Rocco's Ristorante — Restaurant in Ceredo

I was very excited to try this place as I have seen many friends speaking highly of their food. I love Italian food and like to think that I know good food, so this experience was highly disappointing. I'll start from the top - please note I'm a very detail oriented person so skip this review if you don't want to read a lot lol. We walked into a very dark restaurant, and were sat quickly with no wait (this was about 6pm on a Weds for reference). The lighting was low in the dining area with candles on tables which was a nice touch, and the dining area was pretty full. Our server was nice enough without being over the top. Now let's get to the food: the complimentary bread is literally sliced bread with packaged butter provider, it was soft and flavorless so I did not eat more than a bite of it. We ordered an appetizer of bruschetta which was the strangest bruschetta I've ever encountered, it was one large tomato slice on a soggy slice of bread with melted cheese, balsamic glaze and basil on top. I had one slice and we ended up throwing it away when we got home as it was so unappetizing and soggy. We also ordered house salads which were included with our entree, I'm not joking when I say that these tiny salads consisted of lettuce, dressing, one large tomato slice, HALF of a slice of cucumber and one ring of onion. I actually could not stop laughing when the server delivered them because of their appearance, but the ranch dressing was good and the salad was fresh overall just a very strange concept for a salad (maybe try cherry/grape tomatoes and a little more cucumber?). For our entrees my sister ordered the Chicken Cacciatore and I ordered the lasagna. For my sisters meal the description completely did not match her meal and I'm wondering if she was even given the correct meal, when you do a quick google search of Chicken Cacciatore it is a very appetizing looking dish with tomato sauce and other veggies, cheese and chicken. My sisters meal had no tomatoes and was sitting in a pool of oil basically, it was so oily and had almost no flavor besides tasting like the vegetables that were in it. The chicken had the strangest chemical/frozen after taste. We both had the same opinion on her meal. Now getting to the lasagna, I would like to note that I have had some pretty amazing lasagna at other restaurants - La Famiglia in Huntington, WV. has some of the most delicious made from scratch lasagna in the tri-state area and if you're looking to go a little further for a nice restaurant visit Valentinas in Columbus, OH. for the most amazing lasagna you will ever have at actually $3 cheaper than Roccos lasagna. Roccos lasagna was more like a lasagna soup, it was not hearty or layered. It was lasagna noodles, in pasta sauce with some cheese and the strangest meat I've ever had in lasagna. It was one big flat piece of meat (I'm assuming beef?) and it had the weirdest texture ever that was SO unappetizing. This dish was also super salty which seemed like an attempt to give it some flavor, but it tasted terrible all around. I had a few bites and brought the rest home to my fiance who also did not like it so we ended up throwing it away. I am a leftover eating kind of person and I hate wasting food so if I throw away that much food it is for good reason. I am not one to complain at a restaurant because I don't want it to seem like I am trying to get my meal comped or cause a scene, so we were polite to the server, paid for all of our food/drinks in full and tipped well. The price was much too high for the quality of food in my honest opinion: for bruschetta, 2 very small garden salads, a glass of wine, diet coke, 2 entrees, and 2 slices of cake the total was $90. I do not mind paying for good quality food, this was simply not good quality. I will say that the strawberry cake and carrot cake were absolutely delicious and were the best part of the meal (we got these to go). I would not recommend eating here as I feel there are many better dining options...

My boyfriend and I tried Rocco’s this evening! It was my first time experience, he has been here before. Something about me before this review: I grew up in the restaurant industry, my mom is a chef, and I work in customer service.

