Rocky's Pub

I went to Rocky's Pub for the first time last weekend, and it wasn't at all what I was expecting. If you're not familiar with it, it's tucked away in the Kroger shopping center on JFK. It's occupies a corner space, and yes, it's as small as it looks. We got there on a Friday night around 6, and all the booths were full. We could have sat at the bar, but since there were three of us, we decided that would put too much of a strain on conversation, so we waited. What passes for a waiting area inside is very small and can't hold more than a couple of people without blocking everyone trying to get out. Instead, we sat outside on one of the benches and looked over the menu they had posted in the window. Since the waiting area was too small for people to actually wait in and there wasn't any system for keeping track of who was next in line (hostess, pagers, etc) I'm not sure how they keep track of it. Thankfully, one of the waiters was paying attention and everyone was seated in "first come, first served" order.

As I mentioned, Rocky's has a pretty small seating area. If I'm remembering right, there were at most 10 booths, two two-seat tables, and a row of seats at the bar (less than 10). As you can imagine, it doesn't take much to get a full house! In any case, we were seated about 10 minutes after we arrived. In that small of an area, they have enough TVs that regardless of where you're sitting, you have a clear view of one of them.

I said at the beginning that Rocky's wasn't what I was expecting. I was expecting it to have the feel of a casual bar, just based on the beer signs in the window and the inclusion of "pub" in their name. What I actually found was a great neighborhood restaurant that happened to have a bar.

Decor:
It's a casual, cozy restaurant. The walls are decorated with paraphernalia from Philidelphia, with an emphasis on Rocky Balboa. This also ties in with their Philly cheesesteak offerings, billed as the best around.

Service:
Our server was very friendly and kept a good eye on our table. He also greeted several people by name as he came in, so I get the feeling that it wouldn't take too many visits before the staff started recognizing you. This is the sort of place where you could become a "regular".

Food:
At my table, we started off with cheese fries, then had a burger, cheesesteak, and chicken parmesan sandwich. The menu had plenty of options, from burgers, sandwiches and wraps, to full on entrees. Everyone at my table was very pleased with their meal, and it certainly exceeded my expectations. I had the chicken parmesean sandwich, and I had the option of grilled or breaded chicken. It was served on Texas toast, which I love. The only problem with Texas toast is that it's often too greasy or too soggy. Rocky's got it just right! The sandwich came with an order of chips, which are made in-house. Let me just pause here and say that the chips alone were reason enough to make me want to go back to Rocky's. They're thick and substantial, and seasoned beautifully. I got too full to finish my sandwich, but ate every one of my chips.

Prices:
The variety of choices on the menu also provided a range of prices. Things started off around $7-$8 for sandwiches, burgers and wraps, then went up to around $15 for full dinner entrees.

Drinks:
The had Guinness on tap, which my table took advantage of. They also had a full drink menu, which included more spirits than cocktails.

Overall:
I would definitely go back to Rocky's. I would probably go at a time that I expected it to be less crowded, but the food was great and the prices were reasonable.