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Rock & Brews Downey is located at the popular Stonewood shopping center and is the brand’s ninth location in California. As the largest location in Los Angeles County to date, the 8,400-square foot, rock-inspired restaurant, features a private dining area that can seat up to 100 guests and serves as the perfect setting for all types of events.

 

All Photos & Interview: Ray Soto / Central Coast Rocks

RockandBrews.com
CourageForward.org

KISSonline.com

 

 

ROCK AND ROLL LEGENDS PAUL STANLEY AND GENE SIMMONS HOST GRAND OPENING ACTIVITIES

FOR ROCK & BREWS DOWNEY

 

 

Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley rock legends and co-founders of Rock & Brews restaurants, attended grand opening activities for the new location in Downey on Tuesday, August 29, 2017. Celebration activities included a ribbon cutting and private luncheon at 1 p.m. hosted by the rock icons for more than 100 veterans and active military, as well as an evening event from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. that included a sampling of Rock & Brew’s quality American Comfort food.

 

Guests have access to a full-service bar that showcases a selection of more than 100 craft and international beers. With abundant seating, families are welcome to enjoy the custom play structure for kids, large scale Jenga, and board games available on the dog-friendly covered patio. With numerous flat screen televisions displaying concert-style rock videos and sporting events, Rock & Brews Downey is the perfect spot to gather with friends and family to pay tribute to rock legends, good food and the best brews!

 

Monster Godzilla Burgers. Gluten Free Beers, as many as fifty to a hundred Craft Beers. There’s so much great food. As much fun as you can have with your pants on.” KISS & Rock & Brews co - founder Gene Simmons told us before the day’s festivities began when asked about his favorite menu items.

 

 

A portion of proceeds from the evening event benefited the local Non-Profit Organization Courage Forward

 

“We are very excited to be a part of the beautiful city of Downey and look forward to contributing to the flourishing community with our unique dining and entertainment experience,” said Stanley and Simmons in a joint statement. “We also look forward to honoring the veterans and active military who dedicate their lives for our country.” “I think just the fact that the Military doesn’t get the attention, respect or care that they deserve is staggering.” Stanley added when asked about KISS’s history of helping our nations Veterans.

 

 

About Rock & Brews

 

Rock & Brews is a one-of-a-kind, rock-inspired restaurant and entertainment concept designed to engage people of all ages with quality comfort food and local favorites, a broad selection of craft and international beers, and an energized environment that is reminiscent of being at a family-friendly music event.

Founded by rock icons Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS, along with partners, restaurateur Michael Zislis and concert industry veterans Dave and Dell Furano, the first Rock & Brews opened near Los Angeles International Airport in Southern California in April of 2012. Each location boasts a backstage environment showcasing a “Great Wall of Rock,” iconic rock art, concert trusses and lighting and multiple flat screens sharing some of the greatest rock concert moments of all time. Most offer a play area for kids and many are dog friendly. For more information, please visit www.rockandbrews.com

 

 

About Courage Forward

 

A revolutionary new concept, where at-promise youth unite with Veterans to find purpose together; forming unique tribes in which courage forward becomes a way of life. Our Veterans and at-promise youth strive to become bigger than themselves through inspiring, teaching and learning.

Across America, one-third of all our youth have no positive role model; so many missing fathers, broken families, or families just struggling to make ends meet. On top, these same youth then face new heights as they attempt to transcend from middle school to high school and wrestle with more pressure around “who am I?” and/or about “being a man” – yet having no idea what that means. These youth are sadly lost. We believe these lost youth fall into twoyouth groups: Just Lost or In Crisis At-promise youth will be matched with a primary vet within a team, but will have the family support of the whole group. Connecting with communities around work, fun, and giving back; being of service and building a stronger community.

 

 

 

Interview with Gene Simmons & Paul Stanley

 

Central Coast Rocks: Thank You for your continued support of our Veterans, most notably the Wounded Warrior Project. As with each Rock & Brews opening, Veterans & First Responders are first through the door. Was there a certain Event or Personality that inspired you to support our troops and veterans?

 

Gene Simmons: My Mother is my biggest inspiration, in life and work and everything else. But from her perspective she was fourteen when she was in a Nazi concentration camp and our whole family was wiped out, my Mother survived. And if it wasn’t for the Americans coming there, they did a good thing. They took out the bad guys and opened the gates. I was born a few years after that and slowly through the eyes of my Mother I learned that even though I was born in the Promised Land Israel, that the only real Promised Land is America. Nowhere else can first generations, legal immigrants come here and access all the power, all the potential that native born Americans have for hundreds and hundreds of years. So if your family has been here for generations and I’m a first generation legal immigrant I go right to the head of the line with you. I have the same opportunities. That is more than I ever expected, I would understand if America said look you just came here, go to the back of the line, that’s fair.

