Rocco's Neighborhood Joint — Restaurant in Austin

were excited to try this new spot since it just opened, but it was a big disappointment. We love Italian food — our favorites are Sammies and Red Ash in Austin — but this place doesn’t even come close. We ordered two appetizers. The sour duck dough bread came out fridge-cold. I asked if the chef forgot to toast it (since other customer photos showed it toasted), and the server said it’s “not supposed to be toasted.” After I showed her the picture, she came back saying, “We don’t toast it anymore.” That was already a red flag. Honestly, how can the butter melt on cold bread? She also mentioned they “don’t have a griller anymore.” 😂 The meatballs were dry, like they’d been frozen and reheated. The sauce lacked flavor and didn’t help much either. We waited 45 minutes and still didn’t get our salad. The service was very slow — likely because the place was packed. And then they brought the wrong dish we didn't order The atmosphere was extremely loud — too many people talking in a small space, plus loud music on top of that. Overall, the food tasted like something from a frozen bag you could make at home. The pasta texture wasn’t right

Definitely not worth the money or the wait. Poor experience overall — especially since they don’t take reservations, make you wait forever for a table, and even...

Rocco’s on Airport is a fantastic new addition to the Austin food scene. The space has a great energy—lively but not overwhelming—and it already feels like it’s going to be a neighborhood favorite.

Nick, the chef (formerly of Sammie’s), is not only incredibly talented but also warm and passionate about what he’s creating. That personal touch shows up in the food and in the overall experience. Service was attentive and welcoming, which is impressive for a restaurant this new.

The dishes we tried were excellent. The orricchietti and the bolognese were true standouts, rich and flavorful, and the meatballs with ricatto were nothing short of amazing. While the burrata pasta with peaches wasn’t to our taste, the rest of the menu more than made up for it.

What’s frustrating is seeing people rush to drop harsh reviews in the first week. Restaurants need a moment to hit their stride, and the fact that Rocco’s is already delivering at this level speaks volumes. We’re excited to see how it grows—and in the meantime, it’s absolutely...

I really want to continue to support this place. The decor is so cute and I love having another restaurant in the neighborhood. I’m sure since they are new they are still tweaking things. -The service was fantastic. Our server was a pro and so attentive and everyone was so friendly. -We had 3 pastas- they were decent but could have used a little more flavor -wine list needs more variety and better wines in the low to mid price area. We really struggled to find a red that we liked and had to splurge on a $125 bottle to get one that we enjoyable -the really challenging part was how loud the music was and then adding the people talking over it. I’m not sure I could go back for that reason. It was just deafening and made it very hard to converse amongst the 3 of us. My hope is they can put some sound proofing in and just turn down the...