Rocca Bar Ristorante

Crazy but fun time to visit Rocca on the December Christmas Parade night. Rocca has the only second story porch overlooking the parade route. It has become "the place to go" to watch the very popular parade. But the staff is not equipped to handle all the people so it turns into a crazy night to drink and dine there. We knew that when we made our reservations so we were prepared. It took almost a half an hour to get two glasses of wine standing at the TINY bar because they were so slammed. Our dinner progress was a bit slow as well. But, all in all, it was a good experience. I ordered the caesar salad with an appetizer of fried calamari. The salad was very good, as expected. The calamari was extremely tender and tasty. My husband ordered one of the pasta dishes which was outstanding but the side of meatballs were not to his liking at all. He took one bite and pushed them aside. We have found the the service at Rocca is spotty but the food, once you get it, is generally very good. Our service once we sat down for dinner was as prompt as could be expected on this extraordinarily crazy night. I would recommend giving Rocca a try if you are in town for more than one night. But it is not top of my list for places to dine in Lexington if you are only in town for a night or two.

Went to Rocca for our annual dinner prior to watching the local Christmas parade from their balcony. There was 1 waitress for the whole restaurant and 3-5 employees working as bartenders, running drinks outside. We waited at least 15 min for menus, then ~10 min for water, 15 min for drinks, even longer for food, which was lukewarm at best. The whole staff was running back & forth catering mostly to the HUGE crowd on the balcony, carrying mostly drinks, coffee drinks & plates of food outside, while we waited inside for water and drink refills, AND a chance to order appetizers and dinner. I asked for a substitute on the menu and was told it couldn't be done. We went out to see the parade & could not see anything, people were standing at least 6 deep crowded on the balcony. Dozens of people, even some teens, walked into the restaurant carrying takeout coffee cups, going straight through to the balcony, clearly not diners. There was no concern for those of us left waiting inside for service. We were told by a hotel guest that they were told you had to have dinner in order to watch from the balcony, and we know this, it's why we had reservations a month ahead of time. This was our four fourth and final year at Rocca to watch the Lexington Christmas parade. We probably will not even go back for dinner, honestly, the food was not that good, nor was it hot. A truly unmemorable evening, for what used to be a fun event that we looked forward to. We're locals, but next year we will be reserving a room at one of the hotels north on Main St with a balcony so we can watch the parade.

It was ok. The steak and pork chop were very good. The bread was very good as well. The vegetable sides were a little disappointing.

We ate our Thanksgiving meal midday at Rocco’s and were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the buffet, with lots of options. The waitress was friendly and flawless. It was quite quiet, in the ballroom, to enable conversation. We would recommend this venue for a special occasion.

5th steak was way undercooked so only ate 1/2 of it. Service was slow but friendly. Wine list was overpriced & only adequate.

I was very pleased with the outstanding food and service. I was a little disappointed in the amount of noise. I had a reservation and was seated right by the bar. Very loud. Not the romantic dinner I had planned

We have enjoyed the breakfast at Rocca in the past, but dinner is so-so.

Food was less than par. Very disappointing entrees.

We were on a date night getaway and stayed at the hotel this restaurant is in. Our table was in a tight spot right in the middle of the highest foot traffic area in the room. Our table was by the bar and people were in and out constantly. Staff and other guests kept wishing by us. The room was very noisy. We couldn’t hardly hear each other talk. The staff were very friendly. We ordered the New York Strip with fries. The meat was very good. The fries and veggie were very good, but just not very many served. The prices were way too high for what you got. To top it off, our table was very wiggly, which was annoying when try to cut our meat. We would not be interested in going to this restaurant in the future.

The staff was very accommodating, the service was impeccable and the food delicious.
We will be back.

The food was really delicious and fresh. Our service however was sub par. Waitress had a bunch of tables but she was more focused on the large groups than our table for 2

BOCCA WAS A GREAT COMFY DINNER SPOT! WE WERE STAYING AT THE HOTEL BUT HAD MADE RESERVATIONS AND HAD THE BEST WAITRESS FROM JERSEY!! I THINK HER NAME WAS ASHLEY BUT SHE WAS ITALIAN AND KNEW THE MENU!! LOVED HER! WE WERE IN FROM TEXAS VISITING THE HISTORICAL SITES AND SHE MADE THE DINNER! I HAD THE GNOCCI AND MY HUBBY HAD THE SPAGHETTI! YUM!

They were very busy but coped well with the crowds.

