Chicago Rocco’s

San Diego, United States

4.4

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards
Free Wi-Fi

Contacts

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Telephone:
+1 619-501-3337
Website:
www.chicagoroccos.com
Address:
2244 San Diego Ave, San Diego, CA, 92110
b/t Bandini St & Hortensia St
Old Town
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
0.6 miOld Town Transit Center
0.6 miWashington Street
1.1 miMorena/Linda Vista
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
No
Delivery
Yes
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Good For
Dinner
Parking
Street, Private Lot
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Alcohol
Beer & Wine Only
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
Free
Waiter Service
Yes

Today

Today –
Local time (San Diego) 12:07 PM Thursday, November 28, 2024

Business hours

Monday –
Tuesday –
Wednesday –
Thursday –
Friday –
Saturday –
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

At Chicago Roccos we specialize in providing the best Chicago style pizza along with having a great selection of the best beers available. We are located in Old Town, but not the tourist area where there’s no parking. We’re on the south end of town by the Thomas Jefferson School of Law and there is plenty of street parking day and night. We aren’t afraid to deliver either. If you live in Downtown, Old Town, Mission Hills, Point Loma, OB, PB, Bay Park, USD, or the Hotel Circle area we’ll bring it right to your door.

Stop on in and check us out or call for delivery and please remember…

Stay hungry my friends!

Rocco

History

Established in 2010.

We’re a sister company of Sweet Home Chicago Pizza which was started almost two years ago out in Poway. We had such a good response to our food that we decided to branch out and bring it to the central San Diego area rather than make you drive out to Poway.

This all got started when I would cook pizza for myself because I couldn’t find any good Chicago pizza out in San Diego after I relocated out here. Eventually I shared it with friends, strangers, enemies; anybody who would try it. The response was always great and people couldn’t believe that I was making this at home and told me that I needed to open up a shop. Before I made that jump, I heard of a radio station contest that was for pizza shops only and was able to get myself invited thru some sly tactics and won the thing by a 4 to 1 margin over all other competitors. That event gave me the confidence to get this started so here we are. I hope we’ll see you soon!

Meet the Business Owner

Scott P.

Business Owner

Born and raised in the greater Chicagoland area, US Army Veteran, and a graduate of THE Western Illinois University with a BS in Physics. I relocated to San Diego in 2001 at the age of 32 when I got a job offer in the Aerospace Industry. I had always wanted to move out here as a kid and I was excited that I finally was going to do it. I immediately fell in love with SD, but missed the pizza from back home.

So I started making it for myself at home. Eventually I started to share it with friends. Then strangers started to get to try it. Pretty soon everybody was totally surprised when they learned that I was making it at home and they were always telling me that I needed to open up a shop.

That’s what I did and I’ve been making pizza in Poway for almost 2 years now but unfortunately, that’s a long haul for some people so I bought another location and named the new place after my son Rocco. I hope this location is more convenient for people and that you’ll come in and check us out.

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20 reviews of Chicago Rocco’s

