La Roca Restaurant — Restaurant in Providence

I am writing to express my deep disappointment following a recent visit to your establishment, “La Roca,” on 7/20/25.

My party of five—including a child with autism—arrived shortly after 12 PM and remained until approximately 2:30 PM. Despite being seated and receiving our drinks early on, we were not served any food during that entire time. The ice in our drinks melted completely, and although the beverages were barely touched, we were still charged for them.

During our wait, we noticed another group seated nearby—a party of eight light-skinned Dominicans—who arrived roughly 20–25 minutes after us and were fully served before we were even acknowledged. We, too, are Dominicans, but with brown skin, and the difference in treatment felt undeniably unjust and discriminatory.

The restaurant was playing Christian music, and its name “La Roca” references Deuteronomy 32:4—"The Rock, perfect is his activity, For all his ways are justice." Unfortunately, our experience did not reflect these values. There was nothing just, respectful, or compassionate in the way we were treated.

To worsen matters, we had ordered food that was already prepared, which makes the excessive delay even more confusing and unacceptable.

Ultimately, we left without eating, disheartened and upset. Our dignity and patience were disregarded, and our child—who requires consideration and routine—was subjected to an uncomfortable and unwelcoming environment.

We will not be returning to your restaurant, and we felt it necessary to share this experience in hopes that the staff reevaluates how they treat guests of all...

I had high expectations when returning to this restaurant, as I had previously enjoyed their food years ago before the updates. However, my recent experience was extremely disappointing. I called in a simple order of white rice, beans, and bistec encebollado at 4:05 p.m. and was told it would be ready in about 20 minutes. When I arrived to pick up the order, I ended up waiting nearly an hour. The service I received during this time was unacceptable. When I first walked in, I politely asked the front desk staff for a drink while I waited, but one of the employees ignored me completely. I even tried speaking in both Spanish and English, but she acted as if I didn’t exist. Fortunately, another staff member noticed this and kindly got the drink for me. However, the lack of professionalism from the first employee was concerning. After waiting for 45 minutes, I asked for a refund. The employee quickly handed me my money without an apology or explanation, and when I asked to speak with a manager or owner, I was told no one was available, which seemed dishonest. When I finally received my food, it was lukewarm and lacked flavor. The steak was bland, and the beans were equally disappointing. I couldn’t help but feel that the long wait was due to the initial poor interaction, as if my order had been intentionally delayed. I am deeply disappointed by both the service and food quality. I hope management addresses these issues, as the restaurant's standards have significantly declined since my last visit. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this place to others, and I will not...

Ordered take out mondongo (stew) this is not an a la carte dish I was a bit confused why I waited over 20 minutes for this order, meanwhile they seemed too busy preparing food for an event and apparently disregarded the take out orders. My order was completely disregarded until 20 minutes later I asked how much longer for the order to come out, it was then when the cook began preparing it.The servers at the front, all very unprofessional ,yelling ,screaming ,cracking jokes while customers wait. When the order is finally handed to me a HUGE clump of black hair was hanging from the bag. The server removed it, honestly I was just grossed out I threw this out, I was so disappointed I just wanted to leave immediately. There was no apology from the server , not a word.You have all these servers on the front end playing combing their hair? This wasn’t a stand of hair this was a CLUMP of hair. Have your servers wrap their hair they shouldn’t be handling food with their hair out. Beyond disgusting this is also unsanitary and against the regulations of the RI Health Dept. I could’ve been a secret shopper for all you know. Never again visiting your...