's cafeteria-style, and the place is a zoo when things get busy.
Some advice? Consider fasting a few days pre-R&C to best prepare yourself for the feast ahead.
A trip to the parish is never complete without a meal at Rocky and Carlos. I love how they've cleaned up the place, the food is still as abundant and wonderful as ever. During my last trip (Mardi Gras 09), i finally deviated from my usual and ordered a hamburger steak with onions and baked macaroni. it was DIVINE!!!!!. I now have a new favourite!
Make sure you get there to avoid the lunch and dinner rush, otherwise, be prepared to wait in line as you smell the aromatic italian food. But it's ok though, it's always fun to watch the ladies scooping up yummy food.
After a long day of rebuilding homes for St. Bernard's Project, the food at this restaurant couldn't have tasted better. We went here on a recommendation from a friend who said the baked macaroni and cheese was to die for...and she was right.
I went with a group of four people and we all split the small order of mac and cheese, just to give you an idea of how big their portions are. My mom and I split the 1/2 Roast Beef Po Boy and could hardly finish it. It was all really, really good food for pretty cheap, too.
Very laid back, very good home-southern style food. It's cafeteria style food. You walk up and make your order (it's really hard to pick what you want because everything looks so good) and they will bring it out to you. Very large portions of food! The cups they put your drinks in are plastic so you get to keep them haha. There are to-go boxes by the door, and trust me you will need them.
My last proper meal in Saint Bernard this time around came from Rocky & Carlo-- a shrimp po-boy, a side of macaroni and cheese, and a bottle of sweet tea. The shrimp themselves were good, but otherwise the best part was the tea. Which is not to say that anything was bad; I've just had better, multiple times.
However, what you do get are HUGE freaking portions. The aforementioned meal cost all of $10.25, and it could have fed two people.
Rocky & Carlo's (home of the Wop Salad, I shit you not) proudly proclaims "Ladies Invited" everywhere their name is printed, presumably because there's some question about the matter...? Regardless, ladies are definitely welcome, as I happened to see quite a few, sizes small to extra-extra large. This may owe to the large portions... did I mention that you get a LOT of food?
Another note-- this place is very close to the refinery, which means that can get busy. Busy enough to warrant several traffic cops to direct traffic coming in and out. Yowza.
If you're in Saint Bernard Parish, it's worth stopping in, especially if you're hungry, as there aren't a whole lot of jaw-dropping places. If you're in New Orleans, as the vast majority of visitors will be, don't bother.
BIG local food for BIG local customers. Famous for their long cheesy macaroni, red sauce, and po-boys. I had a great oyster po-boy, certainly top notch, and very fairly priced at $8 for a "half", which was by any measure a "whole" sandwich. If you're in the Ninth near Arabi, it's worth a stop to check out this local institution.
Another of those local new orleans neighborhood joints, that give creedance to they saying, "New Orleans is a city with a thousand restaurants and only one menu.", but it sure is a good menu isn't it? I suggest the veal with mac and cheese.
I think I was about 6 years old when I first ate at Rocky and Carlos. I had a plate of pasta and sauce. Some of it was cold and some of it was warm. "How could you take us to a place like this," I exclaimed to my dad. I've been back many times since then, and I've changed my opinion (and I never had that multi-temperature problem again). For 40 years locals have waited in line for this food with good reason, it has a homemade quality you wont find anywhere else but your mama's kitchen. If you want to dive right into the culture of St. Bernard Parish, this is the place. I love the big retro "Ladies Invited" sign outside.
Whatever you do, don't eye the kitchen too much. I know it's tempting, but just don't do it. The food here is served cafeteria style in giant portions, and they'll put red or brown gravy on anything (which i reccomend. Especially the baked macaroni- soooo good with brown gravy.). Some items ahve too much green bell pepper for my tastes, but that's the worst i can say. The bloated, extremely pleased stomach you'll be rubbing after you eat will make you forget about the kitchen. Totally worth the trip out to the parish.
Like Chelsea, my husband and I were referred to Rocky and Carlo's while working with the St. Bernard's Project. It was a schlep, but well worth it! We went in and the place was packed with local regulars, mostly from the two gas refineries down the road - good sign #1. We asked a few people inside for recommendations of what was good off the small menu, and literally everyone we asked said everything was good (and no one was a first-timer) - good sign #2. I had the roast beef po boy, and the husband had the fried chicken with mac and cheese (needless to say, we had leftovers). Hands down, the best meal we had while visiting the New Orleans area, and we had some kickass meals during our trip (notice I didn't say healthiest, but hey, we were doing construction). It was about $30 total for our lunch including drinks, so it's not super cheap but reasonably price for the amount and quality. On one hand it'd be nice to live nearby to be able to go there again, on the other hand if we were nearby we'd probably need a cardiologist from all the good eats. If you have a car and are in the area, GO!