He called ahead to put our names on the list, they don’t take reservations for under 10 people, but we still had to wait quite a bit to be seated. The restaurant atmosphere is beautiful and it smelled delightful. Once we were seated, our waitress was very attentive, she was an older lady, my partner said he had served him before when he was there. She was pleasant, got our drinks, appetizer, etc. when she came back, she went to take our entree order and I asked for the linguine vongole bianco, because that’s my go to order, and she said they were out of the bianco? Or something? Which doesn’t make sense bc it’s clams with a white wine sauce (later on, she told me they didn’t have clams to add into the white wine sauce??? That they had added all of the clams into the red sauce. But why have it on the menu at that point?). Honestly, this really disappointed me because this is what I look for on EVERY Italian restaurant’s menu as I can not have heavy cream/most cheese, so I am limited in my choice. It seems odd to me that they put all of the clams into one sauce despite having both on the menu. Not happy about that.

We ordered the stuffed peppers for an appetizer, added melted Parmesan on top instead of Romano. It was delicious, perfect amount of spice.

Our entrees arrived while I was in the restroom, but they looked delicious! I ended up getting the linguine vongole rossa (because they were out of the bianco), and my partner got langostino dish. Both looked great and tasted great.

After we got our entrees, I began to notice that our waitress kept avoiding us. She kept visiting the table next to us, chatting, and wandering off for long periods of time. We ended up being there (seated) for 2 hours total. Maybe only saw her 5 times. She would address my partner in a very nice way, was polite to him, but then wouldn’t say much to me. I am not sure of this is because I asked why they didn’t have the clams in the bianco? But maybe it was? I was simply curious.

She gave us the check and then disappeared for a while. We waited, another waitress asked to box our food, waited some more, then she came to the larger table next to us to give them their food (they got there after us), then took the check, and then walked over and talked to the same table again?? Finally she ended up going to finish the check.

She came back with the finalized bill, then decides to apologize for them not having the vongole bianco, which I say I was disappointed because it’s my favorite dish. She then says they will probably take it off of the menu, which I say I will be sad about because there aren’t many options for those who can’t have cream or most cheese, which she follows up with “well it’s also the clams, did you see what had been happening with the seafood in new Orleans? It’s been making people die. I really can see them taking it off of the menu.” I’m sorry, but why would you say that food has been making people die to a customer, who just ate that food at the restaurant you are employed at? She continued to be dismissive at everything I said, even when I said I wasn’t aware of the seafood issue in New Orleans, that I would be upset if they got rid of the white wine sauce, etc.

My overall thought on this experience: Restaurant was beautiful and fabulous. The wait time was long, but worth it. The food prepared for us was delightful. The waitress could have been more pleasant/attentive throughout the evening. I did not care for some of the things that she did/talked about, and this definitely impacted my experience.

Our bill total was between $150-$200 for two people, wine, appetizer, and entrees.the included photos are the stuffed peppers (after we already ate two), and the linguine...

I had heard nothing but good things about Rocco's. I finally went after almost a month of wanting to go they open later so hard time for me to go... I was getting my tonsils out the next day so I wanted something amazing....I was not impressed. I waited about 10 or 15 mins for the hostess to show back up and when I told her it was just me she said the wait would be maybe 10 to 15 mins which was fine waiting is part of it....then she came back maybe 5 mins later told me if I wanted I could sit at a table right behind the wall I was sitting in front of which I gladly took. I ended up sitting there watching the waitress wait on the table one over from me and and talk to friends coming in huging and talking which is fine except she wasn't paying attention to me waiting at all...I waited for about 25 mins before she even came up to greet me and see what I would like to order kind of aggravating. Still I was there and I thought I'd be worth it...finally got my food it was really cheesy which is something I love I ordered the lasagna which was not too bad but not great. Then when I was finished I sat there again about 25 mins waiting on the waitress just to bring me my check...I would have loved to have gotten dessert but at that point I didn't want to wait another long min. Finally she came over and took the rest of my food to box up and get my check...I was just gonna use my card so she wouldn't get a tip but I really wanted to leave and didn't want to wait longer so I paid in cash and left the change so she got a tip she didn't deserve. I always tip good I enjoy having good service glad to give one but not in this case. I may try this restaurant one more time in the future with a friend...but after this its unlikely for a while...sucks because I was...