Rocco's Italian Grille

Like other reviewers, I am also a transplanted New Yorker looking for great Italian food in the central Florida area.  We were hoping Rocco's would fit the bill, but alas it did not. The ambiance was vey nice. We had a house merlot by the glass which was lovely. The waiter asked us if we wanted a "bottle" of water (which means if you want water, you have to pay for it - and we did @ $5.50 a bottle). We started with the caprese salad which was not up to our expectations.  The serving was small (all the portions that night were small for Italian food!) Both the tomatoes and the mozzarella cheese were wedge shaped, which I had never seen before, and pin-wheeled on the plate not even touching each other and with not much flavor. They brought a bread basket with a few small pieces of bread in it, not even enough for two people. I ordered linguini with white clam sauce which was pretty bland, no garlic flavor, way too much parsley, and these teeny-tiny clams still in the shell. I asked for some parmesan cheese and the waiter made a face. My husband had veal saltimbocca (small portion) with a shredded squash side which was very tasty, but he would have liked a little pasta on the side and none was given. There was a salt shaker on the table and when my husband asked for pepper, the waiter said 'no, there is no pepper'. We were still a little hungry after dinner and inquired about the dessert menu. The waiter said there was no menu and he would tell us what they had. I didn't understand some of what he said and when I asked for cheesecake (a staple in any New York Italian restaurant) he said 'no' they didn't have that, so we had no dessert. Overall, we were disappointed and will not be going back. We are still looking for great Italian food......

We are Orlando residents and we've been looking for an Authentic Italian restaurant and this was a promising place. We went there on a Friday night and the place was not very busy; normally, we'd not stay in a restaurant that's not busy especially in a Friday night, but having read the reviews, we decided to give it a shot. We were first greeted by who seemed to be the owner's wife and she was a very nice Italian lady.
The decor and ambiance were very romantic with brick walls and lighting that was dim, a perfect setting for a romantic night.
We ordered the mozzarella caprese salad and it was OK. The cheese seemed homemade and tasted better than anywhere else in town but not the best.
Now for the food, unless you're a pork eater there's not much to ask for especially in the pasta section. Having said that, my wife ordered the daily special of beef and veal stuffed ravioli and sage butter sauce. My wife didn't like that much and said it was heavy. I liked it though. With the limited choice I had, I ordered the chicken parmigiana which was a complete disaster. Although there's not much to it as an Italian dish preparation wise, it was absolutely bad. The chicken was deep fried instead of lightly breaded and pan fired as the description puts it, which was OK for me. However, what threw me off was the terrible frying taste it had which reminded me of McDonald's nuggets and its likes. I told the waiter about this who said, it is fried and that's why it had a frying taste. However, that taste was like the oil has been used for so many time to fry with. He offered me an alternative dish which was the grilled chicken. I liked it, but it was not worth $17 for a grilled chicken dish.
Anyway, the worst part of our experience was when we got the check and paid for our dinner. Though I rarely do that, I paid with cash and required change. When I received my  change it was missing $5 which might have been a mistake, but didn't seem that way when I asked the server. First, the server was trying to avoid coming back to us and avoiding eye contact. Then, when he came back to us and I asked him he seemed prepared and didn't even look at the money. He got the five dollars from his pocket and gave it back to me. Obviously, I didn't leave more than 10% in tip which was barely deserved.
Don't plan to go back and would not recommend this place unless you are a pork eater and paying with a credit card.
Still looking for a good Italian place in Orlando....

Best Italian restaurant in central Florida and equal to any I have enjoyed in Chicago, Boston and other major cities.  Apart from great food,the restaurant has a limited but very good/fairly priced wine list.     This a restaurant focused on repeat, local business and everyone is made to feel welcome by Rocco and his team.