KISS Opens Restaurant as Part of Potawatomi Casino Expansion

Posted on: August 2, 2023, 02:13h. 

Last updated on: August 2, 2023, 02:52h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas.

The Potawatomi Casino Hotel welcomed rock royalty on Tuesday, August 1. That’s when KISS co-founders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley showed up to open their 23rd Rock & Brews as part of the resort’s $190 million renovation project.

Gene Simmons of KISS, left, Potawatomi Casino Hotel CEO Dominic Ortiz, center, and Paul Stanley of KISS, right, cut the ribbon on a Rock & Brews near downtown Milwaukee on Tuesday. (Image: milwaukeemag.com)

“Look at this place, it’s gorgeous … and we’re proud to say it’s right here in the Brew City, as it should be,” Simmons said. “You see the correlation.”

The rock-themed American food chain was started by Stanley and Simmons in 2012 with partners Michael Zislis, and Michael and Dave Furano. It has expanded across the US, with six more slated to open this year.

It even includes a Rock & Brews Casino, opened last May in Braman, Okla.

Rock & Brews is a worldwide brand, with great dining and music,” Dominic Ortiz, the Potawatomi Casino Hotel CEO, told the crowd, according to milwaukeemag.com. “This is the best Rock & Brews ever built. This was the dream, to take the brand to a new level and bring excitement. You wanted the best; we brought you the best.”

The eatery’s menu, supported by 48 tap beers, consists of the expected KISS themes such as the Demon Chicken Sandwich, but also the Alice Cooper Poison Burger. Cooper was one of the band’s inspirations. Simmons called the chicken burger “as hot as a good punch in the mouth.”

The restaurant is part of a $190 million renovation of the Potawatomi, located near downtown Milwaukee. It was announced in May 2022 by the Forest County Potawatomi, which opened the property in 1991. The upgrades will include a new high-limit gaming room, which will also feature an upscale bar, a stage, and a brick-oven gourmet kitchen.

The resort’s casino floor will house 1,800 slot machines and a new bar with bar-top games, a first for the casino.

The casino already opened its new sportsbook this year, the first in Milwaukee, with the rest of the renovation scheduled to finish later this year.

Unfortunately, music at the grand opening was provided solely by a KISS cover band, and neither Simmons nor Stanley joined them for a song.