Walnut Creek’s Rocco’s busy with long takeout line, plus free food for local hospitals

The line wound all around the Encina Grande shopping center on March 20, after Rocco’s Ristorante Pizzeria switched to takeout-only due to the shelter in place order.

“We were obviously overwhelmed,” owner Rocco Biale told the Pioneer on March 31. “The problem was not making the food – our kitchen was staffed up. It was finding the right order. The entire restaurant was full of orders.

“It took more time to find the food in the box or bag than it did to make the food,” he said with a laugh.

Although the restaurant is still doing brisk sales, especially on Friday and Saturday nights, the process is running more smoothly. Biale noted that he is lucky because he already had an established takeout business.

Changing to takeout not easy for some

“It was built-in, and we ramped it up by offering some specials,” he said. “But it’s not easy for other restaurants to change to takeout. They are the ones that are really, really suffering. Even if they were able to put the food in the box, it’s not in people’s mindset – you don’t think of Ruth’s Chris or Fleming’s for takeout.”

Biale said he has been able to keep on about 30 employees. “We feel very fortunate that the public has responded with a lot of goodwill. They’ve been very supportive.”

To help pay it forward, Biale will be providing free meals to the hospital staffs at John Muir and Kaiser in Walnut Creek for all of April. The restaurant will donate trays of food three times a day. Biale solicited help online from local residents, and he got volunteer drivers for the first few weeks in just hours. To sign up as a driver, visit Rocco’s Facebook page or roccospizzeria.com.

Diners can order takeout through the website, by calling 925-947-6105.

In the coming days, the Pioneer will be posting other short features on local restaurants offering takeout service.