“The entire N4U
gang was invited in to do some sampling, and they brought out so much food, we
all had doggie bags. My most sincere compliments to Kevin Roberts and his staff
for such a clean and efficient kitchen. (They even have cameras to ensure the
highest quality of food.)”
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We have been receiving rave reviews on our new Game Page in N4U – I suppose because when you are
sitting around waiting, it’s nice to have something to do that isn’t totally
impossible… One of our more recent clues was, “The first pizza in Evansville was served
here.” If you answered “Roca Bar” you
were correct and probably finished the puzzle. It is hard to believe that pizza
wasn’t always such a common commodity.
Back in the
50s, Charles Tooley and John Rogers – the Roca
Bar owners – needed something to boost
business. They hired a Lebanese kitchen manager, George Haag, to dish up some
new and exciting cuisine. Haag, coming from Chicago, knew of a simple concoction
containing meats, veggies, cheese, sauce and dough. George, knowing the power
of the palate, would bake up a few these pies every day and would sit in what
was then the middle of Hwy. 41 and Kentucky
Ave. and pass out samples. All of George’s
marketing strategies worked! Before they knew it, he had outgrown the Roca Bar
and needed a place of his own. The Evansville Brown Derby was born but caught
on fire – so George and his clan had to move down to the street to what we now
know as the House of Como.
In 1996,
Fred Schreoder and Jerry Ritter purchased the original Roca Bar and decided to
take the restaurant business head-on. Though George’s recipe had been tweaked
and fiddled with over the years, they decided to go back to the original
recipe. Back in the 50s, each square piece of pizza had one piece of topping on
it. Now, you’ll have to come in and order one to understand the shear amount of
toppings they can pile on one pizza pie.
We were
brought a Round the World Pizza (all your basic toppings) Chicken BBQ pizza, Roca Garden,
Roca Pesto, and Margherita Pizza. With such toppings as broccoli, sun-dried
tomatoes, chicken, pesto sauce, basil and spinach, this wasn’t your ordinary
carry-out pizza. This was gourmet! And, they are all served on a thin
cracker-style crust. My favorite was the White Marg Pizza. With olive oil as a
base and mozz cheese, tomatoes and basil, I was in foodie heaven.
Of course,
we didn’t start out with the pizza, we started out with a monster selection of
appetizers and Italian salad. If I am to have any hope of getting my kid, or my
husband to eat greens, it has to be in a Roca Bar Italian salad – lettuce
topped with ham, cheese, olives, bacon bits, pepperoni, egg, tomatoes and
signature Roca Bar Italian dressing sided with Bosco Mozz Bread stix (garlic
bread sticks, filled with cheese and sided by herb butter). There was entire
table FULL of fried appetizers, but my favorites were the broccoli and cheese
bites, the corn nuggets, and the BBQ wings with tiger sauce, paired with a Roca
Rita (a margarita with coconut rum and sprinkled with cinnamon).
The fun
didn’t stop there. Though I was stuffed, I took home the next course and gorged
myself later… the ham and cheese sandwich and Roca Boli were piled with meat
and cheeses and perfect for a really hungry man – or woman! Jerry assured me
his Roca (strom) Boli would measure up and
even surpasses any other strom in the city. I urge you to take the taste test.
We
concluded the meal with some fried brownie bites and apple crisp bites. Yes,
some dark chocolate to make my meal absolutely complete.
I settled
in to write this article and looked at the menu for a glance at the other RB
fare. They don’t just serve the pizzas and sands; Roca Bar boasts rib-eyes,
chops, spaghetti, fried bologna, and even a kids’ menu. You know how mom always
says, “what do you think this kitchen is, a restaurant? You’ll eat what
everyone else is having!” You no longer have to! It’s the perfect place to take
your very diverse and very picky family. Dad wants a steak, mom some pasta,
teens a pizza and little one a PB&J. Hey, it’s all here at the Roca Bar on KY Ave! Jerry even
informed me, if you want something special, hey – they’ll make it! Call ahead
if it’s really off the wall or they can work with you on any ingredients they
have in stock.
There are
several RBs scattered throughout the tri-state (Mt.
Vernon, Newburgh,
Owensboro and N.
41) but you have to try the original core location. All the chefs are trained
there and you can’t beat the ambiance and history of the place that served the
first pizza in Evansville!
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Photography | Mark McCoy
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