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Place rating: 5
Santa Ana, CA
Aw… too bad… I will miss them and their great food… awesome awesome pizza
Hope they open a new venture soon, maybe in a better location with more foot traffic
Place rating: 5
Alameda, CA
Scott, for the latest version of the Spinach Ricotta cheese pizza you made. Delicious.
Service has stepped it up, food is as good as ever.
Place rating: 2
San Diego, CA
Read this review if you want the truth about the place and the food.
First of all I will start with the service and owner… The owner used to own Sweet Home Chicago in Poway and that place went belly up (owner blames his partner). So he opens up this one in Old Town and tries to make it work. We have only had takeout from his first place in Poway and it was not worth the drive that I made to try it. The only good this that came from that place was the take home deep dish to bake yourself. The thin crust pizza I took home was a 3 out of 5 stars.
So I decided to give this place a try since it was closer and I respected the owner until I tried Chicago Sloppos. 4 of us went there for dinner one night and was not too busy and the waitress looked pretty scary and was very insecure about her job which made ordering uncomfortable. The Pizza that didn’t make it to the table but everything else did. The excuse was they lost the order on the pizza WTH and there was new help in the kitchen that had no idea with they were doing?! Why would I just come to a pizza place and order appetizers? Anyway the owner finally brings the 2 pizzas we ordered and the thin crust and deep dish pizza were BURNT TO A CHARCOAL CRISP on the bottom. We couldn’t even eat it.
So to make up for it he cut our check in half (so the beer was free while we waited forever) and gave us free desert. The cinnamon bun things that we were given were the best thing they served. To help save some dignity open up a Cinnamon Bun store and close this place too because no way in hell will this place ever come close to Lefty’s or Chicago Pizza Company in Santee.
Place rating: 5
Santa Cruz, CA
Damn.
I’ve been holding off on this review for more than three months now.
Scott, the owner, is the coolest dude ever. Jessy is another cool guy that works there too.
I came here about four months ago with my girlfriend because we were on a mission for about a week just trying different pizza joints around the Metro /​Old Town/​North Park, Hillcrest area.
After taking the wrong exit, I decided to see if there was any pizza spots in the old town area and this was the first spot that came up on my Unilocal app.
My gf and I finished an entire thin crust pizza in less than twenty-​minutes. I don’t know if I should take pride in that but the veggie pizza was amazing! I’m hoping next time I can try their deep dish or stuffed pizza. I didn’t try any of their beers but they sure do have a nice selection of bottled beers.
The cinnamon buns are the BOMB! Try them for yourself.
This place is a decent size with a few TVs showing any basketball, baseball or football game. I absolutely love their hospitality and service. Scoot is a great business owner and he will do anything in his power to satisfy and please his customers.
Place rating: 4
San Diego, CA
booyah. chi town style pizza in… drum roll please… old town???
oh yeah, i said it. da real ting rite heyeh, wize guy…
10 lbs of pizza pie. and im not kidding. first a layer of buttery crust, then like a pound and a half of cheese, add meatballs and pepperoni and spinach, then another layer of cheese, and finish it off with a chunky tomatoe pizza sauce… sprinkle parmesan cheese and crushed red peppers… o yes. heaven on a crust.
and heavier than a newborn baby… but i dont suggesting eating babies… but prepared to have a food baby… fo reals.
about 2 slices of chicagah roc’s pizza does me in — its so good.
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
I’m not a huge fan of «updated» reviews except to say that more Unilocalers need to try the pizza here and straight away. It’s fantastic.
I’ve always been a fan of Sicilian Thing and Lefty’s but San Diego deserves more than just a couple of good pizza places. Step out of the North Park bubble, folks, and get your ass in here. It’s great stuff.
Place rating: 4
Garden Grove, CA
LOCATION:
–In a very small plaza (6 stores maybe) right off the 5fwy.
FOOD:
— What we ordered: Wings (both hot and bbq), The garlic knots, 2 Whole deep dish pizzas.
— The food was great. Although I am not a crust person, the crust on these pizzas were perfect as fresh bread! not too hard, crunchy, and far from being oily and gross. The wings were okay i only tried the hot one.
— BUT THE GARLIC KNOTS WERE AMAZING! such fresh butter garlic flavorful-​ness! I would definitely recommend getting this to all first timers :)
PRICES: Affordable, And is quite a lot to eat. Two people can surely not finish a whole deep dish pizza to themselves! I believe it was $ 18 per Deep dish pizza for just cheese, then 1.50 per additional ingredients. and they really add on much of what you want!
SERVICE: Service was very friendly. I came with a party of 10, and was seated quickly. They gave us their recommendations and made sure we were happy with what we got.
VENUE:
— comfortable, no booths, TV’s inside. Sells beer. Quite small though.
PARKING:
— Small parking area, about 10 – 15 cars.
Place rating: 4
San Diego, CA
I phoned in an order for a ‘Fridge’- deep dish, pepperoni, sausage, meatballs, green bell pepper, onion and mushroom
