Rocca

11/08/09

Bad service, bad drinks

by pgm214 at Citysearch

I went to Rocca on Friday night with a few friends for drinks. We got there around 10:30 and the place was pretty packed. Unfortunately there was only dedicated bar attender to serve the big crowed. It was an arduous process to order a drink. The staff acted like they were paying me to go through all that trouble to get a drink. When it came out, the glasses were over flowing, dripping everywhere. The bar attender didn’t even bother wiping it off or at least putting the glass on a napkin. The drinks were of subpar quality.

• Pros: Bad service, bad drinks
• Cons: Decent décor

03/09/09

Good meal, good waiter, uncommonly spacious and open for Boston.

by theeel at Citysearch

Visited Rocca for the first time on Sunday night and had a very good experience. Slightly off the beaten path, this is a really cool, modern, very open restaurant and bar. Need a place where your suburbanite friends can park their SUVs and not be uptight about sitting on top of strangers at another cramped Boston restaurant? Bring them here.

My girlfriend loved her Sangria, a bit sparkling for me, and the waiter made good wine suggestions for me. We started with the Roasted Butternut Squash & Pear Pizzetta which was a nice beginning to the meal. She had the Potato Gnocchi with wild mushrooms which was rich, creamy and earthy. I had the Pan-Roasted Duck Breast, cooked medium rare at our waiter's recommendation, which was very nice also. "Smashed Almond Bark" for dessert was overly crumbly and generally unmemorable but the meal was enjoyable none the less.

When we spilled a drink half way through the meal our waiter promptly cleaned up the mess and refilled the drink free of charge - that's good service! Total bill came to about $95 plus tip. One of our better South End dining experiences. We'll be back.

• Pros: Spacious feel, Good food, Good waiter
• Cons: Rambunctious Bar Scene, Disappointing dessert

03/08/09

Is the parking worth it?

by GeriNicole97 at Citysearch

I recently went to Rocca for a friends' celebration dinner. We had a price fixed, 4 course dinner, and when the waitress came by to ask if we wanted red or white wine, I assumed this was included in the cost. I was driving (excellent parking) so I did not partake, but the rest of the table did. 6 bottles of wine later, our bill came to $1500. Apparently when the reservation was made we were told that we could only have the table for 2.5 hours. 2.5 Hours for 4 courses? really? The staff was great and attentive, but the deserts were not out in the alloted time and we went over, which was clearly not our faults. While we were paying the $1500 bill, the owners/managers were coming over and "jokingly" reminding us that we were over our time and there were people waiting downstairs. While they were trying to be lighthearted, we got their strongly made point. I've never regretted spending money more. For the amount we spent, they should have 1. thrown in a couple of those bottomless bottles of wine, and 2. Let us sit there for as long as we wanted. They should have just been happy in this economy that there were people there and willing to spend money. There are plenty of empy restaurants out there...The food is OK, and the wines by the glass were reasonably priced when I looked at the list in the lounge downstairs. The waitstaff were great. I haven't been to Rocca other than this event, but I don't know that I would would go back. The food was good, but the end of the evening left a bad taste in my mouth.

• Pros: parking, reasonably priced wines by the glass
• Cons: rude manangement/owners not valuing the clients they have