Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article identified the pizzeria as “Rocca’s.” The restaurant’s actual name is “Rocca.” Daily Report regrets the error.
After a lengthy delay, work is finally set to begin in the coming week on Rocca Pizzeria, a Neapolitan-style restaurant concept from the owners of LIT Pizza and Izzo’s Illegal Burrito.
The restaurant was initially set to open this summer in the former Goûter building on Government Street in Mid City, but owner Ozzie Fernandez says the city permitting process took much longer than expected.
“We’re tentatively looking at more of probably an early October opening,” Fernandez says. “We’re gonna make sure we do it right.”
The city-parish’s lengthy permitting process has plagued developers for years. Advisors to Mayor Sharon Weston Broome recommended streamlining and revamping the process in reports submitted to the mayor as she transitioned into the office earlier this year. In early June, the city-parish’s Department of Development issued a request for proposals for a third party to review the permitting process and help relieve the backlog on employees.
The concept for Rocca comes on the heels of the owners’ launch of LIT Pizza, a fast-casual wood-fired pizza concept, which opened near LSU last summer and has since expanded to Gonzales.
But Fernandez says Rocca is a different concept. He’s shipping in a wood-fired oven from Italy and is aiming for a more authentic Italian menu. The restaurant will be full-service with a bar and more upscale offerings than LIT. Rocca’s menu will feature small plates along with the pizza.
Rocca will be the latest restaurant concept to open in the now-trendy heart of Mid City. Elsie’s Plate and Pie, White Star Market, French Truck Coffee and several others are in varying stages of bringing locations to the Government Street corridor.
Fernandez says he will soon announce several new Izzo’s and LIT locations.
—Sam Karlin
