KISS Rock Stars Open New Rock & Brews PCH

It was a rock star-studded affair as KISS co-founders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley joined community members and business partners Wednesday to officially christen the new Rock & Brews Pacific Coast Highway in Riviera Village.

The rock duo spent the majority of the day and night at the grand opening that included a ribbon cutting, luncheon for wounded warriors and an evening gala benefiting the Torrance Education Foundation that surprised guests with a live performance by KISS themselves (see the live video above).

Rock & Brews PCH, which took the place of the shuttered Oliver's Restaurant at Pacific Coast Highway and Palos Verdes Boulevard, is the third of the rock and craft beer-themed restaurants to open for the franchise.

"We don't have to do this; we are rather wealthy," KISS guitarist and Rock & Brews co-partner Paul Stanley joked. "But the truth is, it is things like this that make life worth living... It is the excitement of doing something new and doing this is really an honor coming to your neighborhood."

Stanley, who said he is very familiar with the area because his wife grew up in Palos Verdes, added that the South Bay is well-suited for a restaurant like Rock & Brews.

"This is an awesome area," Stanley said. "This is a party town and that doesn't mean everyone isn't responsible, but everybody likes to get loose and enjoy the weekends and enjoy the evenings."

Wearing a nice suit and leather boots, Simmons emphasized the openness of the Rock & Brews brand and its ability to cater to everyone wearing anything they want.

"You can dress up – look how good I look – or you can dress down like you went to the forest and chopped some tress," Simmons joked, pointing to a certain Patch brews news columnist wearing a plaid shirt (who will remain nameless).

Rock & Brews PCH owner John Mesko, who was able to demolish the old Oliver's building and open the new Rock & Brews in just over 130 days, said that he hopes the restaurant's upscale but casual feel will appeal to the neighborhood.

"The neighbors expressed their wishes to make it a nicer restaurant and we did," Mesko said. "If we went to a place that just wants $5 beer and a $6 burger, maybe we would scale it down a bit... The community has spoken and they said we want a nice place here locally."

Both Mesko and Rock & Brews partner Michael Zislis emphasized that they hope the new location will bring more people into the Riviera Village that will also patronized other businesses, restaurants and bars.

"I am really proud of what I have built... It is really going to be a jewel in the community," Zislis said. "I know that if you go to El Segundo (the first Rock & Brews location) and you talk to the businesses there, all their business has gone up because we are drawing people... Activity breeds activity."

The new Rock & Brews PCH will feature more than 70 craft beers on tap, with the typical light yellow fizzy beers not making the list. Both Simmons and Stanley said they have recognized the growth of craft beer and hope to prominently feature it in their restaurants. 

"The craft of beer and the craft of making beer has elevated so much," Stanley told Patch. "People who love beer are now making the beer... We want to highlight that and feature some of the best beers around."

Simmons also said that he hopes to promote local brewers who are starting off small. On Wednesday, a host of South Bay beers were featured on tap including beers from Strand Brewing Company, The Dudes' Brewing, Monkish Brewing and El Segundo Brewing Company.

"It is good for the local economy and it is good for craft beer makers," Simmons said of highlighting the local beers. "Even when you look at Budweiser, it started off as one person, a barrel and hard work... Everything starts small."

As for the future of Rock & Brews, the franchise hopes to expand to more than 100 locations in the next five years, the partners said. And while the KISS duo is mostly likely set for life from their illustrious rock careers, both said they got involved in Rock & Brews because they believed in the franchise.

"If you are excited about something, you do it because it's exciting," said Simmons. "You want to go out there and do exciting things while you are alive and maybe do some good for the local economy... and maybe have a good time and party. What is wrong with that?"

Here is what else is happening on the South Bay's craft beer scene this week (May 9-16):

Beer Bars, Restaurants and Stores

Select Beer Store | Redondo Beach

Drake's Alpha Session Release | Thursday, May 9 | 5 p.m.

Select Beer will host the release of the seasonal hoppy session ale, Alpha Session. The bar will also be pouring some of their rare releases including:

• Dire Straits (American Barleywine)
• Brette Davis Eyes (Belgian-style Blonde aged in Merlot barrels with Brett for 1.5 years!)

Vella Mobile Wood-Fired Pizza will be serving up their fresh made and delicious pizzas to complement the beer.

Stone More Gargoyle | Thursday, May 16 | 5 p.m. - midnight

Select Beer will be pouring some of Stone's very rare as well as flagship beers on tap including:

• Levitation
• IPA
• Arrogant Bastard
• MixTape Vol. 4 - RK & JM's Blend
• Sublimely Self-Righteous with Espresso Beans
• 2013 Old Guardian Oak-Smoked Barley Wine with American and French Oak. 

The store will also have some very special, very limited Quingenti Millilitre bottles including:

• 11.11.11 Vertical Epic Ale aged in Red Wine Barrels
• Green Flash / Pizza Port Carlsbad / Stone Highway 78 Scotch Ale aged in Scotch Whisky Barrels: "Chuck / Jeff / Mitch" Blend
• 2010 Old Guardian Barley Wine aged in Bourbon Barrels.

