Rock & Brews, Royal Oak’s newest restaurant and entertainment complex, is a three-story kaleidoscope of music decor with a Detroit twist.
Co-founded by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of the rock band Kiss, the 12,000-square-foot site boasts a menu with a diverse mix of classic bar eats — wings, burgers, pizza — along with comfort food, healthy items and kids’ options.
It is, in Stanley’s words, a new “headquarters for Royal Oak.”
“It’s really a neighborhood place,” Stanley told the Free Press. “It’s a place to hang out. It’s a great place to bring a date. It’s a great place to bring your family at the right times. We’re really proud of it. We have 20 locations and there’s no end in sight.”
In Royal Oak, franchisees are brothers Tony and Danny Yezbick, who have partnered with Detroit radio personality Drew Lane. The brothers are owners of Royal Oak bar Fifth Avenue and the 562 Main Piano Bar.
Tony Yezbick said he and his brother first experienced a Rock & Brews in Orlando, Florida.
“We said this feels very Royal Oak, and we could make it cool. We had no idea that is was going to be this cool,” Yezbick said.”
Inside there’s a lot to recognize in Detroit music history, he said.
“The first floor is a full dining restaurant, but you get a good rock ‘n’ roll vibe with rock ‘n’ roll videos playing. You feel the atmosphere right away, and then the second floor will be additional dining and we have our stage.”
The Royal Oak location will open to the public at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, March 19. A lunch event on Wednesday, March 18, was for invited media, friends and family. Simmons will be on hand April 9 for grand opening festivities.
Nearly every nook and cranny is filled with art and installations devoted to music stars, including many from Detroit: Stevie Wonder, Eminem, Diana Ross, Bob Seger, the White Stripes, Aretha Franklin. The space features an attention to craftsmanship and an eye for detail, such as lighting fixtures designed with drumsticks.
All Rock & Brews locations include a Motown presence, but the Royal Oak site has more than most, said CEO Adam Goldberg. That includes a curtained-off Motown Room in the main dining area, which can be reserved for group occasions. (Stanley is an avid lifelong fan of Motown music — a passion he pursues with his Soul Station band project.)
And then, of course, there’s Kiss, including a band mural at the front entrance topped by a neon Detroit Rock City sign. More of the band’s memorabilia is featured throughout, including concert posters, backstage passes and ticket stubs.
An inset stage on the second floor will feature a regular lineup of live music, including a recurring Tribute Thursdays featuring rock cover bands.
The third level of Rock & Brews is a rooftop deck that includes indoor bar seating, an area with comfy sofa seating and a outdoor patio.
Throughout all the levels are multiple TVs — more than 30 screens plus a 16-foot-wide screen behind the second floor stage.
For Stanley and Simmons, Detroit has been a priority market since Rock & Brews was founded in 2012. This is the region, after all, that embraced Kiss first and most fervently in the 1970s.
“When this was launched, the idea of Detroit was obviously a no-brainer,” Stanley said. “And as it turns out, the three most important things when opening a business or buying a house is location, location, location. So to have this spot in Royal Oak is fantastic.”
Rock & Brews is opening on Fifth Avenue in the former Pastaio, a pasta and pizza spot. Before Pastaio, the location was home to HopCat and Woody’s.
The Royal Oak location is the first multilevel, stand-alone Rock & Brews. Many of the chain’s locations are in casinos and airports.
The rock theme runs throughout: Tables are decorated with band logos. The downstairs bar is flanked by a pair of Marshall amps. The menu’s headers are in various band fonts, including AC/DC, Iron Maiden, the Beatles.
On Wednesday, the PA system pumped out classic rock tunes and the occasional country song.
“The idea of Rock & Brews really came out of obviously loving rock ‘n’ roll, but also wanting to give people — no matter what age demographic — great food and great times,” Stanley said. When I think I wanted to take my kids somewhere, for example, I had to have cardboard pizza served by a giant rat. So the idea of this is to have great food. And we always do.”
Food comes first at Rock & Brews
Guests will likely be wowed by all the music memorabilia, but Goldberg said food is top priority.
“We are a restaurant first; we are concert bar second,” he said. “Food is very important — everything from a beautiful gourmet steak to burgers to chicken pot pie and pizza.”
He noted that the chain’s new Highway to Health menu offers four dishes geared toward healthier fare, including protein bowls and a poke bowl.
The Rock & Brews food offerings, spelled out in a menu that resembles an LP cover, are vast. Many dishes have names that pay tribute to rock ‘n’ roll, including the Back in Blackened Pasta, the Alice Cooper Poison Burger and the Demon Chicken named after Simmons.
“I love the fish tacos,” Stanley told the Free Press. “They’re amazing. The pulled pork is amazing. We have a Bavarian pretzel. We actually bring the dough in from Germany. That pretzel is off the hook.“
The signature Rockin’ Hot Wings at Rock & Brews are $18.99 and offered bone-in or boneless. They have a spicy kick, but are cooled down by house-made blue cheese dressing. Ten-inch pizzas (priced around $15.99) are offered in five varieties. Big Bang Shrimp tacos ($17.99) feature fried shrimp on a bed of chipotle slaw in a soft tortilla. They’re served with chips, pico de gallo, sauce and cilantro. Craft burgers start at $17.99. A $9.99 kids menu is available.
One menu item exclusive to Royal Oak is the Rockin’ Ribeye served with a zip sauce, a sauce created in Detroit and found at many metro Detroit steakhouses.
Happy Hour runs 3-6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 3-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Offerings include $6 beer, wine and cocktails, and $7 bites, including cheeseburger or chicken sliders, popcorn shrimp and grilled chicken quesadillas.
Kiss set aside its makeup and platform boots following a farewell tour that wrapped in 2023, but guitarist Stanley, 74, said he’s still driven “to do everything possible” so long as he’s here. For him and Simmons, Rock & Brews is part of that journey.
“Some people live by why. And I live by why not,” he said. “That’s what got me where I am. I think we share the idea that there’s always another mountain to climb. You climb a mountain, you look, and you see another one next to it. As long as it’s worth the effort and the energy and you feel comfortable with endorsing something and being a part of it, I go, why not?”
Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com. Contact Detroit Free Press food and restaurant writer Susan Selasky at sselasky@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Rock & Brews restaurant in Royal Oak: Everything to know about opening
Reporting by Brian McCollum and Susan Selasky, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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