Rocky’s Fry Bread

It’s all about the Nava-​tacos! It’s been over a year and I still can’t get them out of my mind. The combination of homemade beans, fresh veggies and hot bread just out of the fryer is pure euphoria!

The first time I tried Rocky’s fry bread at el rio, I fell in love. Such a delicious, pillowy, fried piece of goodness… he makes it all from scratch right in front of you on the most minimal equipment.
Oh, and he works off of donations. Please make sure you tip the man. Perfect to go with a big glass of beer. 5 stars.

the food was unpleasant as well as, hair in the food, no real taco’s. didn’t use the right type of bread, and there was nothing inside just sause i mean its just nasty

We had some of this fry bread one night when we were in the mission at Rio with some friends. Rocky (I assume) was really cool and worked on a «donations» basis which was kinda cool but a little awkward. I wanted to make sure I was paying him what his delicious food was worth! We got an indian taco and also a sweet one with honey/​powdered sugar and both were delicious. I looked for him the next time we were there, but he wasn’t in the back. Maybe next time!

Rocky’s the man
No one every made a better Indian taco while being able to rock that coverall.
Find this man every Saturday at El Rio on the late night. Be prepared for some Delicious Veganness treats.

Amazing. When you’re leaving some club or just want something delicious in the middle of the night. so you can crawl back to your hotel, you can always count on Rocky’s Fry Bread to give you exactly what you want— no DUI. Great Navajo treats. I loved both the savory and sweets.

Rocky’s Fry Bread… I’m still craving it a couple hours later. Had the vegan taco: smoky beans and fresh fixings atop a piping hot circle of fry bread. The beans were full of flavor, cooked with love in Rocky’s portable kettle. The real treat was the fry bread itself, however; it really puts all other taco containers to shame. The dough was clearly fresh and cooked just right. Rocky knows what he’s doing.
Rocky’s also an incredibly amiable guy; he’s all about serving up some delicious food and making his eaters happy. Seek him out and you’re guaranteed great fry bread and a big olé smile.

Amazing fry bread (the savory one rocks), cheap and excellent and rocky is incredibly nice.

Rocky’s frybread. I’m still craving. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. And then of course, there’s Rocky … the man himself. So affable. Truly in touch with who he is and what makes him happy — which includes among a few things: Making those around him happy with his cooking.
My favorite is his frybread with his spicy stew and cheese. But, my god! His grilled lamb and grilled chilies is AMAZING. I admit, I’ve never tried the sweet frybread with berries, but I’m sure it’s amazing.
Frybread is not something to be eaten every day, but when you do, by god, eat Rocky’s at El Rio or wherever he pops up. DO IT!

Hey to all you Rocky Frybread Lovers!
I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Rocky Yazzie for my blog, here it is:
When you read my blog, you’ll notice my write up has a lot more to share and is more in depth then the rest of his press out there about him, thats because Rocky gave me time to spend with him just like he does with all the rest of his customers!
In doing my research, Rocky’s comments on the other websites are consistent and 100% positive, this guy is the real deal, keep supporting him!
xoxo
Charlie Ballard

Rocky’s Fry Bread is the complete street food/​pop up restaurant experience. Good Food and Great Personality. I’ve visited Rocky about 5x the past two months doing a documentary on pop up restaurants and street food in SF.
Simple menu: Sweet and Savory. 1 sweet and 1 savory fry bread option
Sweet — organic honey (I’ve went with him to purchase his honey, he does his due diligence to ensure his sweet bread) powdered sugar and the perfectly fried dough. People have described it as a better funnel cake, a better doughnut even a better waffle. However you decide to describe it, it’s pretty good.
Savory — Depending on where you catch Rocky the savory is different. At El Rio Dive Bar, he mainly does Vegan Navajo Tacos. Chilli, beans, lettuce, tomatoes, onions with the fry bread. Sounds simple and as a guy who likes meat in his tacos, I was iffy. But I took a bite and I was convinced he didn’t need meat on these tacos.
Price, goes by donation but usually suggest $ 3-​$ 5 for fry bread. I’ve seen drunk people enjoy it, so it definitely is good drunk food. But, I’ve also seen people come from Oakland, or other parts of the East Bay just to try his food.
Don’t be fooled by the look of El Rio or the wagon he carries his food in, he went to culinary school and mixes that knowledge with his traditional navajo style cooking he grew up with and makes awesome dishes.
Rocky is super entertaining, easy to talk to and connects with all his customers. Follow him on twitter, see where he pops up and go try some Fry Bread.

