Review – The Rock Wood Fired Grill »

Welcome to the Rock. Those iconic words, delivered by Sean Connery have absolutely nothing on the same words, delivered by Stacy Smith, the marketing director of The Rock Wood Fired Kitchen: Pizza, Burgers and Spirits.

Chew on this – it’s lunch time at any one of the three locations of the Rock: Parker Rd at C-470, Broadway at C-470 and over in the Belmar shopping center. Our tasting started with – what else… Appetizers. I love ribs, and the Rock’s ribs… Rock! I tried the Kal-bi ribs, and oh my goodness, tender, fall off the bone sweet yummy goodness is what I experienced. These are lightly glazed with a sweet sauce that offers an amazing balance of tang and soy.

Next I took flight on the huge sweet red chili wings – and if you love wings like I love wings, you’re gonna want Siri to reroute your car to the Rock right now! Flash fried and then finished in their legendary wood fired oven the wings are crispy and coated with the most flavorful chili sauce. Prefer your wings dry? Be sure to check out the Chipotle style. Better yet, call me – I’ll check them out with you!

Moving on to the next phase of our meal, I next tried the pizza. Oh, the pizza! This is where the dough hits that incredibly hot wood fired oven I mentioned earlier. I tried two pies, the Founders Pie and the Bat Outta Hell. The Founders pie is the most popular pizza in the whole joint. It’s a simple combination of red tomato sauce, sweet Italian sausage, pepperoni, mozzarella and ricotta cheese. I loved this pie – it’s a classic flavor profile, and the ricotta cheese makes the whole thing simply melt in your mouth.

And then there was the bat outta hell. Now this pie literally had me shutting the front door! I love white cream sauce pizzas and this one took my palate on a slow ride to a very, VERY happy place! Hot cherry peppers, spinach, roasted pecans – wait… What? Pecans on a pizza? Positively!! All balanced with Cajun spices and tempered with a smooth cream cheese spread. Warning: you might break your diet as you eat the bat outta hell, but this reviewer is fat and happy. Very happy.

I wasn’t ready for happened next. The nice people at the Rock set a HUGE, Burger Man Burger in front of me. When I say huge… Friends this is no exaggeration. It’s a 10″ mountain of chipotle seasoned beef, ( a half pound of the flame broiled, prime angus good stuff!), jack cheese, peppered bacon, tomato and topped with fried onions. Even the menu says, sit back and open wide! Oh – and I did just that! It’s known far and wide that I love me a great burger, and if you’re brave – and hungry enough – I strongly recommend the Burger Man Burger. If you can finish it, and the amazing steak cut fries that come with it, your a better man or woman than me!

To wrap up our tasting, we sampled the skillet cookie, brought to the table sizzling wit hooey gooey goodness, and topped with not one, but two scoops of smooth vanilla bean ice cream. Okay – maybe I did more than sample it. Maybe I devoured the whole thing. All by myself. Trust me – this is what all chocolate chip cookies wish they could grow up to be! Everyone grab a spoon and dig in!

The Rock is also known for the very best beer flight in the business. Sample each of their six ales, each one as in your face as the logos that go with them. You’re going to love each one of them. I sure did. Get on over to the Rock…Any one of them. There are three to choose from – and all of them will absolutely deliver on a taste sensation that you will be very happy with indeed!