Rocco's Tacos & Tequila Bar — Restaurant in Delray Beach

In 2016 I wrote a review “I have been there twice and can't wait to get back”. Since that review, I’ve been back too many times to count…even twice in one day a few times for an afternoon drink and late night fun time with drinks and snacks. We know when the bar isn’t busy so we can get a bar stool. The best time is after 10PM on weekdays or afternoons before happy hour starts (4:00:PM) when it gets busier. Rocco’s has a large bar and also high top tables if you can’t get a seat at the bar.

Years ago a Rocco bartender introduced us to what is now my favorite drink; Ranch Water. It’s muddled lime, Topo Chico mineral water with the tequila of your choice. It’s a low calorie, refreshing, delicious drink. Topo can be in short supply so sometimes they run out of it and substitute Saratoga mineral water. Ranch Water isn’t like a margarita as the quality of the tequila really matters as its flavor comes through the Topo. Our favorite is Clase Azul Reposado but if you want a less expensive Ranch Water go with One With Life Blanco or Reposado. Be careful as they go down way too easy and you might get hooked as I have.

We usually get an order of chips and salsa which comes with three salsas; house (tomato, onion, cilantro), verde (tomatillo, jalapeño), rojo (roasted chiles, red peppers) which are all homemade including the chips. Sometimes we get a taco or two each. My wife gets the Hongos taco (vegan mushroom, tequila, jalapeño, garlic) on corn tortillas. I normally order Camarones (shrimp) or pork tacos.

I’ve had dinner at Rocco’s a couple of times and enjoyed it but it’s not the same as sitting at the bar. The meals I’ve had were all good. There are high top tables for smaller groups and a few tables for larger groups. Have also done takeout.

One issue with Rocco’s is that there are steps to get in the main door. A sign says “We Are Pleased To Provide Assistance. If You Need Help Please Ask.” A top tip is that there are 4 parking spots behind Rocco’s with an entrance that doesn’t have steps. The downside is this back alley is used for deliveries and trucks will often block you from entering or exiting. I’ve dropped off my parents there and went to park elsewhere so I didn’t get blocked in.

So why a 5 Star rating? The best selection of Tequila of any bar I’ve been to. Love their homemade Chips and Salsa. Delicious tacos. What makes it my favorite bar is the bartenders. A good bartender doesn’t just make good drinks but remembers you, what you like to drink and is social. All of the bartenders at Rocco's have made our time there extra enjoyable. I’m not going to name them but they know who they are and I want to say “Thank You” for making our time at Rocco’s...

This restaurant was decorated well, however, my party was NOT treated with kindness or respect. We had a reservation but all 5 members of my party did not arrive at the same time so we waited until all members showed up. While we waited we discovered that it was happy hour, the hostesses did not inform of that as we awkwardly waited near the front of the restaurant. 2 members of our group got drinks from the bar. Once our party arrived we were all seated at 6:40pm. Happy hour lasted until 7pm. When a member of our group went up to get a drink we were told that we could no longer get drinks as we had been seated. Another member who had just arrived went up to the bar to seek clarification from the manager as the other members oulf our group had stood at the front of the restaurant waiting and were not informed of that, nor were we told by our server when we were seated. The manager [Kyle] depicted in photos rudely told my colleague that "we have told you people several times and we don't know what you don't understand about this policy". My collegue informed the manager that she has only been in the restaurant for about 5 minutes and this is the first time she had seen or spoke to him. My colleague was shocked at his response and tried to explain that none of us were informed of this. The manager said "well now you know and rudely walked off"..... When my colleague returned to the table she was discussing how she was treated when Kyle walked past our table. Another member of my party asked him to discuss why he was treating us in such a harsh manner and explained that it is customary for the manager to treat customers with respect and asked what he meant by the comment "you people". The manager was quick to anger and we felt threatened by his tone and body language as he yelled and threw his hands in the air. [He appears calmer in the video as his behavior changed once I started recording] He stated that the waiter had already informed us about the policy which was simply not true, we were seated and asked if we wanted water.

We are all people of color and feel that we were treated harshly and rudely and it have reasons to believe it was blatant discrimination based on race. The establishment was filled with primarily caucasian patrons on the date...

I went yesterday to this location to celebrate my birthday. I had a reservation for 7:45pm and I arrived around 7:53pm. When we got there, we encountered a young blonde lady, with like blue eyes and I believed her name was Shay. (The hostess). First she didn’t even acknowledge us, no even a welcome, secondly when I told her I had a reservation but I was like ten minutes late she told me I was going to need to wait because I came in late and she didn’t know for how long. We saw plenty tables free but not clean yet so we decided to wait around the door. While we were waiting, this lady help and sat around 4 people. A group of 4, another group of 3, a group of freaking 5 people! We literally told her like why you are letting all this people going and we are literally right her. She said “well you were late” I said that does not matter there are free tables now and I pointed all the people she sat right in front of me, I even pointed a clean ready table outside. Her best answer was well you didn’t told me you wanted to be outside we all said YOU DID NOT ASK, which we are all pretty sure is part of her job. Then after literally tell her we want outside she send us to a table close to trash. We have to tell the other guy that was no the table we just asked. We felt she was being VERY discriminating against us. She was rude, incredibly disrespectful and unprofessional. Nothing close to the customer service you expected when you are about the spend $300 and up in a dinner celebration. The music was blah, the whole night the DJ only played like I would said was electronic music, and there was not a vibe. I got order three drinks Rocco’s mango which it said it was the “stronger in the menu”. Strawberry basil and mojito. All pretty soft to be honest. I barely taste the alcohol. The tacos were okay, nothing special and way to spicy. I would said that the guacamole was one of the only good things yesterday haha. The place is cute but I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone or go...