Lawndale Tribune AND lAwNDAle News The Weekly Newspaper of Lawndale Herald Publications - Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale, El Segundo, Torrance & Manhattan Beach Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 - May 5, 2016 Second Term Begins for Mayor Lawndale Mayor Robert Pullen-Miles and his family, after he is sworn in by Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson, right. Pullen-Miles was re-elected by voters. Photo by John E. Hocking Where Rock Fans Head For A Strange Brew By Rob McCarthy Rock & Brews has leapt from a corner nobody wanted in El Segundo onto a national stage using the KISS principle. From Southern California to San Antonio, fans of rock music, burgers, buffalo wings and beer have embraced the bar-and-grill concept that co-founder Michael Zislis and his rock-star partners started four years ago in the South Bay. Rock & Brews from the beginning had a simple proposition: Give the people grub, grog and a good time. Zislis recalls partners - Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS - having a lukewarm reaction to the original location, which had been a pizza restaurant until the economy tanked in 2008. Dave Furano, a rock promoter and business partner, pushed for the flagship Rock & Brews to start on Main Street in El Segundo. Dave’s brother, Dell, also got involved before the concept took off. Rock & Brews is one of America’s fastestgrowing small restaurant chains, according to Restaurant Business journal. The 15 locations include Albuquerque, N.M.; Buena Park; Cabo, Mexico; The Colony, Texas; Corona, Calif.; Oklahoma City; Overland Park, Kan.; Oviedo, Fla.; Paia, Maui; and at StubHub Center in Carson and the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. A Dallas Rock & Brews just opened and will celebrate with a grand opening May 10. It’s much bigger than either the El Segundo or Pacific Coast Highway restaurants, and the menu has some regional favorites like fried catfish, sweet heat chicken and Miner’s Gold BBQ with a sweet mustard base. What Dallas, PCH and El Segundo have in common is parking. Some reviewers on Yelp complain about the parking, which is valet. It’s not that there’s too little in Dallas. Self-parking isn’t practical at the newest location, they say. South Bayans could step into the Dallas restaurant and not skip a beat, Zislis said. The designer kept the open-air seating and the red-barn look and high ceilings, but the picnic benches are pushed apart. It seems, Texans like their personal space. Gene Simmons is the star attraction in the enterprise, and co-KISS member Paul Stanley is a close second. Their other two partners, Dell and Dave Furano, are rock promoters with a glitzy client list that includes Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Grateful Dead and George Harrison. The musicians and the roadies know how to drink beer. Michael Zislis knows how to make it. Zislis attained master brewer status while a student at the University of Southern California, and brought to the Rock & Brew concept his expertise and background in craft beer and food service. Zislis opened his Manhattan Beach Brewing Company in the 1980s, before beer was trendy. Rock & Brews carries locally crafted brews at each of its locations, making a visit to any of the restaurants outside Southern California a chance to sample new beers. The decor screams rock ‘n’ roll, but beer is celebrated as much as KISS and the legendary bands plastered on the walls. Before a new restaurant opens, the owners meet with local breweries to sample and decide which up-and-comers the bar staff will promote when they’re asked about the hometown selections. He’s introduced the El Segundo Brewery and its Mayberry IPA to Southwest and Delta travelers who’ve grabbed a bar stool waiting for a flight at Los Angeles International Airport. The Rock & Brews concept features a menu built on American appetites for burgers, wings and beers. People living in New Mexico and Texas don’t eat the same way that Southern Californians do, so a regional specialities section was added to the menu once expansion got under way. A New Mexico diner wants green chiles on his burger, and in Florida they like their barbecue sauce made with mustard, according to Zislis. A kale salad, which is a top seller at the South Bay and Buena Park restaurants, isn’t listed on the menus outside of Southern California. Zislis said as many as eight more restaurants could open this year and a dozen more in 2017. The company doesn’t own or operate all of the locations, though the partners want to open more of their own around Southern California. • Mayor and Council Members Installed More than 30 visitors and community members lined the standing room only chambers of the Lawndale City Council last week to witness the installation of reelected Council Members Dan Reid and James H. Osborne, alongside re-elected Mayor Robert Pullen-Miles. The special meeting proceeded with a cavalcade of local legislators and community leaders expressing their congratulations and best wishes to the Council. The Honorable Herb Wesson, president of the Los Angeles City Council was on hand to swear Mayor Pullen in to his second term. Pullen thanked the city for their continued confidence in him and thanked his wife the first lady and his daughters, as his source of inspiration. Councilman Reid was sworn in by the Reverend Michael Harrison. Councilman Osborne was sworn in by the City Clerk. The election was certified by a vote of the council and the Oath of Allegiance was sworn by each of the newly elected members. Jeffrey Prang presented the council with a commendation from the office of the Los Angeles County Tax Assessor. He thanked the council for its leadership and public service. “You should know how highly regarded the city of Lawndale is within the local principalities,” said Prang. In the final action item of the evening, Osborne nominated Pat Kearney to serve as mayor pro tem, to fill the chair of the late Larry Rudolph. The motion was seconded by the mayor. With Kearney abstaining, the vote carried. Kearns will serve the remainder of Rudolph’s term, through May 2017. • Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.......................8 Classifieds............................3 Food.......................................5 Hawthorne Happenings....3 Legals............................2, 5-7 Pets........................................8 Police Reports.....................7 Sports....................................4 Weekend Forecast Friday Mostly Cloudy 63˚/55˚ Saturday Mostly Cloudy 63˚/55˚ Sunday Mostly Cloudy 63˚/55˚
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