'Legendary' Beef Roll Puts Rockdale's Roc City Bar & Grill On The Map

ROCKDALE, IL — Rockdale, the town of 2,000 along Larkin Avenue, can no longer be regarded as Joliet's sleepy little neighbor to the south, thanks to "Tommy Z" Zoretic and Kevin Batus, the co-owners of Roc City Bar & Grill, and their "legendary beef rolls."

In just over two years, their bar and restaurant at 508 Moen Avenue — thanks to their beef rolls — has put Rockdale back on the food destination map.

And get this: Roc City stays open 20 hours a day, seven days a week.

Roc City has a sports bar theme. The co-owners want to be known for having a generous, kind-hearted spirit, giving back to the community and donating to noble, charitable causes.

"You look at our logo, and it's very patriotic, so that's where my heart sits," Batus told Joliet Patch's editor during Thursday afternoon's interview. "We're always giving police or first responders 15 percent discounts off their bill."

On Dec. 21, Roc City just marked its two-year anniversary at 508 Moen Ave. Under previous ownership, the tavern was called the Third Base.

"We're always doing something, whether it's our food or events," Batus said.

So how did Batus and Tommy Z find the catchy name for their Rockdale establishment?

"We wanted to associate that name with Rockdale," Batus explained Thursday. "Because no one has ever heard of Rockdale except for Syl's, and Syl's is closed."

In just over two years, Roc City has accumulated 383 Google Reviews, averaging 4.4 stars out of 5 stars; a staggering volume considering Roc City operates in a village of barely 2,000 people.

"We're getting well known for our soups, but obviously, what has put us on the map was our beef roll. Our legendary beef roll," Batus remarked. "In our first year, we sold more pizzas than beef rolls when we first took it over, and now it's the opposite and that's what we're known for.

"It's all about branding and creating ... people are traveling for over an hour to come check us out. People are saying, they've heard so much about this beef roll and it's amazing. Naperville, Kankakee, we're definitely a destination spot as well as a local establishment."

But if you're not in the mood for beef rolls, Roc City has plenty of other meal selections.

"I make all my own soups, about 35 to 40 different variations of soup," Batus said.

Among his most popular soups are loaded baked potato, the stuffed pepper soup and the lasagna soup, which is pictured below.

Roc City does not serve up frozen pizzas for its bar patrons. The pizza at Roc City is homemade.

"The pizza is fantastic," Batus proclaimed. "It's a thin crust, and we have all the fixings. We can do anywhere from 8 inch to 20 inch."

Batus insists there are other meals on the Roc City menu that are also fantastic. "Our burgers are fantastic," he added. "We use Angus beef, and we offer three sliders and also a cheeseburger."

Over on the bar side, Roc City is gaining notice for its wide variety of cocktails plus its martinis, bourbons, tequilas, wines and Long Island iced tea.

"We have smoked Old-fashioned, and the Roc City bomb, it's a shot," Batus explained. "Our place is very sports-oriented, so you can come and watch a big game like the Super Bowl or the (college football) championship. We're always raffling off prizes and giving away stuff.

"Families are welcome," Batus stressed. "And, it's a great date night. It's a great place to go for drinks and amazing food."

As for traditional domestic beer drinkers, Michelle, one of the main bartenders, keeps the refrigerator stocked with frosty beer mugs.

On Thursday, Roc City's drink special featured $1.50 cans of Hamm's beer products and $4 Jack Daniel's whiskey shots.

For $3, customers can order a $3 domestic draft beer poured in a frosty 24 oz mug.

"You can't beat the tallboys," Batus said. "We have Pabst, Miller Lite, Coors, Busch Light ... and we have drink specials every day of the week."

And then there's the music side of Roc City.

Roc City is now known as a place to watch live local music artists and bands, notably on the weekends. And more of that will happen in 2024, its owner vowed.

"We have lots of live music. We have dueling pianos. We've got a great relationship with the mayor."

On an interesting side note, over the recent holidays, one of Roc City's most popular meals was not the beef roll. That's because the beef roll had competition thanks to yet another kitchen creation dished up by Batus.

For Thanksgiving, he created the "Thanksgiving roll."

He urged people to follow the Roc City Bar & Grill Facebook page for future updates on when the Thanksgiving roll will be reintroduced at different points this year.

"And it was amazing," he said. "Such a success that we will reintroduce it ... We were selling out every single day. My staff was just gassed, so I had to give them some time off."

As for 2024, Roc City plans to offer a corned beef roll in March in honor of St. Patrick's Day, as well as a chicken fajita roll for Cinco de Mayo in May.

This summer, Roc City will dish up a "bratwurst roll."

If you ever visit Roc City, you will notice something is always going on. This week, new flooring was being added throughout the establishment. The owners recently added new seating tops.

Monday nights feature bingo, and Thursday nights are for Singo. Roc City also draws a lunch crowd.

"We have cold-cut sandwiches, burgers and poorboys ... Fridays and Saturdays are busy, and we're also known for our Bloody Marys with our Sunday crowd."

Overall, the biggest challenge with operating Roc City, according to Batus, is staffing.

"The employees are probably the most difficult piece, just finding the right numbers. Our business is open 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. every day. That's a lot to manage. You're dealing with three shifts of bartenders and two shifts in the kitchen. That first year, my brain was scrambled, but now we've got a good grasp."

Batus said he has 35 years experience in the bar industry.

"I was born and raised in Lansing, Illinois, and my roots are with Kilroy's Pub in Lansing."

Batus spent his college years in Joliet as a strong safety on the University of St. Francis football team under legendary sports coach Gordie Gillespie.

Through college football, he met Zoretic, who played on the defensive line. Now, decades later, they co-own a bar in Rockdale.

They credit Roc City's rising popularity to social media and word of mouth.

"We have good employees and great food," Batus said. "Now, we want to make it up to the next level. I'm happy for where I'm at, but I'm not satisfied. I don't think we've hit our ceiling."

These days, the Roc City kitchen is branching out into the catering business.

"With catering, obviously, there is our Roc City salad, pizzas, chicken wings and beef rolls," he said. "We've got another whole menu just for that."

What would the owner say about the Roc City beef roll for people who have never tried it?

"As soon as they taste the beef roll, they crave it."

After hearing Batus rave about the beef rolls for much of the interview, Patch asked if that's what he would recommend for first-time customers?

"Oh, it's a must-have, absolutely," he responded. "It's the entire package, everything from the dough to the cheese and the Au jus. The dough is homemade. It's the garlic butter and the quality of beef."