Billy Gardell dropped the name and location during a recent WDVE appearance: He’s guest bartending at Rocco’s Tavern in Swissvale on Aug. 1 for the watering hole’s 80th birthday.
Rocco’s owner August “Auggie” Rocco immediately started fielding phone calls.
“I didn’t even know he was going to say anything,” Rocco said of the comedian and actor with Swissvale roots. “Now, I don’t know what to expect.”
Gardell’s former “Mike and Molly” costar Louis Mustillo will be slinging drinks from behind the bar with him.
If the crowd swells, Rocco will find a way to make everyone feel welcome.
“Oh my,” he said. “I’m just so proud to be a part of it.”
Rocco, who is 78 and lives in Forest Hills, runs a type of Pittsburgh bar that’s getting a little harder to find in 2026. No fancy menu. Actually, no food at all. Cash only. No gastropub or craft brew pretensions.
Just cold beer, familiar faces, a shuffleboard table and an owner who probably knows your name and family tree.
Walking into Rocco’s Tavern feels like stepping into a time capsule of Pittsburgh neighborhood life. The polished tiled bar anchors the room beneath glowing Budweiser and IC Light signs, while Steelers memorabilia, old beer ads and plaques crowd the walls.
The atmosphere is authentic, earned over 80 years of celebrations, ballgames and regulars claiming their barstools. The stories hanging on the walls are matched only by those told across the bar.
For Rocco, the anniversary isn’t just about a neighborhood tavern. It’s about four generations of family history.
His grandmother, Josephine, started the business and lived next door. His parents, Catherine and August Sr., eventually took over. In 1988, Auggie and his brother Ron inherited the responsibility while both were working full-time jobs.
Eventually, Auggie bought out his brother and has been the face of Rocco’s ever since, along with his daughter, Gina.
Rocco’s has always embraced its old-school charm, Gina Rocco said.
The bar is known for its longtime shuffleboard league, a loyal crowd of regulars and even a cigarette machine that still stands inside.
“We’re a neighborhood dive bar,” she said. “We love our bar. It’s my home away from home. I’ve been there for 21 years, working alongside my dad.”
These days there’s no smoking, no food service and it’s cash only — a refreshing throwback in a world where nearly everything requires an app and a tap.
Some things, however, haven’t changed.
The sense of community remains.
Auggie Rocco remembers when the tavern opened at 8 a.m.
Back then, the steel mills ran around the clock. Workers finishing overnight shifts waited outside for the doors to unlock.
“They wanted shots and beer before they’d go home,” he said, laughing.
As a kid growing up in nearby Braddock Hills after his family moved from Rankin, he’d accompany his father to the tavern before sunrise.
“We’d get there around 6:30 in the morning,” he said. “Guys would already be waiting.”
The regulars became extended family.
“This is a big milestone for me and my family,” he said.
Walking through the tavern is like flipping through a family photo album.
His office? That used to be his grandmother’s bedroom.
The men’s room? Once her bathroom.
“They’d drink until noon and go home and take their naps,” he joked. “It was the same guys every day. I knew them all. They all knew my dad.”
His father wasn’t what Auggie calls “a big drinker.”
“He’d have a drink or two,” he said. “I feel like I’m the same way.”
Before owning the tavern, August Rocco Sr. had a different path in mind.
A standout athlete and quarterback at Rankin High School, he attended Syracuse University and started as a freshman before being drafted into World War II. He never returned to college.
Turns out, that may have been the better legacy.
Rocco has spent nearly four decades trying to protect what his parents built.
“The secret to staying open is you cater to good people,” he said. “And there are a lot of good people down there.”
That philosophy has extended beyond customers. He’s raised five daughters with the same message.
“I teach my daughters to be nice and cordial,” he said. “But don’t take any crap from anybody.”
It’s also why, despite serving thousands upon thousands of beers over 38 years, Rocco struggles to remember many serious incidents.
“I’ve always considered our bar a friendly bar with a great atmosphere,” he said. “We’ve had some little skirmishes, but nothing major.”
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That welcoming reputation is one reason actor and comedian Gardell keeps coming back.
The two have known each other since Gardell was about 14.
His parents lived across the street on Harrison Avenue. After Gardell’s mother moved to Florida, Auggie became close with his father, Corky.
As Gardell’s stand-up career took off and eventually led to television fame, one thing never changed.
“Every time he came back to town, he’d stop in,” Rocco said.
The friendship grew through Steelers games, family gatherings and visits to Pittsburgh.
People have already told him they’re coming from all over Western Pennsylvania for the party. The celebrities are tending bar from 1 to 4 p.m.
While Gardell may draw the crowd, Auggie knows why they’ll stick around.
They’re coming for the same reason generations of steelworkers, neighbors and families have walked through Rocco’s doors since 1946.
Not because it’s trendy.
Because it’s home.