Rocco's Ristorante — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

Very disappointed in the overall experience here. Whoever did the restoration of the building did a phenomenal job, but that is where my praise ends. The music was both too loud and inappropriate in style for the setting (I love Dean Martin as much as the next person, but That's Amore doesn't need to play loud enough that I can't converse with my table for me to know it's an Italian restaurant.) We waited an exceedingly long time for the waitress to come to the table. She seemed quite inexperienced and unsure of how to greet guests. The idea that the restaurant hired untrained/did not train their staff is supported by the fact that the table next to us had to teach their server how to open a bottle of wine not once but twice. This perhaps could have been forgiven had she been more attentive.

We also waited a long time for drinks and this is where the true trouble began. My boyfriend ordered a beer (from a less-than-impressive beer list more appropriate for a Pirates game) which she brought out mildly warm with no glass. I ordered a French 75 and was very puzzled when a pink drink came out with half a lemon perched on top of the champagne flute. This is my favorite drink which I order quite frequently and knew immediately what they had served me was incorrect. I verified with the waitress to which she responded "Does it not taste like a French 75?" before taking it back. This in and of itself would not have been such an issue, except that on the bill, she attempted to charge me nearly $30 for a glass of rose, rather by than the oz pour of gin which would have been appropriate if there was not a set price for such a cocktail. In retrospect, I'm very grateful I sent it back as she would have charged me nearly double the standard cocktail price for a glass of wine that I did not order that was clearly dressed up with an obscenely large lemon wedge to attempt to fool me. This was further exaggerated by not only her aforementioned attempt to gaslight me, but also by the next table talking to the manager about why her martini was served in an unchilled pint glass. Something to do with the bar and health department and not being able to serve cocktails yet? My table wasn't told this? I had to eavesdrop on the manager speaking to the next table? Instead I got a veiled attempt of an imitation cocktail? There was no reason the server would have been unaware of this or for her not to inform me.

The food was a separate issue. The wine and cheese pairing was abysmally small and ill-presented. The arancini was too salty. My mother's pasta was so overcooked you could barely stab it with a fork. The pesto could barely be classified as pesto in taste or texture. My swordfish had a nice crust, but zero flavor. My boyfriend did eat his steak, but in his words, it was "nothing to write home about" which is rather sad for a $54 steak.

If one is going to rack up a bill of this size in Pittsburgh, please go to...

​A Disappointing Evening at Rocco's Pittsburgh ​Last night's 6:30 PM Sunday reservation at Rocco's Pittsburgh was profoundly disappointing, despite the restaurant's beautiful setting. ​After being seated, it took 47 minutes for us to receive anything beyond a bottle of wine, water, and a salad. What followed highlighted a clear breakdown in kitchen communication and management oversight. ​Immediately after finally placing our dinner order, the server returned to inform me that my selection was no longer available. This was followed by a subsequent trip where we learned the staple of any Italian restaurant—simple oil and bread—was also out of stock. A fourth visit delivered the final blow: a backup entree I'd spent my wait time selecting was also unavailable. ​The extended waits and multiple menu errors suggest a severe lack of leadership and kitchen coordination. Our server handled the difficult news with grace, but it's unacceptable that they were repeatedly placed in a position to deliver bad news that should have been preemptively managed by a floor or kitchen manager. ​Ultimately, after an excessively long and frustrating experience, we canceled our orders and opted for a pizza delivery from a nearby restaurant. The stunning atmosphere cannot compensate for such lackluster operational management and a complete inability to deliver the basic promise of a dinner reservation. I sincerely hope management takes concrete steps to address these serious service and inventory issues. My only pictures, never got to the point of having food in...

We really really really wanted to love it but it fell flat for three out of 4 diners. I’ll start with the good. The design and decor are beautiful. The staff was warm and accommodating. We were surprised for an Italian restaurant that they didn’t have Prosecco, Pinot Grigio and were out of Chianti. Servers should be trained on bar menu. When we asked for a-recommendation instead of prosecco she brought a flat white wine. And when we asked for something to add to coffee like amaretto, frangelico, etc she had never heard of any and had to return to the bar to check 3 times. What a missed opportunity to run up our bar tab. For food, two of us ordered chicken cutlets and one ordered the veal cutlet. Now I’ll be fair here. We are Italians from the same region of Italy as the owners so maybe we set expectations high but the cutlets tasted premade and than pan fried a second time to heat up. They were bone dry, lacked crisp and actually charred and hard to cut. One diner had the chicken with lemon and we all agreed it was fantastic and we all had plate envy. The bread was delicious too and we had no problem paying for it because it was good. Appetizers and sides were also fairly good. But overall nothing so great that will compel us to come back. I’m really sorry to say that! I do wish the owners and staff the best of luck because I love the concept. And maybe we just came on...