Everything’s organic, and made from scratch. He’s at El Rio in the Mission (sf) on Mondays cookin’ it up on DONATION BASIS, I can appreciate that! & it’s vegan! (He does meat on the streets, have yet to catch him, but I will be lookin’ out!) Fresh, hot, delicious, and healthy — can’t beat that!
The Savory is just as bomb as the Sweet, you should get both.
You’re not gonna find this anywhere else, Rocky’s got it goin’ on!
He’s around — find him on twitter @RockysFrybread

Whether you’re exiting a hot club or just want something delicious in the middle of the night, you can always count on Rocky’s Fry Bread to give you exactly what you want. Rocky’s was one of the awesome vendors at Yapsie’s Pupcrawl and he served up some great Navajo treats. I loved both the savory and sweet and they’re absolutely delicious during any part of the day.
Rocky himself is freakin’ hilarious and totally entertaining as you wait for your bread to fry. This dude is one cool cat, and arrives on scene out of a cab! He doesn’t charge for his grub so leave him a kind donation. Send him a tweet to having him show up at your party and he’ll pull up at any pet-​friendly location, in our case, Dolores Park!
Food: ⁹⁄₁₀
Service: ¹⁰⁄₁₀
Price: $
Atmosphere: ⁸⁄₁₀

i love hide and seek. i love scavenger hunts. most of all, i am a hunter. a hunter of good food, that is. if there‘s good food to be found, i will go the distance to find it. the more elusive the food cart/​truck/​person, the more fun i have trying to hunt him/​her down [twitter stalking included].
i‘ve had my mark on rocky‘s fry bread for a while now, but seeing as i work 6 days a week, i never had the time to give chase. but one fateful day [aka last monday], i decided that today would be the day where i would mount rocky‘s fry bread on my Foorophy Wall. [Foorophy = Food + Trophy]
boob and i hopped into our trusty steed [aka the tC] and began our fry bread safari. after a long, arduous journey [really just a 1O minute drive LoLx] with much twitter stalking and Unilocal mapquesting, we finally arrive at El Rio, a tiny litto divebar that reminded me of my own litto bar; complete with crotchity old regulars and random, pool playing floaters :]
we made our way toward the back patio and, lo and behold, came upon rocky! after a pleasant exchange, he began his fry bread making process. as we watched in awe, rocky kneeded his own dough, diced his own veggies, and stewed his own beans. if anyone puts love into his food, it‘s rocky.
once all his prep was done, a quick dip in hot oil was all that was needed for my fry bread to be cooked. a generous helping of beans followed, along with a heaping pile of lettuce, tomatoes, and red onions. all simple ingredients by themselves, but once combined created a complex tapestry of flavors and textures. The frybread was crisp and airy, similar to a chalupa. i loved the fact that it wasn‘t soggy and greasy like some breads can be after frying. the beans added a creamy saltiness that complemented the crunch of the the lettuce and red onions perfectly. the best thing? the fry bread «taco» was completely vegetarian and vegan!
most people know i‘m a hardcore carnivore. i love a good, rare, steak. the fry bread was meat-​free; the beans were absolutely perfect for filling the void where meat could‘ve been. definitely one of the best vegan/​vegetarian meals i‘ve ever tried.
oh, also rocky rewarded our treacherous journey to find him with some of his sweet fry bread bits covered in powdered sugar! crisp, light and delicious, the sweet fry bread bits reminded me mini beignets! nomnomnom! xD
rocky‘s fry bread was definitely worth the journey, and i hope to everyone is fortunate enough to try one too! :D

Rocky is an artist, a visionary, a person of curious creativity. His fry bread mirrors his solid nature and attitude.
I had his fry bread and was delighted to have such a flavorful treat with powdered sugar and sweet honey to compliment the perfectly fried bread.
If that’s not enough he makes a Native American and Latin fusion taco that I almost wet my pants over. Amazingly there was no meat in it but even as a meat lover it was more than satisfying. Perfectly stewed beans and sriracha compliment the taco like I have never had before.
I was delighted to find out he works at El Rio bar 3 nights a week selling his food creations.
Thanks Rock you make me believe in a higher fried food power when I have food like yours.

