Rocco’s Brick Oven Pizzeria
“I will definitely be coming back here next time I get a cancelled flight.”
“Riding to my hotel from LaGuardia, the shuttle driver recommended Rocco's for great Italian delivery.”
“Huge thank you to Mike and Dino at Rocco's Brick Oven Pizzeria for providing incredible food for the Out There shoot!”
Rocco’s Brick Oven Pizzeria
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
5 reviews
Rate and write a review Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Gotta take a star off. They've seriously lost ground in terms of quality and turn around time.
Ordered three things last night. They accepted the order at 7:15, but it didn't arrive until almost 9pm. Called them at 8:30pm. The friendly customer service of old was not there; very cold reception. Was told the order just left (1.25 hours after they accepted my order….). This read as them waiting until they had enough orders to warrant their guy going out.
Delivery guy was nice….and food was still warm enough to eat out of the containers. But the wings (Rocco's wings) were breaded (rarely a good sign) and soggy. Stromboli was really bad. Looked like it was originally brick oven made…but wrapped in foil and left to sit. Super chewy in a "made my jaw ache getting through the thing" way. Broccoli Rabe was actually sauteed quite nicely….but was swimming in tons of liquid.
Would be hard pressed to give them another shot at this point unless I could only get a certain type of pasta they offer. #failblog for this venture into pizza land.
After SIX (at least!) LONG YEARS, Rocco's has -finally- reopened! It's completely back and better than ever.
If you want some neighborhood history, read on. If not skip ahead to the next paragraph:
Rocco's used to be just your regular old neighborhood pizzeria. Nothing special, nothing outstanding, not particularly clean, just your go-to place for a slice in Upper Astoria, and in the summer some amazing .75 Italian ices. Vanilla chocolate chip was the way to go for me as a kid. Unfortunately, tragedy struck one year when a storm damaged part of the roof or something, and the place shut down indefinitely. At least that's how the story goes. Each time I passed by, I wondered "When is this place going to open up again?" But as the years went on, I lost a little more hope until I just gave up on my once beloved neighborhood spot.
And then one day, it happened. Construction! What? Can it be? Oh, it be. Rocco's bought out the corner pub (also closed for years), expanded, and began rebuilding from scratch.
Brand spankin' new, Rocco's now consists of two sections, your classic pizzeria and a casual family dining restaurant area.
The pizzeria houses a brick oven, about 4 HDTVs for playing whatever sports game is on, 1 additional TV to display the menu, and 2 fancy registers operated by what appears to be Apple iPads. Outfitted with the latest tech, they went all out for this reopening. The seating area consists of your typical stationary four seater tables, has bright lighting and some pretty friendly service.
The PIZZA: As expected, it is your standard new york slice, a little floppy, a sweet and tangy sauce, and a good amount of cheese. If it's a regular ol' slice you want, this should by satisfying enough.
If you're into eating more than a pound of ricotta cheese like I am, the cheese calzone if for you. Housed in a soft, chewy, doughy bread, is a generous heaping portion of ricotta and what I could swear is fresh mozzarella melted throughout.
The chicken parm sub is good/as expected, and sandwiched in warm and soft hero which might turn off those of you who like crispy bread for their heros.
The restaurant has some round tables to give that inclusive family dining experience, nice wooden floors, and warm lighting to give an excellent relaxed ambiance. Though I haven't eaten in the restaurant portion yet, the aesthetics are excellent and the service seems friendly enough.
The restaurant offers breakfast (!! I'msoexcited) everyday from 6am-11am, various desserts like Nutella pizza, Tartufo, homemade banana pudding, and more. All the food is made to order, they offer daily specials, and apparently have a party room that seats up to 75.
They advertise free delivery for those of you who live nearby, but if you like to walk and pick up, my experience has always been timely.
As a local in this out-skirting part of Astoria, I can't tell you how excited I am for this addition to the neighborhood. I'll be sure to check out the restaurant ASAP and report back. Until then, skip the exorbitant prices of the mediocre Portobello's on Ditmars and instead give the friendly prices and good food at Rocco's a shot.
I wrote this review on another listing of this restaurant-pizzeria here on YELP, where the reviews were less than flattering. See below:
The reviews for this business so far are pretty abysmal, which is why I will add my 3-starred cents to balance things out. As far as delivery is concerned, I totally agree with my fellow YELPers assessments. I no longer order for delivery. It takes a very long time and when the food does arrive it definitely needs to be warmed up in the oven. While some Italian food, like this amazing soup called Ribollito, is meant to be re-heated over and over as the flavors becomes more enhanced, pizza and calzones become like rocks. Therefore, they should be arriving steaming hot. Those red thermal delivery bags are clearly faulty or there is a glitch in the management style of the various people driving Rocco's little customized Bugs around.
BUTTTTT…to say all their food is mehhh would be completely a-foul. I recently went there to order 2 pasta dishes for a Sunday dinner. The place was beyond busy as it also happened to be Mother's Day. When I ordered, the teenage girl working the front register told me it would take 40 minutes for my food to be ready. That almost made me cancel the order and walk out. I even said to her, "WOW, for pasta? Really?" To which she countered that it was really busy and the kitchen was backed up. So, not knowing what to do with myself, I took a seat by one of the table-less booths near the kitchen and did what any other person normally does when waiting – played with my phone. All of a sudden, a stocky older Italian man in a suit approached me (the owner) and asked what I was waiting on. I told him about my to go order, as he was also under the impression I was waiting for a table to dine alone. He said to give him ten minutes. Ten minutes later, the bell in the kitchen dinged and my order was called out. He presented the box to me and thanked me for my patience. I was impressed since ten minutes is way better than 40 MINUTES. I was even more impressed when I got home and opened my order. The pasta was perfectly al dente and their respective sauces – primavera and bolongese were so fresh and flavorful. I swear I have never had good pasta take out. This was amazing pasta take out. Seriously. Maybe if Rocco hadn't intervened, I would be writing a completely different story, but I will give them the benefit of the doubt.
Explore the menu at Rocco's…it might surprise you too.
Our pizza was just okay…it was pretty greasy and hard to finish. We were expecting something great for our first NY pizza, but this just didn't make the cut.
A descent pizzeria located near the Laguardia Airport, this is quite a gud place to sample some cheese off your pizza. They make fresh hand tossed pizzas in wood fired brick oven and even customize the toppings on request. The outer half of the shop is designed like a small diner while the pub cum Restro section occupies the other half.
Taste wise, I think their garlic knots were pretty amazing and I also loved the garden styled vegetarian pizza which was freshly made on my request.