President Biden dines at 'old-school' Wilmington restaurant that holds memories

President Joe Biden was in Greenville on Monday, Dec. 18, to attend a private Mass at St. Joseph on the Brandywine. It was the 51st anniversary of the death of his first wife and baby daughter. The 1972 tragedy, a week before Christmas, changed his life and the lives of his two sons, who survived the Hockessin car crash.

Later on Monday, the president and his son Hunter went "old-school" Wilmington and lunched at Rocco Italian Grill & Sports Bar at Seventh and Union streets in the city's Little Italy neighborhood that's run by Susan Rocco.

Many may remember it as the site of the former Pala's Cafe, home of the "world's worst pizza." (The pizza was regularly voted a favorite of News Journal readers, but I was always a fan of the stromboli and chopped antipasti.)

The "world's worst" sign was one of Pala's funny quirks. While the sign didn't encourage newcomers, it amused longtime patrons in on the joke.

"If [the pizza] would have bad, well, you can't say you weren't warned ahead of time," Angela Pala Scerba, who ran the tavern with the help of her brothers, said in a 1994 News Journal interview.

Pala's, which opened on Dec. 20, 1944, as the Crystal Cafe, operated for more than six decades. It never advertised because it didn't need to. If you knew, you knew. It never had a restaurant license, only a tavern, and it didn't allow anyone under 21 to enter. It quickly became a gathering spot for politicians, businessmen, well-heeled and neighborhood types, and the occasional celebrity.

Biden was a Pala's patron back in the day (he has long been a fan of Italian foods and used to visit the old Katie's Restaurant also in Little Italy. The Pala family mentioned him in the 1994 interview.

A photo of a youthful Biden with then-President Jimmy Carter once hung on the wall in the tavern along with photos of other famous guests who visited over the years.

When the Pala's tavern turned 50 in 1994 and I was writing about it, I called then-Sen. Biden's office to double-check he was a patron. I still remember one of his aides asking if the restaurant was having a party to celebrate its five decades in business because Biden would want to know and commemorate the occasion.

The Pala family told me in a 1994 interview, that if the business ever changed hands, the Pala's name would be removed from the sign. "It won't be Pala's anymore," Joe Pala said.

They weren't kidding. When it closed its doors in 2007, the name went with it.

It's been Rocco's since 2011 and, like, Pala's it is family-run. It got a classy renovation and update, though the bones of the old Pala's can still be seen.

Owner Susan Rocco has made sure Rocco's has excellent pizza, wedding soup and chopped antipasto salad. The menu also includes porchetta and rabe sandwiches with melted sharp provolone served on a seeded roll, Italian chicken cutlets, and eggplant Parmigiana as well as other very good Italian American dishes.

This is the time of year when many former Delaware residents return home to visit family and friends and gather at favorite, familiar dining spots that hold a special place in their hearts.

I'm not at all surprised Rocco's is where President Biden chose to dine.

Biden left Delaware Tuesday morning to deliver remarks at a memorial service in Washington for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Contact Patricia Talorico at ptalorico@delawareonline.com or 302-324-2861 and follow her on X (Twitter) @pattytalorico Sign up for her  Delaware Eats newsletter.

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This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Wilmington restaurant where President Biden dined holds old memories