 

Paul Stanley: I think just the fact that the Military doesn’t get the attention, respect or care that they deserve is staggering. My Mom fled Berlin before World War Two and then fled Amsterdam and what’s proven time and time again, who saves the world? The Troops, our American Troops save the world time and time again. It’s staggering that the Military are people who are Volunteeers. Volunteering to go into harm’s way to protect the Country they love and come back and aren’t….forget about rewarded, they aren’t given what they need. It’s a sin, it really is, so if the Government can’t do it then we have to do it ourselves because they did it for us. So for us to open our doors first in a ceremony for our Troops is really a small way that we can spotlight their plight. We’re talking about proud men and women, and we’re not only talking about them but how their service impacts their families, their children. So it’s important for somebody to stand up and speak out, it’s important for somebody to do something in addition, and that’s to write a check. We can all do that, I always tell people you don’t give until it hurts, you give until it feels good. You should know what you’re capable of giving and give it. People have given, given everything and they’ve come back, some of them broken. Rock & Brews is terrific because it’s a way for us to enjoy our lives, for everyone to enjoy what this Country is and at the same time make sure that we’re giving back and paying tribute. We’ve done that with the band, there’s times we’ve given a dollar from every ticket to Wounded Warrior Care Project or other organizations. It’s easy to talk it, but you gotta walk it, and we try to do both.

 

 

Central Coast Rocks: Rock & Brews opened its first location ( El Segundo ) Five years ago in 2012, what are some things you Rockers have learned being in the Restaurant Business and what are the Restaurant’s goals in the coming years ?

 

Gene Simmons: The more you get involved with Rock & Brews the more you realize this is a privilege, that it’s not a necessity, and that people don’t have to leave their homes to get a bite to eat. Think about it, it’s so much easier to stay at home and order, the food comes there and the food’s good, not a problem. I’m not saying there’s anything substandard about that. So you stay at home, you watch T.V., you don’t have to fight traffic, deal with baby sitters. You’re going to do us the honor of coming out to a Rock & Brews? You’re going to fight traffic, you’re going to do all that stuff. The least we can do, if you aren’t a Rock Star is make you feel like one from the time you walk in through that door. That’s why people love it, we are always full.

 

Paul Stanley: I’ve always believed that if you address your own needs, you address the needs of other people. So whether it’s being the band someone never saw, doing the kind of show no one saw, or being the restaurant that people should frequent. Rock & Brews is Kid Friendly and Pet Friendly. I found that if I wanted to spend some time with my children during the day I had to kind of resolve and resign myself to having either a rubber hamburger or macaroni and cheese served by a giant rat. So here’s a place where you can have great food, this restaurant doesn’t need a theme to have great food. We are at the top of the food chain in terms of what we’re doing quality wise. Yeah we love Rock & Roll but this isn’t funereal, we don’t have dead musician’s socks on the wall, this is about loving life today, loving your neighbor, loving your friends and celebrating. We always have between 80 and 100 Craft Beers, we have great food and our staff is happy to be here. It’s the restaurant I wanted to come to so it’s probably the restaurant most people want to come to

 

 

Central Coast Rocks: I’ve never seen anyone have a bad experience at any of the Rock & Brews locations

 

Gene Simmons: No, and if you do you pinpoint it by what went wrong because you want to fix it. One little hole in a big ship can sink the whole ship.

 

Paul Stanley: It’s really true, it’s a place that once you go to, you go back to, for all reasons. The ambiance, the food, the comradery. It’s the restaurant, again, I want to go to.

 

 

Central Coast Rocks: Rock & Brews Menu offers a creative spin on fresh, quality American comfort food, what are some of your personal favorite dishes?

 

Gene Simmons: Well I just went on a diet so that means salads and protein. But a short time ago bearnaise on the Desserts, there’s also Bread Pudding. As much fun as you can have with your pants on, see what I did there? Monster Godzilla Burgers. Gluten Free Beers, as many as fifty to a hundred Craft Beers. There’s so much great food.

 

Paul Stanley: We have a burger called the Gastropub with a fried egg and bacon, cheese. You can eat that on the way to the gym. We have great pretzels, huge dough pretzels where we bring the dough in from Germany. Great Fish Tacos, great Pulled Pork. Terrific Pizza, Gluten Free Pizza, we have great Salads. I cant pick just one, because all the food is great, it’s just a matter of what you’re in the mood for.

 

 

Central Coast Rocks: Rock & Brews also helps support each location’s local community in a variety of ways, tell us about that

 

Gene Simmons: The very first day, the Grand Opening is dedicated to our Veterans. Always. All the Vets and their families are allowed in. We honor them, we actually say the Pledge of Allegiance, which many people haven’t said since they were, five or ten. Those words are important because people have died for those words. So we do that and we also give them a big fat check locally so it doesn’t get eaten up by beaurocracy and all that stuff

 

Paul Stanley: We’re not coming in to plunder a neighborhood. We’re members of the community and we want to know what’s going on, how we can help. We bring in local produce as much as possible, obviously we hire local people. We’re not blind to where we are and that’s why we get involved with local Military groups, we get involved with local Charities. There’s no reason you cant have a great time, have a profitable business and still make sure you acknowledge the people around you

 

 

Central Coast Rocks: Final words for your fans of Rock & Brews and KISS

 

Gene Simmons: Well, KISS continues, we’re very lucky. We’re touring all the time in some place in the world and you can find out. But my suggestion to anyone who wants to check it out, (Rock & Brews) don’t call ahead and tell people you’re coming. Just come to any Rock & Brews unannounced and you’ll be blown away.

 

Paul Stanley: We’re here this long because we’re doing something right and we’re going to continue doing it.

 

RockandBrews.com         KISSonline.com

CourageForward.org
 

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