As I recall, that monday night had started with a yummy Philz coffee, a visit to the epic six arms, three heads thing at civic center, and an emergency pee break at a taco shop. So what’s a dishy queer kid and one fey to do with two hours left to drink and blessedly empty bladders? Why, El Rio, of course!
But this is not about El Rio and their horrible bloody marys. Or other really bad other drinks. It’s about how while I was trying to choke a drink down, we landed, plop, on a bench in front of the fry bread man.
I should have known. It was fry bread monday. Oh the smells… burning fat… tender meats… delicious vegetable offerings… cheesy things… It was almost too much to bear. Suddenly, I wished I had saved my drink money to spend on tasty junk food.
Instead I got jokesey with Muffin to cover up my burning lust, and made unholy grimaces at my drink until he offered to drink it for me. Then laughed at him while he did. We hung out there, all nonchalant, for one and half FUCKING HOURS, until, FINALLY, in the middle of our conversation, he says, «Damnit, I really want a fry bread.»
«I thought you’d never SAY something. I WANT ONE TOO.»
Then he does a cruel, cruel thing. He cockblocks me.
«But are you really hungry? You just had a taco.» NO I’M NOT HUNGRY! THIS ISN’T ABOUT HUNGRY, MUFFIN.
Damn diabetics and their excellent eating habits.
Of course this is the part where he purchases an entire savory fry bread. And then offers me a single bite. Of that bite, I have only good things to say. It was hot and crispy soft, perfectly meaty, and onionytomatoeycheesy, rather like what a chalupa would be, if a chalupa wasn’t a slap in the face to your culinary sensibilities. In fact, a chalupa might be compared to when someone offers you a rim job, and then right before they give it, they back the fuck out. Of the Muffin, he is a mean, surly creature, and no one should be friends with him.
Either way, the fry bread delivered the goods, and then Rocky offered us a sweet one.
Also amazing. Not too sweet, sprinkled with organic powdered sugar and drizzled in organic honey, it was rather like a down to earth version of a beignet, and it settled in your stomach in a way that felt RIGHT. I actually got more than one bite this time, and then settled down to watch Muffin stab himself with insulin.
Thank you Rocky Fry Bread man, you made our night.
As the Muffin creature said, «It’s a good thing you do there.»
So bring fry bread, bring it hot and sweet and savory, and we will tip you and tip you well.

I was lucky enough to be at El Rio one night and came across Rocky and his deliciously fried delights.
Because he wasn’t cooking out of his little suitcase like he typically does when he’s on the street, he was offering both of his savory and sweet fry bread concoctions. The savory was piping hot, and topped with garlicky pinto beans, a sprinkling of cheese, tomato, and iceberg. Bar none, some of the best damn beans I’ve ever tasted.
He urged me to come back to taste the sweet bread, so naturally I did after downing the delicious savory treat that was topped with both honey and powdered sugar. Although fried, the pieces were not greasy at all, and were light and airy.
Although the bread is phenomenal in its own right, Rocky himself has the makings of a true San Francisco legend. He is ridiculously chill and will tell you some of the best stories while he gladly prepares his food for you.
I don’t know that this sliding scale food business is really how he pays his bills, but you can certainly taste how this is his labor of love.

I think it’s safe to say that Rocky’s Fry Bread is the absolutely most legit fry bread you’re going to get in San Francisco. I’ve had his cooking for a few years now in the southwest and it’s made with a strong but gentle hand and a ton of pride and care. Support this awesome dude doing awesome things in a city that severely lacks good home-​style Native American cooking! It’s more important to Rocky that you experience and share his food and he will work on a sliding scale for those who can’t afford it– sometimes he’ll even just give it to you, but if you’re the got the dough, definitely help him keep doing what he does!

We ran into Rocky and his authentic Navajo fry bread on a random night in the Mission outside a bar he happened to camp outside of because he wanted to hear the band that was playing that night. With his tiny fryer, vintage floral suitcase, assorted pots with flour and sugar, and a pumpkin trick-​or-​treat bucket for donations, he already had some groupies who swore by his fried deliciousness and we knew we had to get some too. The fry bread was hot hot hot like fire, crispy dough wrapped in aluminum foil with powdered sugar sprinkled on top and honey drizzled all over. Can’t get simpler than that.
If you are lucky enough to run into him, do yourself a favor, name your own price and treat yourself to something messy, gooey, crispy, sweet and fatty. you just can’t go wrong with anything fried right?

Rocky grew up on a hogan in the Southwest, without running water or electricity, and now he tweets the location of his fry bread cart on Twitter — Rocky epitomizes the technological revolution! His fry breads are fresh, hot, and doused in honey — a thing of wonder. Who doesn’t love fresh deep-​fried dough covered with sweet goo? And Rocky is a genial host — he chats away and tells great stories while frying up your high-​cal treat. Find him on twitter — @Rockysfrybread.