Rocco's Restaurant — Restaurant in San Clemente

This is my second time coming to Roccos, and a few months since my first visit.

The first time I was at Roccos, I was the first customer of the day. Belle greeted my table and was just the SWEETEST girl I've ever met. Her service was actually impeccable and that's hard to come across. We enjoyed escargot and pasta dishes which were so great.

The most recent time I was there was last week. They were absolutely slammed packed in the place (great sign!) and they truly were on top of everything. We ordered the escargot again because it is honestly phenomenal. Again, so flavorful and such a delicate dish. They really know how to make this dish specifically and the flavor is insane. We ordered risotto aurora for our main course. It's HUGE. my husband and I split and it was still a lot of food. The flavor in the risotto dish itself is explosive. The garnishing was spot on, and it was truly a burst of flavor in your mouth.

Let's also not forget about the tres leches cake belles mama makes. I don't even like dessert but my mouth waters for this. BEAUTIFULLY DONE. 10/10 grab a piece of this before you leave.

Great table service. The wait staff moves effortlessly and seems like they are all 100% on the same page. Being in the industry myself, we see restaurants that are missing out on this aspect of our dining experiences. Whatever they're doing to coach their employees, we all need to take notes!

Belle & Rocco, you truly out did yourselves again. I cannot wait to come back and have the pleasure of dining...

Wow. It's one thing to eat great food. It's totally nother to eat great food and have GREAT SERVICE. This place is special. Our server Paco Blito was excellent. Constantly checking in on us and sharing stories and quick anecdotes while still bouncing around front table to bar checking in on everyone's happiness. It made the place feel like home. Even though we'd never been before.

We drank the Jalapeño Margherita, and the raspberry lemon drop.

We ate the escargot and the burrata first. Both were exceptional.

And THEN we had the Salmon Linguini, which my boyfriend adored, and I ate the Pasta e Vongole (clams) with red sauce.

Man OH MAN. I was sleepy from being at the beach all day when we walked in, and I woke up real quick when I started eating the pasta. It filled my mouth with the sweet and salty flavors of home (italy) and the sea.

The portions are huge. And I took some leftovers home. My red vongole pasta was JUST as good the next day if not even better.

I tell ya.

This place is hard to beat.

Even their concept is cool. Latin European fusion.

I should know. I'm Cuban Italian. And I...

We ordered risotto and paella and both were flavorful, however the paella was more of a seafood ‘watery’ rice and not the dry paella I was expecting. Regardless, the flavor was there for both dishes so my rating isn’t about the food. The rating is about the service … it was …. Weird. It felt like I was in a dive bar being served by someone not really paying attention to what they were doing.. would not look at us while we were ordering or offered suggestions besides stating the special for the day.. He even mentioned something about the fact that the food was quick and that’s what matters… which I’m like .. nah.. the flavor matters.. it was bizarre!!

Besides that, the atmosphere is a mix of fine dining and some happy hour bar-type vibes with a TV playing sports.

They have a nice selection of cocktails too and I saw a group bringing their own bottle of wine so they probably have a cork fee too which can be a good option. Their wine selection is good with a...