Bottles are limit one per customer, for on-site consumption only.

Local BBQ and South Bay Brews | Saturday, May 18 | noon-midnight

All day Saturday, Select Beer will be hosting a Local Brewer's BBQ, a total tap takeover featuring local favorites El Segundo Brewing, The Brewery at Abigaile, Monkish Brewing, The Dudes' Brewing Co., Smog City Brewing, Strand Brewing, and Beachwood BBQ & Brewing. Wyatt's BBQ will be cooking up fresh BBQ on their mobile rig.

Naja's Place | Redondo Beach

Goose Island Keep the Glass Night | Thursday, May 23 | 7 p.m.

Naja's Place will feature Chicago's Goose Island Brewing Company for a keep the glass night. The full tap list has not yet been released but Naja's said it will have the highly sought after Bourbon County Stout on tap for the evening.

Sophie's Place | Redondo Beach

Central Cali Tap Takover | Sunday, May 19 | 3-7 p.m.

Sophie's will be hosting Firestone Walker and Figueroa Mountain Brewing for a Central Cali Tap Takeover. More details will be released later via the Sophie's Facebook page, but owners have confirmed the following on tap:

• §ucaba
• Parabola
• Big Cone Black Ale
• Figueroa Mountain's 2nd Ann. Grand Cru

Current tap list at Sophie's Place as of May 8 includes:

• Eel River Brewing Company - California Blonde
• Iron Fist Brewing Company - Imperial Rebellion Imperial Saison
• Firestone Walker Brewing Co. - Double Barrel Ale
• New Belgium Brewing+ Brasserie Brasserie Dieu du ciel! - Heavenly Feijoa Tripel
• Green Flash Brewing Co. - Saison Diego
• Bear Republic Brewing Co. - Hop Rod Rye IPA
• Oskar Blues Brewery - Gubna Imperial IPA
• Allagash Brewing Company - Bourbon-Barrel Aged Allagash Black Stout

1321 Downtown Taproom | Torrance

Monday Night Local Happy Hour | Mondays | 5 p.m. - Close

On Monday nights, 1321 features a $3 local beer night. Every Monday, anything from the South Bay on tap will be $3 after Happy Hour to close. This week's local beers are:

• Strand 24th Street Pale Ale
• Strand Atticus IPA
• Monkish Triplest
• El Segundo Citra Pale Ale
• Dudes' Blood Orange Amber

Reverse Happy Hour | Fridays and Saturdays | 9:30 p.m. - Close

All craft beer at 1321 becomes $2 off starting at 9:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Breweries

Smog City Brewing Co. | Torrance

Smog City has been holding soft openings on Fridays and Saturdays and will continue to hold limited weekend hours until its grand opening on Saturday, May 18.

Current taproom hours are:

Friday: 4-9 p.m.
Saturday: 4-8 p.m.

Strand Brewing Co. | Torrance

Current beers on tap at the Torrance taproom include:

• Beach House Amber
• 24th Street Pale Ale
• Atticus IPA
• Second Sleep Russian Imperial Stout
• Black Sand Double IPA
• White Sand Double IPA
• Musashi Black IPA

Tap room hours this week for beer tasting and growler fills are:

Thursday: 4-9 p.m.
Friday: 4-9 p.m.
Saturday: Noon-8 p.m.
Sunday: Noon-6 p.m.

El Segundo Brewing | El Segundo 

Tap room hours for beer tasting and growler fills are:

Wednesday: 5-9 p.m.
Thursday: 5-9 p.m.
Friday: 5-9 p.m.
Saturday: 2-9 p.m.
Sunday: 2-7 p.m.

Monkish Brewing Co. | Torrance

Tap room hours this week for beer tasting and growler fills are:

Thursday: 4-9 p.m.
Friday: 4-9 p.m.
Saturday: 3-8 p.m.
Sunday: 1-6 p.m.

Other Craft Beer Events

Total Wine & More | Redondo Beach

Summer Solstice: Beers of Summer | Thursday, May 16 | 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Nothing tastes better than an ice-cold beer on a hot summer day.  Now, you can discover the hottest beers of the summer season at Total Wine & More’s Summer Solstice: Seasonal Beers of Summer class. Guests will enjoy a thirst-quenching tour of the most unique and delicious summer offerings from local and regional craft breweries.

Classes are $15 and can be reserved in the store.

Editor's Note: Only establishments that have submitted updates are included in this column. If you own a beer bar, brewery, beer store or beer-centric restaurant in the South Bay of Los Angeles and would like to include your establishment's updates in this column, please send editor John Schreiber an email at John.Schreiber@Patch.com. This column relies on the updates from local business owners to keep it running—please contribute!

Full Disclosure: John loves working around craft beer and as such, is an employee of Select Beer Store one day per week. However, he is not involved in the store's submission process for this article.