Billy Gardell dropped the name and location during a recent WDVE appearance: He\u2019s guest bartending at Rocco\u2019s Tavern in Swissvale on Aug. 1 for the watering hole\u2019s 80th birthday.<\/p>\n
Rocco\u2019s owner August \u201cAuggie\u201d Rocco immediately started fielding phone calls.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t even know he was going to say anything,\u201d Rocco said of the comedian and actor with Swissvale roots. \u201cNow, I don\u2019t know what to expect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gardell\u2019s former \u201cMike and Molly\u201d costar Louis Mustillo will be slinging drinks from behind the bar with him.<\/p>\n
If the crowd swells, Rocco will find a way to make everyone feel welcome.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh my,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m just so proud to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rocco, who is 78 and lives in Forest Hills, runs a type of Pittsburgh bar that\u2019s getting a little harder to find in 2026. No fancy menu. Actually, no food at all. Cash only. No gastropub or craft brew pretensions.<\/p>\n
Just cold beer, familiar faces, a shuffleboard table and an owner who probably knows your name and family tree.<\/p>\n
Walking into Rocco\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
For Rocco, the anniversary isn\u2019t just about a neighbor\u00adhood tavern. It\u2019s about four generations of family history.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Eventually, Auggie bought out his brother and has been the face of Rocco\u2019s ever since, along with his daughter, Gina.<\/p>\n
Rocco\u2019s has always embraced its old-school charm, Gina Rocco said.<\/p>\n
The bar is known for its longtime shuffleboard league, a loyal crowd of regulars and even a cigarette machine that still stands inside.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re a neighborhood dive bar,\u201d she said. \u201cWe love our bar. It\u2019s my home away from home. I\u2019ve been there for 21 years, working alongside my dad.\u201d<\/p>\n
These days there\u2019s no smoking, no food service and it\u2019s cash only \u2014 a refreshing throwback in a world where nearly everything requires an app and a tap.<\/p>\n
Some things, however, haven\u2019t changed.<\/p>\n
The sense of community remains.<\/p>\n
Auggie Rocco remembers when the tavern opened at 8 a.m.<\/p>\n
Back then, the steel mills ran around the clock. Workers finishing overnight shifts waited outside for the doors to unlock.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey wanted shots and beer before they\u2019d go home,\u201d he said, laughing.<\/p>\n
As a kid growing up in nearby Braddock Hills after his family moved from Rankin, he\u2019d accompany his father to the tavern before sunrise.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d get there around 6:30 in the morning,\u201d he said. \u201cGuys would already be waiting.\u201d<\/p>\n
The regulars became extended family.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a big milestone for me and my family,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Walking through the tavern is like flipping through a family photo album.<\/p>\n
His office? That used to be his grandmother\u2019s bedroom.<\/p>\n
The men\u2019s room? Once her bathroom.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019d drink until noon and go home and take their naps,\u201d he joked. \u201cIt was the same guys every day. I knew them all. They all knew my dad.\u201d<\/p>\n
His father wasn\u2019t what Auggie calls \u201ca big drinker.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019d have a drink or two,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like I\u2019m the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before owning the tavern, August Rocco Sr. had a different path in mind.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Turns out, that may have been the better legacy.<\/p>\n
Rocco has spent nearly four decades trying to protect what his parents built.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe secret to staying open is you cater to good people,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd there are a lot of good people down there.\u201d<\/p>\n
That philosophy has extended beyond customers. He\u2019s raised five daughters with the same message.<\/p>\n
\u201cI teach my daughters to be nice and cordial,\u201d he said. \u201cBut don\u2019t take any crap from anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also why, despite serving thousands upon thousands of beers over 38 years, Rocco struggles to remember many serious incidents.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always considered our bar a friendly bar with a great atmosphere,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had some little skirmishes, but nothing major.\u201d<\/p>\n
Featured Local Businesses<\/p>\n
That welcoming reputation is one reason actor and comedian Gardell keeps coming back.<\/p>\n
The two have known each other since Gardell was about 14.<\/p>\n
His parents lived across the street on Harrison Avenue. After Gardell\u2019s mother moved to Florida, Auggie became close with his father, Corky.<\/p>\n
As Gardell\u2019s stand-up career took off and eventually led to television fame, one thing never changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time he came back to town, he\u2019d stop in,\u201d Rocco said.<\/p>\n
The friendship grew through Steelers games, family gatherings and visits to Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
People have already told him they\u2019re coming from all over Western Pennsylvania for the party. The celebrities are tending bar from 1 to 4 p.m.<\/p>\n
While Gardell may draw the crowd, Auggie knows why they\u2019ll stick around.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re coming for the same reason generations of steelworkers, neighbors and families have walked through Rocco\u2019s doors since 1946.<\/p>\n
Not because it\u2019s trendy.<\/p>\n
Because it\u2019s home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Billy Gardell dropped the name and location during a recent WDVE appearance: He\u2019s guest bartending at Rocco\u2019s Tavern…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251758,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":["post-251757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}