Went for our anniversary. The cuisine was fine and the outdoor seating area was very nice on a warm fall night. The hostess was superb. She acknowledged our anniversary (entered that when I made the reservation). Our server was very slow to get to us initially, but was even slower through the meal. When I requested some additional bread, she advised me there would be a charge for that (unusual and not a client satisfying practice). She then left and the bread never came-not with our main course, not ever. We had to ask 3 times for our check. I was shocked when I saw they were able to charge us for the bread, even though they had never delivered it to us. Our server apologized when she FINALLY brought our bill. She said she had been swamped. But the restaurant was not nearly full and she had plenty of time for long conversations with other diners. I paid with cash just so we wouldn’t have to wait any longer. 2+ hours was enough. Server never acknowledged our anniversary (#45). To be honest, it was profoundly disappointing for an event such as we had that night. Hopefully that was one person who was just having a bad night, but I don’t see us going back any time soon.

We were entirely forgotten by the staff, even after flagging them down and explaining we were in no hurry but wanted to at least be served the bottle if wine we had ordered 15 minutes earlier. Appetizer arrived scant, cold and still no wine. No bread. Salad arrived, still no bread. Entree arrived cold and in meager portions, still no bread. Disappointed.

The food was cooked to perfection. Highly recommend the calamari. Overall a great experience.

Third time we have eaten here. As always, the service, cocktails and food were all excellent. Would have eaten outside on the balcony, but it was too hot.

Absolutely the worst restaurant the worst food the worst service I’ve ever had and 40 years of going out

Went there on a Wednesday evening and was open-mike night outside on the second floor loggia. We had s fabulous evening- great food, wine and music! Will definitely be back.

Fantastic food!

Fresh delicious Italian food. Not at all ordinary.

Service was terrific and the atmosphere was perfect! My husband and I went for our one year wedding anniversary and were beyond thrilled with the experience we received! I would highly recommend this restaurant as one of the best in Lexington.

My family of 7 met here for lunch after our daughter completed a 3 week camp. The service was great! The restaurant was almost empty as we were there during lunch. The flatbread appetizer was amazing - freshly sourced and tasty! The entrees - not so much. Boring spaghetti, overcooked grilled shrimp on my salad, hubby said the gnocchi were 'okay', and calamari looked about the same. Disappointing as the venue is so lovely. Maybe this is more for night life/bar scene.

We sat outside on a beautiful evening and had a very nice meal. Service was good and we enjoyed the whole experience.

2nd time dining here and just like the 1st time it didn't disappoint.

The food was less than average and the service average. Not a go back place for us.

A lovely corner of this old hotel, especially fun seated outside where you step back in time as you gaze down on streets and architecture of a bygone era. First-class food, too!

Needs work.

Food was expensive with small portions and really not very good for the money.

Service was painfully slow. Great location lots of potential but....

The food was fresh and varied. We liked the selections. My only recommendation would be to make the dishes more flavorful by adding more spices. Not heat necessarily, more flavorful.

We had a group to celebrate graduation and our service couldn't have been better. Everyone walking past our table, regardless of their assigned section, stopped to see if we needed anything. The food was all delicious and beautifully presented. I highly recommend for any special occasion.

I've given Rocca a few tries and I hate to say it just isn't good. I have tried to love it because the location is perfect and they have the best patio in town, but I've never had a good meal there. I ordered a salmon & pasta dish. My friend an I both though the salmon was probably canned and possibly had gone bad.

Go for drinks on the patio and enjoy the setting but so someplace else to eat.

Good food and great service from Amanda.

Food was very good. Service was not good. Need to improve performance of the wait staff. Will give them another try.

Sat on the patio. Nice view of downtown. Very good service. Good beer and wine selection. Only complaint that food portions could be bigger

It was very obvious that we were there pre prom and dinner took 2 hours. She was late.
The food, service, people were great.
We sat next to the door and there were cold drafts. They offered to move us, but it was not necessary since they closed the door. Next time I will request to sit away from the door.

Great ambience, classy but mellow. Great food and service. Perfect for special occasions.

We really enjoyed our meals at Rocca. The food was great! We each had a specialty drink and they were quite good. Would definitely go back. The salads were especially fine.

Attentive but not intrusive service, wonderful food, including the fresh hot rolls!

Classy and inventive chef. menu is great and the service was excellent. more than one person waited on out table which was great. see note below.

Service was extremely slow. Took over an hour to get our food.