; lasagna (comes w/​some garlic knots
) and an order of garlic knots
with marinara. I showed for my pickup when they told me the stuff would be ready and the pie was coming out fresh. Sitting at the bar, I caught some football and a look at their decent beer lineup.
The to-​go pizza isn’t sliced so all of the juices stay in the pie and not on your car. Keep it on the floorboard just to make sure meat juice spillage isn’t your new car scent.
My first experience with the owner’s deep dish was at Sweet Home Chicago and since then, has improved with a buttery and flaky crust. Otherwise the same great deep dish.
The lasagna wasn’t my favorite. The sausage was a little sweet for my taste.
My favorite are the garlic knots. I ate pretty much the whole order in one round.
Place rating: 3
San Diego, CA
i feel like such a chicago-​pizza hater at this point… because I keep trying the SD joints renounced as magnificent by the Unilocal community, and ive come away from it just feelin ‘eh…’ le sad. OK SO. most of my party got the massive-​crazy-​deep-​dish-​mania-​mile high-​meaty explosion chicago-​style pizza. i just can’t do all those artery cloggers combined together, and i knew one of my friends coming was veggie, so i suggested splitting the margarita (white pizza) in deep dish.
false advertising! the crust was of the normal pizza ratio. not skinny crust, NY style et cetera… but not deep dish. A price tag of 20-​something-​dollars for deep dish, I totally get and respect. but when our pizza came out looking normal and puny, i felt a bit ripped off. plus, i came here for deep dish yo! ill will admit it was tasty. but it was not deep dish :(
Garlic knots are delicious… order those.
massive-​crazy-​deep-​dish-​mania-​mile high-​meaty explosion chicago-​style pizza… aka «The Big Rocco» was sampled and due to the nature of its preparation it is consumed more as a pizza casserole… at first i thought there was no crust at all, but soon realized the crust turns back into a dough mixture with the pound of cheese layered in it. i dunno… maybe thats yer thang. not mine.
all in all, its a cozy joint… was virtually empty the friday evening we went and spent a good 2+ hours in. I was surprised to get parking right in front of the entrance (that is sadly a rare occurrence in SD, and Old Town esp).
*One comment to the chef: Yelling at the poor server girl who forgot someone’s wing order (come on, we are all human) in front of the entire restaurant makes for an uncomfortable environment for your patrons… and is downright poor employee interaction. perhaps you should take an anger management class.
quite the downer during out stay.
Place rating: 4
San Diego, CA
4.5 Stars!
Ivan was back! w00t that means more sauce and cinnamon knots! WOOOHOOO!!! Seriously, that man knows how to make a great pie. Definitely rivals scott’s (No offense scott).
Unfortunately they were running low on beers but they had my golden monkey. Oh man that’s good. The waiter warned us too that it’s a «spiced» beer which was cool.
I gotta stop going here. It’s killin’ my cholesterol!
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
«Hi, my name is Rocco, and I have one the best pizza places in San Diego named after me.»
17 years from now… the owner’s son will be using this as his go-​to pickup line to meet babes. That must be one proud father to name something as kick-​ass as a Chicago-​style pizza place after his newborn before he’s even as heavy as the largest pizza on the menu? You read correctly… they have an 8 pound pie called «The Big Rocco» that if you can take down by yourself is free… not to mention you become a living legend!
For those of you who aren’t competitive eaters, this place is definitely worth visiting if you like the thick stuff. I’m from Chicago and I’d say it’s worthy of mentioning in the same sentence as some of my home-​town favs. I’m not one of those fake Chicagoans either who calls it «The Chi» or «Chi-​town» so take it from me when I tell you it’s pretty darn good. I wouldn’t say it’s as good as the authentic stuff, but they are at a disadvantage being located in the favorable SD climate.
It’s a fact that food tastes better when its frozen nostrils, face numbing, teeth chattering, see your breath, FML cold outside and some of the big names in deep dish have the luxury of serving pies to customers who’ve been suffering through that weather all winter long. After growing up in that blistering climate I can attest to a big hot slice of deep dish being about the equivalent of an inhaler puff to an asthmatic attack.
For fair-​weather deep dish though Rocco’s is at the top ranking neck and neck with only Berkeley Pizza on my list of best ofs. The cheese to crust ratio is on point (which some other spots tend to screw up) and it’s topped with a zesty sauce recipe that Bill Swersky himself would be a superfan of.
They also deliver to as far as OB (maybe even further) which is going to provide easy access to the training regiment I’m going to need to take on that «Big Rocco» some day. I’m definitely not there yet, but maybe in the future… perhaps I’ll wait till after Prop 19 passes to give it a shot!
Place rating: 4
Chula Vista, CA
I’m a fan! Came here for lunch and got the 2 slices of stuffed pizza and a soda for $ 6.50. Dude working was hella chill and explained the different options available. I got the stuffed pepperoni and stuffed vegetable one, forgot the exact name. Both were really good! They basically lay the dough, put toppings, lay dough, put cheese, and top with sauce.
