Rocco's Ristorante Pizzeria — Restaurant in Walnut Creek

The first pizzeria in the United States was opened in 1905 by Gennaro Lombardi, at Lombardi's in Little Italy, Manhattan. As with NY's John's Pizza, the key is the very hot coal brick ovens and the special water of Manhattan. Anyone on the west coast claiming east coast just does not get it. Pizza joints invaded suburbia in the 1970's. There is a certain style of a 1970 Pizza place. Checkered tables, salads, pastas Pizza, Sinatra, nice bar, daily specials.... Rocco's captures that ambiance and much much more. How can anyone not like Rocco's Pizza? Authentic, in the mall, 1970's style pies are fairly difficult to come by in Walnut Creek, and if you throw in the bar room next door? Good beer and good pizza, folks. It's the American Dream, right?

Ok, I admit it, I sort of like to think of myself as a pizza snob. This isn't to say I have one particular pizza preference which I hold above all others and look down upon the rest; rather, it is that I really love good pizza in general. And the single most important component of any pizza is the crust. It doesn't have to be any particular way, but it has to be style-appropriate and high quality. Rocco nails its style. Not too thick. Not too thin. Heavy with cheese, tomato sauce and all the other good stuff. It is Rocco's select Walnut Creek style; not talking about Chicago, New York or Neapolitan style

Their toppings are good, just what you would imagine. The list combines fairly typical pizza toppings, all high quality with a few not-that-unusual things,

On the downside, this place gets crazy, crazy busy on weekend evenings. It can be tough to get a table, and as in just about any situation where every table in a place is seated and there's a line out the door, service can occasionally get behind. Food wait times can get stretched out pretty long, but at least they have Trivial Pursuit cards on the table to keep you entertained during long waits.

But Rocco is true to the 1970's style, from the selection of music, the ambiance, and the family friendly approach. Soccer, football, basketball, lacrosse, baseball teams all hold their end of season banquet in the back.

Bottom line: Great pizza Nice salads Meatballs, Spaghetti,Potato gnocchi, et al Good beer and wine selection Good service Fairly priced I leave a...

Oh man how have I not left a review for Rocco's?!

My apologies,, this should've happened almost 2 decades ago.... Let's see. The first time I went to roccos had to be 2005 or 2006.

It was amazing, and that was eating whatever had been ordered at a buddies birthday party held at the restaurant. A great time btw they have a whole section that can seat like maybe 40+ that they make available for large groups or events.

It was so good that I decided to take my girl there and this is when I got to choose my toppings and see how well they could make my pizza.

So upon that, some experimentation was in order due to the variety of gourmet toplongs available. My first Go-To was Italian sausage and artichoke. Now that can be with with either red sauce or their pesto is amazing as well .

Then getting around the menu and working in the same shopping center and taking full advantage of their lunch special personal pizza, I got to try some new things . At which time I became aware of the Sunday afternoon and Monday night special: large 3 topping pizza, which has gone up over the years, but even last week when I went( I drove over an hour each direction since I no longer live locally) they still have, for today's standard of over inflated post pandemic pricing , a really good deal. It came to $20 even . And they have a decent beer section with pitchers half price. ( There was a time you could get the special and a pitcher for $20 but that was like 2008 or something. )

Anyways...

To the best part .

So roccos for many years became a Monday tradition or at least a fixation. I discovered what has got to be the very best pizza of all time . One that I crave to this day, and they never disappoint. . . Ready for it?

Pancetta and Mushroom.

Just letting the.wprld know now seems criminal but oh well.... too late for that anyways 😜.

I've eaten at least 200.pizzas over the almost 20 years since. Thank you for the fond memories, fair prices, exceptional pizza and decent beer selection.

Life long...

Forgotten (again), but the food is eventually good... We've now visited Rocco's twice. Each time we sat outside, and each time we were largely forgotten. While we eventually worked our way through each wait (for someone to take our drink/meal order, to get that order, to see a living soul again, etc.), we recommend brining a cot and a sleeping bag if you sit outside. We are 2 for 2 in having smiling friendly staff when we see them, but almost never seeing them.

The last visit was on a Sunday. We were given menus at the inside counter when we went to sit outside. It would be approximately 15 minutes before anyone showed up to take even our order - that was about 5 minutes after I had stepped inside and asked whether we had any wait staff assigned to us. We were, of course, ready to fully order by that time. Our server was very friendly taking our order, but we would not see her again until 5-10 minutes after our food had been delivered. It would be loosely another 30 minutes before we would see her another time. She was, however, very quick to bring us the bill once we asked for it. My impression was that we were an afterthought. She likely was serving some or all of a busy group watching soccer inside and we were "out of sight, out of mind". It wasn't our only trip there with this issue though.

For all the timeliness issues, the food is solid. Better pizza can be had, but it is good. The vegan options are also very solid for those who require that diet.

So, the nutshell is that it can be a tasty place to grab a bite, but, at least for outside diners, expect LONG waits...