[StBernard] Rocky & Carlo's celebrates 3rd opening

[Westley Annis]

Rocky & Carlo's celebrates 3rd opening

Published: Thursday, June 07, 2012, 7:01 AM     Updated: Thursday, June 07,
2012, 9:16 AM

 By Kim Gritter 

Several members of the news media were waiting outside at 5:30 a.m.,
followed by 150 people waiting for the doors to open at 11 a.m. Before
dinner time, patrons had consumed 500 pieces of veal and nearly 300 pounds
of baked macaroni. None of these things, despite how monumental they may
seem, came close in comparison to the enormous smile upon Tommy Tommaseo's
face on May 29, when he and his family reopened Rocky & Carlo's Restaurant
in Chalmette.

The iconic restaurant had been closed for repairs for more than three months
after a fire in February that caused more than $250,000 in damages.

"I'm wore out, but I'm as happy as can be right now," Tommaseo said on
opening day.

Devoted customers from near and far waited with great anticipation while the
beloved restaurant was being repaired, and they've showed up in droves since
it reopened, often times with lines wrapping around the adjacent bar.

Patrons who flocked to the restaurant on opening day shared Tommaseo's
enthusiasm.

"The mac-and-cheese recipe is so awesome to the taste buds," said Earl
Williams of Metairie, who stopped by with his wife, Linda, and
granddaughter, Abigail Markey.

Williams, a longtime customer who used to frequent the eatery before he
retired from his job as a pipefitter at Chalmette Refining, said he was
happy to see not much had changed at the restaurant.

"The ambiance is awesome," he said. "You come in and you feel right at home.
I just love that everything is the same."

Tommaseo said he wanted the restaurant to be as familiar as possible.

"We wanted people to continue to come here and feel comfortable," he said.
"People were used to the way it looked, and we didn't want to take that away
from them."

Tommaseo said the few changes that were made are so minor that most people
won't even take notice. The floor in the kitchen area now has tile, the
air-conditioning duct work is round instead of square, the televisions are
bigger, and Luis Colmenares' wall murals are slightly larger.

Rocky & Carlo's restaurant was founded in 1965 by Tommaseo's father, Rocky
Tommaseo, and his uncles Thomas Tommaseo, Carlo Gioe, Joseph Gioe and Mario
Gioe.

Tommaseo, 58, started working at the family business when he was just a
teenager. Tommaseo oversees the restaurant's day-to-day operations,
alongside several family members, including his 86-year-old aunt, Leonarda
"Nana" Gioe, and his 76-year-old uncle, Thomas Tommaseo.

"This is their whole life," Tommy Tommaseo said of his elders. "They
wouldn't know what else to do if they couldn't come here."

The recent fire isn't the first time Tommaseo and his family have had to
roll up their sleeves and rebuild. Like nearly every other structure in St.
Bernard Parish, the restaurant at 613 W. St. Bernard Highway was flooded in
2005 when the levees broke during Hurricane Katrina. Though it had no flood
insurance and took on 4 feet of water after the levees breached, the
restaurant reopened in February 2007.

When Tommaseo was asked if he realizes the community sees the restaurant's
comeback as much more than just another business reopening after a fire, he
choked up a bit.

"When my family first started this business, I was just a young kid," he
said. "They worked so hard for so many years, and we just want to continue
that for them. Over the years three generations of our family have worked
here, and the community has grabbed ahold of us and helped us put it back
together yet again. That makes it all worth it."