Gave it a –1 star because they do not heat the pizza slices hot enough. Almost want to take my order to go and throw it in the oven myself.
They do have a food challenge too. Eat an entire Big Rocco Pie and you get your picture up on the wall. No one has completed this challenge yet! Man Vs Food is supposed to come by this year for this challenge.
Place rating: 3
O‘ahu, HI
Chicago Rocco’s haiku
Garlic Knots oh oh
Buttery deliciousness
I came in my pants
:)
Place rating: 4
San Diego, CA
Cool pizza joint. Haven’t had a Chicago style pizza in awhile. Though I had some doubts about this one. But ultimately it didn’t matter if it was authentic or not… because it was pretty good.
Took advantage of their happy hour lunch special. Monday through Friday from 11−5pm. 2 slices and a drink. I got the pepperoni pizza and MJ special (pepperoni and sausage), both deep dish slices and a drink for $ 6.50. I know I couldn’t finish a whole pie by myself and these 2 slices were sufficient enough. Also this day was cool because a portion of the sales of the slice went to charity, the Room to Read program. Basically gives books to kids. Cool.
The waitress was super cool and very anxious to clean and stuff. Took my plate away immediately after my last bite. Refreshed my soda and water without asking. And when there was some downtime, she cleaned the bar and the tables. The décor was mostly Chicago sports related. Cool.
Also when the Bears are playing, there’s a special $ 15 all you can eat deal or something like that.
Place rating: 5
San Jose, CA
Probably one of the best pizza places ever!
We were in town for the weekend, and looking for a good pizza place. We found Chicago Rocco’s on Unilocal,and the high rating were well earned. I was ready to enjoy a nice Chicago pizza. Having enjoyed it a few times before (and even in Chicago), I had high expectations based on the reviews.
We came between lunch and dinner, so the place was actually pretty empty. It is surely a small ‘hole in the wall’ location that we passed the first time when trying to find it. Once we sat down, we were promptly greeted. The gentleman working said hello, and asked us to grab him when we were ready. After studying the menu, we decided to go with the Stuffed Pepperoni & Sausage pizza. We placed our order, and began waiting.
The wait was a while, and the guy cooking the pizza (who you can see from the front) seemed to work very quickly to get the pizza in the oven. About ten minutes in (which is way more than reasonable a wait time), the guy cooking the pizza brought out some garlic knots, and put them in front of us. We didn’t order them, but he gave them to us (at no charge) because it was a while before we finished dinner. It was a very nice gesture, and we were luckier than we realized. These garlic knots tasted something like heaven. However, definitely not something I would recommend for a first date! Whe-​hew! It was perfect!
After our garlic knots, our pizza arrived a few minutes later. Because it was a deep dish pizza, it took about 25 minutes, but was well worth the wait. We enjoyed the pizza so much! The sauce had a sweet taste to it, but as we described it later, it was like a fine wine, and the taste changed from just a simple sweet taste, to a sweet taste with a kick to it. It was as we were talking about this sauce with the guy who cooked our pizza, that we began talking. It turns out that the chef was none other than the owner, who introduced himself as Scott. He was one of the nicest guys I’ve met. He got to know us, and knew our names by the time we left. He was friendly, smiling, and just overall a great guy! It’s no wonder his restaurant was doing well, because he provided amazing food, at a stellar price, with a smiling and happy staff.
We got out with a large pizza (we took home over half of it, because of the vastness of it) and drinks at about $ 25.00– It was a bargain, considering we have lunch for a couple more days!
I will be back the next time I am in San Diego, and recommend to anyone who has not been there, that you must go!
Place rating: 5
San Diego, CA
I have a love hate relationship with this place.
This is how much LOVE I have for this place. I am going to be a bridesmaid for a wedding this coming Saturday. I purposely ordered my dress a size smaller so I wouldn’t gain any weight. After the Unilocal party last Thursday a few of us Unilocalers decided to go here to eat. I have to admit, my dress is a bit tight after eating here last Thursday.
I had the Hawaiian deep dish pizza. Wowzers! Thick slices of ham, no luncheon meat here. Sweet chunks of pineapple resting on a buttery flaky deep dish crust. The tomatoes used for the sauce were so plump and juicy they pop in your mouth. One of the best Hawaiian pizza’s I have ever had honestly!
I finally got a chance to try the cinnamon knots. Full on gluttony with these. You know those $ 3.00 churros at Disneyland? Well, I have to admit these are up to par with those! *gasp*! For $ 5.50 you can experience a little bit of perfect bliss. Deep fried dough then perfectly seasoned in cinnamon and a sweet frosting.
Scott was even kindly enough to stay after closing to feed us 5 hungry Unilocalers. He usually closes around 10:00pm but stayed there till 11:00pm for us!
Oh Roccos… how much I love you. The only reason I hate you is because you are too far from me and my poor waistline is hurting. But hey, it’s pizza what do you expect?!!
