I was so hopeful! A letdown in every way! Service was unbelievably bad and the food was inconsistent. One dish was not edible. It took 2.5 hours to eat in a restaurant that was 1/3 full! The waitress even told us the kitchen was backed up! Do yourself a favor and try one of the other decent and good restaurants on Main Street like Southern Inn or Bistro on Main. read more

So excellent!! Long drive from Chicago. Looked up a place to eat; at time had rating of 3.5. Others we looked at were 4 ; however the menu comparison did not make since in this view so came here. So pleased with the outside setting w balcony experience and food was excellent. Wife- scallops, myself, chicken piccata.! read more

I was incredibly disappointed. Everyone is so nice in this town. I did not expect such a cold welcome at this beautiful restaurant. They kept us and another group waiting in the hall, asked if we had reservations and then said to wait, they were busy. They had 4 people seated. We waited 10 minutes and they still did not seat us. It's a shame. read more

Superb setting on second story outdoor balcony! Indoor dining also available which was upscale with cloth napkins and crisp white tablecloths. Outdoor balcony Overlooks distant mountains. Service at lunch was prompt, friendly and courteous. Lemony "rasata " pasta dish was one of the most flavorful and unique I've ever had anywhere. Wide linguini in a Creamy lemon sauce with shaved zucchini, carrot and yellow squash. Added grilled shrimp. Topped with chunks of aged Parmesan. Simply an amazing dish with wonderful flavor. A perfect sized portion and was a great value for lunch at $20. Wine list provided many choices for any palate and was very reasonably priced. Nice outdoor ambiance and an extensive lunch menu make this a top choice if visiting Lexington VA. Don't miss it. read more

Juniper Lounge - Lemony "Rasata" pasta with grilled shrimp - Bars Near Me - Lexington, Virginia

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The saving grace was the food. The service left a lot to be desired. Skip the dirty martini as it was very flat.

I had dinner here with a group of friends, and it was a very enjoyable time. The staff was very attentive and polite, making the dining experience quite pleasant. As far as food is concerned, the dishes did not disappoint either. It seemed to be a little over-priced, but the quality was very good for appetizers and entrées, particularly the various pasti. As far as dessert goes, our party went with a sampling of various cakes and tortes, and I was underwhelmed by that section of the menu. However, other members of the group seemed to enjoy them. My overall reaction to the restaurant was quite positive, and it has been one of my better dining experiences in Lexington. read more

This authentic Italian is delicious.They're not quite there yet with staff. It's so costly to get something great, and if you go to the bottom of price it's skimpy. We thought it was supposed to be casual Italian and Mediterranean but seems to be authentic Sicilian. Don't know if Lex is quite big enough for that. I predict they will have to come down to more casual, rustic Italian to make it work in a small town. Grilled cheese lunch was good, but still hungry after. read more

The salmon was REALLY fishy and salty today. I didn't enjoy it. The risotto was so over-cooked it was congealed together into a square shape which is rare for risotto in my experience. The spinach however was great. My boyfriend got the 12 oz steak and it was in incredible and he loves meat rare and they delivered! There was a new chef acquired recently who is Italian or studied in Italy I can't remember and that's promising! I'm sure the pasta dishes are exceptional and I wish I had gone that route instead of salmon. Lastly, our server was amazing and so was the bread and butter. read more

Ambiance and service was very good. 2nd floor patio space is really nice. My pasta dish, however was not flavorful and was also overpriced. My wife's salmon dish was pretty good. With so many dining choices in Lexington, at this price range for entrees - diners should expect better. read more

Don't order the sabayon! Our dinner was good, lasagne came with no bread or salad. My chicken marsala was ok. I've made better. When I ordered my dessert, I asked for the sabayon on the menu. The waitress didn't recognize what I was ordering until I mentioned the strawberries. She said she knew it from the kitchen as the strawberry dessert. It was presented in a glass full of strawberries drizzled with something. If you google sabayon (zabablione) you will find a glass with a parfait of sauce with a FEW berries. I returned it. They totally missed that one! read more

Amazing atmosphere! I read the reviews about the service but I was very pleased with our server. She was very attentive. The veranda is wonderful! The food is very good and lots of variety. read more

Disappointed with dinner by my wife and myself. Both meals were too salty and when we mentioned it to manager, he said there are other good selections on the menu????? No satisfaction from him. Drinks were good and service seemed to be performed by newbies. They were helpful but not attentive enough and were perceived to be novices. read more

