Rockfish Food and Wine — Restaurant in Roanoke

I live in the Roanoke Valley but travel the country for work in an industry that tends to "eat well". We also have family in Charleston, SC, which is quite the foodies town. That set-up is to say that Rockfish (in the Grandin Village of Roanoke) consistently has produced the some of the finest meals I have ever eaten anywhere! I think this is the unsung gem of Roanoke dining and rivals the food quality I have experienced in Charleston (SC). Recently, we returned (it had been a while). They offered a nice selection from which to choose a flight of 3 wines. For an appetizer, we experienced the finest calamari I have had ANYWHERE. The batter was light, perfectly seasoned, and the calamari itself fresh, not chewy at all, served with a perfect remoulade. I could have eaten it all night. For dinner, my wife and I both chose the same dish of seared scallops with porkbelly, spinach, and stone-ground grits. Amazing! The scallops were large, fresh, perfectly prepared, and picked up just the right amount of flavor from the porkbelly, which was also delicious. The sauteed spinach and grits were equally well-prepared. The atmosphere is typically perfect for either a romantic dinner or a nice, professional business dinner, although (historically) on certain nights, there has been some live entertainment that can interfere with that. (I don't know if that's still the case.). The service is always friendly and good, even if not quite as refined as some dining snobs might prefer. We declined dessert on this visit. The only reason I would not recommend Rockfish would be selfish: I love the ability to drop in most nights without reservations! This is a must-dine...

The experience wasn’t terrible so don’t get me wrong. My girlfriend and I had a wonderful night despite the experience. The food had wonderful flavor and just the right amount of spice. However, both of our dishes came out cold/room temperature. I didn’t plan on saying anything but I believe it’s customary at this establishment for the manager to come and ask about our meals. Now this was almost directly after they were brought to our table and we took the first couple bites. At this time I explained to the manager that the flavor was great the spice was wonderful but both of our dishes are rather cold/room temperature. I questioned if they were intended on being served this way because I genuinely didn’t know. She acknowledged that they were not intended to be served this way and that they would likely be better on the hotter side. At this time she left our table and went on about her night. Now I suppose she didn’t handle it wrong but I would of expected that they offer to bring us out a fresh dish or at the very least warm our current dish up.. We quickly finished, paid our bill and left. Won’t likely be...

We had a large group of 50+ people coming to Roanoke for an event and needed to find a place that could take all of us for dinner on a Thursday evening. Found Rockfish on a "Best of Roanoke" list and reached out a week before our arrival date. Spoke with Olivia (the owner) who suggested that for a group our size that we reserve the restaurant for a private event, which we did. Olivia customized a menu for us consisting of a set of appetizers which would be served right when people arrived, a choice of 2 salads (mixed greens and caesar), 3 entrees (red snapper, filet mignon and chicken) and 3 desserts (apple cobbler, mocha truffle torte, cheesecake)...all items from their regular menu.

Suffice it to say the evening was a huge success. The restaurant space was elegant, the food was fantastic, and the service/staff could not have been better. Huge thanks to Olivia and Rockfish Food and Wine for everything...exceeded our expectations in...