ROC — Restaurant in Louisville

I don’t write reviews very often, but when both service and food are lacking I feel compelled to share our experience.

I live down the street from ROC and really wish it could be a neighborhood gem. The first time we went when we moved here from Chicago in 2022 it was not a great experience and I was ready to try it again this week, hoping that had been a one-off.

This past week we ordered takeout to enjoy at home, as my Mom was in town to visit us and we love eating good food together. On this important point - I worked in high end restaurants when I was younger and from a service standpoint, you treat everyone as if they are coming to you to enjoy a special meal. My dear mother is terminally ill and I wanted to try to have special meals together each day she was here. She loves French food and La Chasse was closed so I thought and hoped ROC would be a good option for high quality European-inspired food.

I called to place an order. The gentleman was polite and helpful. He asked me to pay over the phone which is unusual but I obliged. He did not give me a total and then asked if I wanted to tip the kitchen. A bit more unusual still and he couldn’t tell me what my bill was before tip.

I left my newborn at home with my mom while me and my 4 year old ran to ROC to pick up the food. It was about 545 and totally empty inside. The bartender handed us a big bag, and I asked if this was everything because we ordered tiramisu and usually something cold would not be in the bag with hot food. She dismissively said yes. Not very welcoming or kind even though there was NO ONE in the restaurant needing her attention.

We got home to find - shocker - tiramisu is not in the bag. No receipt was on the bag or offered when we were there, so I still have no idea what I’ve paid and what was confirmed in the order. That’s just poor quality service and not classy.

I called to inquire about the tiramisu. Gentlemen was pleasant again, apologized. I said I can’t come back - I made specific plans to be able to come in the first place. He said oh well I’ll take it off your bill. Apologetic but obviously wasn’t that concerned. You should be when no one is in your establishment and you can’t get things right.

If all this happened and the food was outstanding, I’d try to forget about it. Unfortunately the food was seriously average. I’ll be honest, I was sort of shocked. No presentation in the take out boxes (some restaurants really care about this and strive for excellence) and the food was just.. food.

Gnocchi was fine. Not buttery soft like you’d expect. The cheese didn’t have any flavor and was rubbery. Pistachios shrimp pappardelle could be wildly interesting and it also didn’t have a ton of flavor. Eggplant parm was just fine. Watermelon salad was tasty.

Bu way of comparison, we had gnocchi with our pizza at Pizza Lupo the following day and it’s one of the best pasta dishes I’ve ever had in America. Obviously takeout isn’t the best way to judge someone’s food but dang, Lupo nailed it in a takeout box so I won’t take this as an excuse.

Overall, ROC is clearly struggling, which is sad; this wouldn’t happen if not. Even more sad, though, is the fact that I’m not sure that they’re trying to do...

Made a reservation for a party of 10, for my birthday dinner, about a month in advance. Most my entire party all arrived at the 6:30 reservation time, only to be rudely told "No, your reservation is 7:30". I would have never made a 7:30 reservation, as even 6:30 is late for me generally. There was no apology and we were treated like we were inconveniencing them. They did seat us in a lovely private room but that was it. We just sat there for 20-30 minutes before we even were offered water. They claimed to be short staffed but that was very visibly not the case. They had multiple servers and water refillers. We didn't get our first cocktail until 7:30. So, instead of the owners sending up a bottle of wine or a basket of bread to apologize for the hour discrepancy that was their hostess fault, they just made us sit and wait. I was excited to try this restaurant, as I have read the owner is from Sorrento and I had just travelled there a couple years ago. However, the food was mediocre at best and overly salted. Lacked in any real flavor. The server was incredibly kind and engaging the whole meal but he made a terrible mistake at the end and instead of being empathetic and apologetic was defensive. He charged one of my guest's credit card for the entire party's meals. He voided that transaction but then somehow did the same thing again. My friend now has two pending charges on his debit card for a total of $1700!!!! When my friend went to address the issue with the owner, which is very serious and could potentially put any person in financial distress because most pending charges don't drop until 3-5 business days, he wasn't apologetic either. In fact, he was downright rude. This all could have been forgiven with a more apologetic attitude but blaming us for their multiple mistakes is not ok. We absolutely will never return to this establishment and I recommend you read not only mine but other's bad reviews (wish I had),...

This is based on our first visit on a Saturday night. We compared the food and value here to similar dishes we have tried in other cities and restaurants. We noticed Italians in the restaurant so thought it must be legit.

Food: 4/5 Our waiter informed us all sauces and pasta are made in house to order, so it's preferred to order starters and the meal at once so the chefs can get the sauce started. I can appreciate in house pasta and sauces!

We got the salmon carpaccio, yellowtail special, veal scaloppine with spinach, fettuccine bolognese/ meat sauce, clams and linguine.

Salmon carpaccio was tasty! We both liked it, pretty fresh.

Yellowtail special- tasty as well. Good starters so far.

Veal scaloppine- veal was delicious. Spinach is just spinach.

Fettuccine bolognese- pasta was al dente, could definitely taste the difference. Sauce was meaty. I felt it was still pricey for $20.

Linguine and clams- our biggest disappointment. Almost wish we didn't order it since the other dishes were pretty good. It was bland, and we basically ate the clams and tomato. Maybe I just don't understand a fine olive oil dish. But this is my review/opinion.

Price/ Value: 3/5 We expected more for the price. Portions are fine, depending on your appetite, you may take home leftovers. Higher prices can be justified by the in house labor and overall quality of food and experience.

Service: 5/5 Our server Patrick was helpful and attentive. Our glasses were always filled. Everyone helps each other. You may even get to speak with the manager/owner (funny and charming, definitely Italian)

Ambiance: 3.5/5 Pretty casual. There's a bar area, indoor and outdoor seating. It is a tight space. You may unwittingly eavesdrop on the tables around you or bump something.

Overall: 3.75/5 (will round up to a 4) Pretty good experience overall, though we won't be in a hurry to return. Worth a try or for...