CLOSING ITS DOORS
Rocco’s restaurant to close by year’s end
JONESVILLE, N.Y. >> After five years in business, local restaurant Rocco’s will close its doors at the end of 2019.
Located at 989 Main St. in Jonesville, Rocco’s last day of business will be Dec. 31, the restaurant recently announced in a Facebook post.
“Dear Loyal Rocco’s Patrons,” it read, “We are very proud to have served the Clifton Park community for the past 5 years. It is with a heavy heart that we must announce that we are closing our doors for the last time December 31st. We want to thank all of our past and present employees, local purveyors and friends for making it such a great journey.
“We would especially like to thank our loyal customers. Without you, Rocco’s would not have been possible.” Closing the restaurant is bittersweet, said chef and owner Sean Lee, who also owns the nearby Halfmoon Sandwich & Salad Shoppe. “It’s hard to let go of what we did here.”
Customers are having a hard time letting go too.
“The outpouring of support and sadness when we put that Facebook post out was definitely noticeable,” manager Robert Van der Veer said.
Since opening in 2014, Rocco’s has become known for its fine food and cozy ambiance.
Set in an 1860s building that previously served as a general store, many Rocco’s regulars love the historic atmosphere.
“I feel like the community really embraced Rocco’s and what we wanted to do here, and I feel like we filled a niche for Clifton Park too,” Lee said. “Independent fine dining is hard to come by in between Albany and Saratoga, especially in the chain-dominated market of Clifton Park.”
However, when someone approached Lee about purchasing the property, “The numbers made sense,” Lee said. “It was just a business opportunity.”
Though staffing has been a challenge for the business over the past few years, Lee said he was not considering closing until this offer was proposed.
Looking ahead, Lee is keeping his options open regarding other business endeavors.
“You never know what the future is going to bring,” he said. “There’s a good chance
that in a year or 18 months we might be working on another project, another type of Rocco’s or something a little bit more casual, a little bit less fine dining and white table cloths, but still keeping it at a high end standard.”
For now, the focus is on thanking customers during the last few weeks at Rocco’s.
While the restaurant will continue its late night 50 cent chicken wings and half price draft beer specials, upcoming special events include Rocco’s annual Christmas tree lighting on Sunday, Dec. 1, an Italian wine dinner on Wednesday, Dec. 4 and a New Year’s Eve extravaganza on Dec. 31.
“New Year’s Eve is going to be a nice, big final hurrah,” Van der Veer said, “kind of a final goodbye, and also a thank you.”
Lee invites customers from the Clifton Park area and beyond to stop in to Rocco’s one last time in the coming weeks.
Reflecting on the past five years at Rocco’s, “It’s been a great experience. I’ve been in the restaurant business my whole life, and I really love what I do,” Lee said, calling the Jonesville restaurant one of the best experiences of his entire life.
“It’s been an amazing ride,” he said. “It was a really fun journey. We’ve made some incredible friends and people that we’ll never forget.”
Guests like Chet Rogowicz, who lives less than a mile away from Rocco’s, will certainly miss it.
“It’s a very convenient place, really good people,” he said. Rogowicz has been visiting every Tuesday since Rocco’s first opened its doors. “I was so happy when it opened,” he said, noting that he enjoys the feeling of having a hometown bar.
As a local resident for the past 40 years, Rogowicz has seen the old Main Street building change many times, and is curious what it’s next chapter will hold.
More information about Rocco’s is available online at www.roccosonmain.com and www.facebook.com/RoccosOnMain.
The restaurant can be contacted by calling (518) 406-5251.