In 1922, Giovanni and Virginia Biale left the town of Savona in Genoa, Italy with their three young sons, Giacomo, Mario and Rudolfo to make a new life in America. With help from a cousin, they made their way to San Francisco and settled in the Italian section of Potrero Hill. Less than a year later, my grandfather, Giovanni, opened “Biale’s Meat Market” on Connecticut Street. To this day “Biale” is still tiled in the entryway of the building.
Giacomo “Jack”, my uncle, stayed in the butcher business while Mario, my father, and Rudy went into the bar and restaurant business in San Francisco, Phoenix and Honolulu. Rudy owned and operated two “Rudy’s Italian Restaurants” in Waikiki for 25 years.
I worked at Rudy’s for 3 years with my brother Anthony. It was there I learned the importance of being a hands-on owner. People came from all over the world to visit “Rudy’s”, enjoying the food, the wine, and the gracious host.
In the fall of 1999, I opened Rocco’s Ristorante & Pizzeria. I have tried to maintain that same warm and inviting feeling my father and uncle provided for so many years. My family hopes you enjoy your visit and will come see us again!
From my experience, Rocco's has been consistently great. Probably my favorite pizza place in Contra Costa. The pizza is much bigger, better, and cheaper than Skipolini's (AKA Mussolini's). I'm not one of those "Italian Americans" who are psychopathically obsessed with what little Italian heritage they have, but I can say the pizza here is awesome.
My favorite pizza is the Dominator, because I love Mr. Rocco's big, girthy, dominant Italian meat slathered atop the creamy cheese.
I notice that many of the negative reviews are focused on alternative menu items, such as salads or desserts. I'm not sure what people expect when they order alternative items from a famous PIZZA restaurant.
A strange observation I've made is that almost all of the waitstaff are young recent highschool graduates -- all of which are what people consider more "attractive" girls.
I just wish they had employed feminine men dressed in crop tops and short shorts as waitstaff. The cooks should also wear maid outfits and cat ears. Please consider my idea as I feel that many would be very pleased with it.
I stopped here while visiting family in the area and enjoyed one of the best pizzas I've had in a while. It had the crispy, tiny pepperonis, very tasty mozzarella, and an amazing crust.
The restaurant itself is adorned with various artifacts from Italy and wherever Italians have left their mark in the US. It's fun to cruise through the various rooms and take that all in.
You keep doing what you do, Rocco and team, and I hope to see you again in a couple months!
Always friendly, greet you AT the door, prompt service. The food is hearty and fries and any entree is enough for at least two people. The owner is always highly visible making sure people are being taken care of. Every table is full so that's a good sign. We used to come her once a month then found someplace closer to our house but had bad service. They're night and day! Don't let a good thing go!
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