Rocco's Tavern -Pasadena — Restaurant in Pasadena

Sad to report that I had the worse service I have ever experienced at this location. I'm sure this story doesn't reflect the entirety of the staff, and I sincerely hope my experience was simply an isolated incident.

The full story is below...but the saddest part was when one of their bartenders (who I assume was a manager) revealed to our party that they were intentionally giving us poor service because we had not tipped them quick enough for their standards. If that sounds unbelievable, all I can say is it was unbelievable. My party and the surrounding parties had our jaws on the floor. He told us outright that he expected a tip with each and every drink, whereas we have always tipped at the end. I'm not a huge bargoer, but I have never had an issue with tipping at the end - that's all I've ever done in fact.

I've also never had a bartender tell me what tip he requires of me in order to earn his service. To me, this does not feel acceptable, nor does it seem to be a good business practice. Regardless, it would be much more effective if they tell the customer their tipping requirements up front.

...

I came in with a couple of friends on a Friday night around 10 PM for drinks. The bar was fairly empty, yet we were continually ignored and the staff was rude with a bluntness I have yet to experience elsewhere. It was incredibly hard to get served throughout the night, and when we would finally get the staff's attention interactions were terse and confusing.

They gave us refills when we didn't ask for them. We ordered an entire round of drinks that simply never came. On another attempt, my friend ordered two Moscow Mules, handed the bartender a $20 bill and she boorishly replied: "$20 ain't gonna get you 2 Moscow Mules babe. $24". I'll spare you the other comments she made.

The disservice peaked when they refused to split my $1 bill into quarters so I could pay my parking meter (which was right outside and only took quarters). I then asked a friendly couple nearby if they could break a dollar, and they told me they had just gotten quarters from the staff for their meter. Unfortunately a bartender overheard us discussing why they refused to give us quarters, and he initiated a conversation with us to see what the problem was. After we told him we felt we were being mistreated, he revealed that they were intentionally treating us this way because we had not tipped them on a drink by drink basis, rather we were tipping at the end. This actually happened! I can truly say it was the strangest and most senseless interaction I've ever experienced from an employee. It was also quite humiliating, as this was happening in front of everybody. We would have been happy to tip drink by drink had we know this was required but we simply had no clue.

I've had great times at Rocco's in Culver City (where I've always tipped at the end), but Pasadena has some work to do from what I've experienced. I'm sure there are plenty of kind, helpful employees at this restaurant, but sadly this is the only honest...

We came here for lunch at happy hour and were disappointed to find only drinks are on happy hour. But it goes way beyond that. Our service was awful! The chicken wings were served way over-cooked Too hard to eat but we were starving so we powered thru I ordered a burger that came with fries The burger and beet was ok But the fries were so over-cooked they were inedible The service sucked We got our order taken but our original waitress never checked in again I had to find someone to finish placing our order The food was horrible Very low-quality Very disappointing! I can’t believe this location survives in an affluent town like Pasadena! Just awful! We are foodies but this place sucks! I’ve eaten out many times but this place is one of the most disgusting ever! And to top it all off out bill was $85! For 2 beers 1 coke 2 side salads A burger and fries! I will never come back Thanks for the awful experience!!! I hope this will help others avoid the great disappointment we...

The environment is pretty chill and laid back. The first waiter/ host wasn’t that attentive he told us to take a seat outside, never came to our table to offer drinks. He was too busy chatting with customers. After a couple minutes another waiter came by and asked if we preferred to sit inside since the heaters weren’t working (mind you it was kinda chilly outside) so we sat inside and an older gentleman took our orders and brought us our drinks. He was a much better host than the first guy. Anyway chicken Alfredo was too watery and flavorless, maybe needed some Parmesan cheese , never brought it out and we asked for it twice! chicken parmesano was actually very good, spaghetti came with it you get lots of food on the plates are big portions and the original cheese burger meat was kinda dry, got lots of fries tho. The customer service from the only waiter working that night (even tho there were 2 other waiters) was...