Before the doors officially opened at 11 a.m. there was line of faithful customers waiting to finally satisfy their baked mac & cheese and veal parmesan cravings. The restaurant first opened in 1965, and has only closed once before– for 18 months after Hurricane Katrina. Owner Tommy Tommasseo says besides repairing the nearly $225,000 worth of damages, one of the hardest things about being closed was seeing his staff struggle.

“Everyone wanted to come back to work. We’re family here so people didn’t want to have to find another job for a few months and then come back when we re-opened,” explained Tommasseo. “It was hard to see everyone waiting around, but I’m happy to say that every staff member is back with us.”

Tommasseo describes the past few months as “up and down– once you’d get one big piece in place like the new refrigerators or air conditioners, you’d feel good and then step back and see that there was much more work to do.”

Tommasseo says the menu is the same and customers can expect “all the old favorites.”

Rocky & Carlos is open Tuesday through Sunday and is located at 613 W. St. Bernard Hwy. in Chalmette.