Place rating: 5
San Jose, CA
If you can smell what the Rocco is cookin’, you’ve no doubt lifted the People’s Elbow up to your mouth with a slice of the most electrifying deep dish pizza in a San Diego parlor.
From the same man that opened Sweet Home Chicago in Poway, Chicago Rocco’s is a godsend in the realm of deep dish pizza. The owner, Scott, has a good variety of deep dish, stuffed, and thin crust pizzas that are anchored by the legendary «Big Rocco» pizza here. The Big Rocco is truly legendary. It is a pizza weighing over 9 lbs that is about half a Coke can deep of toppings. You can seriously crush a small infant with that thing. Perhaps that is why it is named after the owner’s son.
The wings here are on the small side, but taste great. Our hero enjoyed the crispy exterior and the hot sauce was spot on.
After official closing time, a guy who had ridden 91 miles on a bicycle came in for slice of pizza. Man, did he ever pick a good place to cap off a marathon bike ride from Orange County. Our hero would seriously consider biking 91 miles for this pizza too. He might not actually do it, but thinking about it might get him hungry enough to devour a whole slice of the Big Rocco.
PROS:
— The owner is a cool guy who will shoot the breeze with you over a drink while chatting about Chicago, beer, pizza, and business after hours. The stated closing time is just a general guideline here and they plan to eventually be open until 3 AM.
— Great selection of bottled beers available from Alesmith, Stone, Lost Abbey and more.
— Unlike Sweet Home Chicago, they deliver to the surrounding areas.
— Amazing deep dish pizzas.
CONS:
— They have strange slightly curved counters at the bar right now. You better be careful setting a glass down until they fix them up.
— The garlic knots were pretty greasy and kind of light on the garlic taste.
Place rating: 5
San Antonio, TX
Hell to the motherfucking yes. Scott escaped from Poway and has hit the city like a sledgehammer to the face.
POSITIVE
+Deep dish that cant be beat by ANYONE in town… yes, I’m talking to YOU Lefty.
+Same great stuff from the Poway location is still available
+Nice selection of top-​notch brews
+Interior is a vast improvement on the old location
+New eating challenge in town. Too bad this place wasn’t open when that fat fuck from Man vs Food came around town. Broken Yolk blows. See if you can finish this 8lb monstrosity. I dont have the nutsack to even attempt it.
NEGATIVE:
It’s a small parking lot and those fuckfaces from the neighboring shop lay claim to two of em and dont even get me started on handicap spaces… What’s that? I offended you? Oh well… I guess I’m the only one that would find it amusing to see someone in a wheelchair rolling down the hill out of control.
Bottom Line:
After a recent shitty visit to Lefty’s 2nd location, I can confidently say Chicago Rocco’s is going to blow up soon.
Place rating: 5
Torrance, CA
So I’m a big fan of looking at Unilocal reviews, but I have never reviewed a place, until now. Me and my friend Jasper went here tonight after being recommended the place from my boss who lives close to the location in Poway. I have been searching for an awesome Chicago Pizza place since going to UCSD and I’ve tried Miramar Pizza, which is pretty good and Lefty’s, but I didn’t get the right thing. So when I heard this place was opening up, I was on it. I brought my friend Jasper and we both fell in love.
We got there looked at the opening week menu and she got the NY thin crust Spinach Ricotta pizza, and we both we’re already in love. That on top of the garlic knots we were able to get for free! SOO GOOD! I decided to go for the 12″ stuffed Chicago style pizza with sausage. All for $ 12! i just wanted the leftovers. From the first bite, I knew this was the place. It was just awesome. The food was incredible.
The best part came before we were leaving when Scott, the owner, came up to us and started talking. He is one of the nicest guys and really makes a point to get to know his customers and perfect his pizzas to make sure WE are happy. He was talking about how he looks at the Unilocal reviews and asks those who didn’t like it why, so he can go back and see what he can improve.
Honestly, this is such a great place with awesome food! And the owner is just one of those good guys you want to root for. He has a full-​time day job and comes here after to make sure the place is perfected. I could not recommend this place more. I’ll definitely be back! I’m really hoping this place does well… let’s make it happen!
Place rating: 5
Carlsbad, CA
Come on Chicagoans come to a great Chicago spot in San Diego! Good food, good people, tell your friends explain to San Diegans that a real pizza is from Chicago: Deep Dish, Stuffed!, Chicago Thin.
We went today for their grand opening and they were awesome!
We ordered a Chicago thin togo, a few slices to eat there (which is a brilliant idea so anyone can try a deep dish, stuffed or thin), I asked for cheese sticks and they new what I meant!
For anyone that doesnt know, Cheese sticks are mozzarella sticks but they are called cheese sticks!
Ordered some garlic knots and they were awesome!!!
Some wings which were great too and some pop! they knew what pop was!
I LOVE IT!
For me its all about the crust, if the crust is not good than it is not pizza. Let me tell you, for the stuffed, deep dish, and thin crust, the crust was ChicagoCRUST!
So check this place out, you will love it!