Rocco's in Hudson

Well, I guess the old adage of not judging a book by its cover is accurate. Having driven by Rocco's - Pizza, Bar & Grill in Hudson on numerous occasions, we never thought to stop in until one of my wife’s friends went there after apple picking on the recommendation of the orchard’s owner and she reported back that the food was good. On our way to Nashua we ended up looking for someplace to have lunch and my wife suggested, Rocco's. That sounded great to me and away we went.

Housed in a small mall on Derry Road we didn't think much of it when we drove into the parking lot. With only a few cars and looking dark inside we wondered if they were even open. It was early on a Sunday and there was no one in the restaurant....gulp. My wife expressed her concern about being the only customers and thought we made a mistake. After a minute, we decided to stay.

This is a no frills establishment. There is a long bar to the right and the dining room to the left with a few booths and some tables. The walls are painted a cherry yellow but it was cold in the restaurant.

We checked in with our waitress and let her know that this was our first time at Rocco's and asked her what she would suggest to eat. Italian sandwiches, fish and chips and pulled pork were all mentioned. We also asked her why it wasn't busy and she said that Sunday earlier in the day is slow and that it picks up later in the afternoon. To her point, a bit later a few additional patrons slumbered in to the bar area.

Taking our waitresses suggestion I decided on the meatball parmesan sub.

Made with their homemade meatballs and marinara sauce this looks as good as it tasted. The meatballs had more meat than breading and the marinara a strong tomato flavor and fresh taste. You could tell that these weren't store bought and was finished off with provolone and then toasted in their oven. My preference would be a thinner sub roll and a lot more meatballs but either way this was well made.

My wife decided on their roast beef sandwich.

Thinking that this was open faced they switched this one up on her and put it between two garlic butter toasted rolls. She was nice enough to let me have a bite. Yum....caramelized onions mingled with a slight salty gravy and sliced beef. One of the most surprising and better sandwiches I have had in a while.

At the end of the meal we both agreed that her friend was right, we would definitely be back. The food was much better than either of us thought and with that we say that you should visit Rocco's - Pizza, Bar & Grill.