Rocco’s Ristorante Pizzeria has been a favorite neighborhood hangout since October 1999. From causal family dinners to team parties to take-out pizza, Northgate residents have supported the local business, and Rocco Biale has, in turn, supported the community. His fund-raiser nights are a staple for any kids’ sports team or cause, and many of our teens got their first paycheck as a hostess or waiter from the eatery. Rocco is a regular contributor of baskets for school fund-raisers and a venue for local musical talent.
But the bustling crowds on weekends and the busy lunchtimes came to a halt on March 17 when the Shelter-in-Place was ordered for the Bay Area.
Rocco already has a good take-out business in place, so converting to “Take-out or Delivery” only, as many local restaurants have done, was a logical move. He was able to keep about 25 of his employees busy with take-out orders, but has had to cut hours for his wait staff and bartenders. Business is down significantly. “I just want to keep the restaurant breathing right now while we get through this,” said Rocco. But even amidst this crisis, Rocco still finds a way to give back to the community.
Rocco is very close with his cousins in Italy. When Italy went on lockdown in late February, his cousins told him about hospital workers who were working around the clock, without time to eat and sleep, trying to take care of the sickest COVID-19 patients. This nugget of information was the catalyst that gave him an idea when the Bay Area, weeks later, was hit with our own wave of cases and shelter-in-place orders. On April 1, Rocco started delivering meals to the local health care workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Five times a day, meals are taken to John Muir Hospital and Kaiser Walnut Creek. Since Rocco’s is not really set up for delivery, he enlisted the help of the community to take the meals to the hospitals. Within 2 days, every meal on every day of April was signed up for. “We will continue it into May if the need is still there,” added Rocco.
He is grateful for this community. “Thank you for the support for the past 21 years and also during this difficult time.”
Check out their website roccospizzeria.com or their Facebook
By Kara Navolio, Resident since 1991