The food was good but the service was lacking. They need a larger waitstaff for sure. I got the lasagna and my boyfriend got the Italian burger. He said it was good but a little dry and he wasn't crazy about the bun (which I think was supposed to be the impressive part - some sort of house made Italian bread). The lasagna was good not great. They are trying to pass for more upscale than they can really pull off. The staff were very friendly but too busy to be good at their jobs. They were aware, however, and took 10% off of our bill without us even complaining. If I lived in the area I'd probably give them another chance. read more

Now I know why I was able to get a 7:30 pm Sat. night reservation in the middle of VMI parents weekend on two days' notice: This place is terrible! Had to wait 20 minutes to get seated after the time of our reservation. Waited over 60 minutes for our meal, and our server didn't check on us at all - I had to snag another server to get my water glass refilled. And when our food did arrive, it was all room temperature. When I pointed out that our food was cold, the server stopped talking to me - no sorry, thank-you, or have a nice evening. Really, this experience could not have been worse. read more

Fantastic meal and service. My group all liked their meals, drinks, and desserts. They have a nice bar or outdoor balcony seating if you like. No kids menu. I had a lamb and gnocchi stew that was a dinner special: it was really good I would have licked the bowl but my mother was at the table. My daughter had lasagna. Mom had fish and scallops that were good. read more

Food is okay but it's the worst service in the whole town. We waited 40 minutes for someone to take an order.

Nice place, good food, great service. We wanted a light dinner and our waiter, Corey, suggested appetizers. Everything we ordered was great. Next time I'll come hungry, and I'll order lasagne! read more

It's hard to know where to start when explaining just how disappointing Rocca's is. On the plus side, I'd have to say that the space is quite nice in the newly renovated Lee Hotel on Main Street in Lex Vegas. So, perhaps there is potential. However, the space has been distinctly underutilized and furnished cheaply and without any sense of style. For instance, the tables on the patio are plastic and I think they are meant to resemble marble. Ugh. And all the electrical wiring for the lights on the patio was just run in conduit on the side of the building. Clearly, no one paid attention to details or cared. Waitstaff was not well trained and neither outgoing or polite. The menu is laughable: 4-5 appetizers, 3 salads, 4 pasta dishes and 2 meat dishes. Service was unbearably slow; but perhaps this was a good thing since the food was bland when it arrived. Maybe, just maybe, they will get it together at Rocca's. But I doubt it...it's the same owners as Sheridan Livery Inn and they are chronically undercapitalized, unimaginative and not committed to service. Avoid this place. read more

We have eaten dinner at Rocca several times and have enjoyed it each time. The staff is friendly and accommodating, especially Grant (the host). It's really nice to sit outside and see and hear Main Street. Go before 6 for Happy Hour! read more

This was my third visit to Rocca within 2 months. The first was a delight and I was so pleased that Lexington was finally touching on the cosmopolitan. The last two encounters were hardly worth mentioning as the kitchen cannot meet the expectations of the menu. What a disappointment! Even though the atmosphere and wait staff are a success, the food is only mediocre. I may attempt one final time in the fall. read more

My son and i had an amazing meal at Rocca. It was conveniently located inside our hotel, the Robert E. Lee. The food was amazing, the entire staff was attentive (especially our server, Tiffany) and the atmosphere was casual elegance. I look forward to going back onto their rooftop patio as it was closed during multiple thunderstorms that evening. Very diverse menu, cooked to perfection and wonderful for Lexington. read more

My wife and I had a wonderful night at Rocca. We started the night with a wonderful bruscetta and bottle of Montipulcino. Our server, Megan was delightful and attentive. My wife's main course was the house made pasta orecchiette and I had the Chianti marinated and Espresso Dry Rubbed Hanger Steak... It was awesome. I could cut my steak with my fork it was so tender bursting with the coffee/wine spices. We finished the night with a fabulous strawberry and marscpone dessert. The food was fantastic, the service was outstanding and the atmosphere was charming. A must go in Lexington. read more

The service was excellent and the atmosphere was lovely, but if you are a vegetarian there is not a single thing on the menu for you. I suggested some changes while I was visiting, and hope that they make some updates to the menu. read more

They need a complete overhaul in their approach to service and food prep. Great ambiance. A great seating area outside which, sadly, is not being taken advantage of due to the terrible service and ok food. It's still the best place to enjoy a glass of wine though. read more

We had a fantastic meal at Rocca! The service that we received was friendly and informative of the different Italian dishes. My wife and I had wonderful time. She had a scallop dish that was over the top delicious while I had one of the best lasagna in years. Our server and the manager were incredibly friendly and hospitable. They clearly loved what they were doing for a living. We finished the night with Italian Doughnut - just YUM! read more

It was a busy day in downtown lexington! I stepped inside to get out of the heat with my 3 friends and we had lunch. The waitstaff was very friendly and attentive. Even though there we a lot of customers in the restaurant, we still we able to eat and leave in an appropriate amount of time. Micah was great and helped us decide what to eat! We ordered strawberry lemonades and ate the lemony Rasata with goat cheese and added shrimp. YUM! lunch was delicious and we will definitely be back!! read more

Rocca is trying to be upscale Italian but it doesn't quite hit the mark. The prosciutto appetizer was a bright spot but the entrees, with the exception of the scallops and the salmon, were lackluster. Overcooked risotto, sticky and sweet lemon pasta, and bland, soggy chicken marsala. Worse was the service. Though friendly, the staff is neither knowledgable or well trained. The hostess offered us a drink but didn't know what beers were on tap. The server didn't know the answer to one question asked. Where is the cheese plate from? Don't know. What is this white by the glass like? Don't know. That she never got back about the cheese plate, only remembered the pepper flake halfway through the meal, and did not replace silverware all pointed to a wait staff that is woefully untrained and inattentive. Ultimately I haven't given up on Rocca. I want to try a flatbread and a cocktail at their beautiful bar and brunch overlooking main street on the terrace but I will not choose Rocca for a special dinner again. read more

So, I hosted a dinner at Rocca for 25 people in Fall 2015 and everything was spot on, delicious, and the service was great. The place was filled to capacity. I would have given it five stars then. My husband and I went to lunch there today and it was like I was in a completely different establishment. This might explain why not a single diner came in during the hour we were there. My first complaint is the "hostess" who seated us. She was hanging out with her friends inside the restaurant. She seated us with dinner menus instead of lunch menus. When our waitress mentioned it to her, twice, she didn't even hear her because she was so busy with her friends. On the way to the table, she asks if we are there for drinks and want to sit at the bar. My husband was in full police uniform (it was his lunch break). I don't know what world she lives in where an officer can sit at a bar in uniform and have alcoholic drinks, but it isn't this one. Just another inattention to detail for the only customers in the place. Then she starts applying mascara IN the dining room. I really don't want to see the staff (or anyone else) grooming themselves where I am about to eat. She and her friends were annoyingly loud, and sound carried since we were the only people in there. It was so peaceful when the friends left. The waitress was fine, no real complaints about her. After she took our order, I look at the ledge next to me and it is covered in dust and food (?) debris. It was clear no one had cleaned it in some time. Ok, so let's move past all that and get to the food. I was expecting some deliciousness based on our past dining experience. I ordered a chicken BLT panini with avocado. My husband ordered pork bbq. Let's start with the panini. The bread was grilled but had zero flavor and the grease the bread was slathered in ran down my hand. The chicken was way overcooked and dry. I could actually peel burnt pieces off of the meat. So, I never finished my meal. As to the bbq - I guess it was supposed to be the vinegar based kind as opposed to the sweet sauce kind. But it had little to no flavor. So between the flavorless meat and the pile of overcooked greens on top, that didn't get finished either. There was no manager around. Maybe if there was, the hostess would have acted like she was in a professional establishment and not a dorm room, and the quality of the food would have been better. To say I was disappointed about this experience is the understatement of the year. Afterwards a friend said that there has been a lot of staff turnover. Did they lose the good chefs too? What happened, Rocca? This is supposed to be an upper scale restaurant and every bit of our experience today screamed anything but. We were really looking forward to this being a regular spot for us. But it will take a lot for me to go back now. read more

One word, potential. This place is in a great historic hotel right smack dab downtown Lex. However, I have eaten dinner at Roccas once and had such an unpleasant experience I was against going again, when my friend suggested it. But I though "hey maybe things have improved in 3 months." They were new when I went the first time. Sadly I was wrong. Nice looking bar, not to friendly of bartender or manager or whoever the kid was waiting on us. The price point is horrible for what you get when it comes to the wines... 7 for a glass of trinity oaks ? I don't think so when I can get that at Kroger and for a bottle. II will say my server was very kind , she herself seemed to exude that she knew what a rip off we were about to face. The menu is small & somewhat over priced. You can have high prices if the food is made with top ingredients and not from a generic food service company. The set up of the entire place is just awkward and once again my food did not suffice. I opted for appetizers since last time my entree was not good. The calamari , again potential , it was soggy & just covered in peppers , which were tasty but it is like the topping from subway. Also I got the cheese plate and I was extremely disappointed. It seemed to have 3 pieces of cheese, some nuts, and old arugula. I'd rather cool at home. I am sorry I will never go here again! read more