Rock & Brews Introduces Its New Lunch Menu & Brings Back Live Music! 

Like many of you, when Rock & Brews opened to big crowds of people on S.R. 56 in front of the Tampa Premium Outlets in Oct. 2020 — as things began re-opening after the Covid-19 pandemic hit — I was excited to have not only a new restaurant that wasn’t part of a giant chain but also a new live music venue. 

Well, more than three years later, the 23-unit (seven of which are owned by local franchisee Scott Paul) mini-chain that started in California in 2012 — inspired, co-founded and owned in part by Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of the ‘70s rock group KISS — continues to add new menu items, especially for lunch, and has brought back live music on Friday nights. 

General manager Kareem Nelson says that the new “VIP Early Access” lunch menu (which is available from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. every day), which was just rolled out a few days before this issue went to press, has already been well-received by his customers — and for good reason. 

Among those new lunch items are the “Islands in the Sun” shrimp tacos (which of course, I can’t eat, but Jannah and photographer Charmaine George agreed that they were only slightly spicy and delicious), with a sriracha-based sauce and mango salsa; personal-sized margherita and pepperoni pizzas; a BBQ trio special (1/3 rack of signature baby back ribs with a unique mustard BBQ sauce, grilled BBQ wings & smoked pulled pork); and my favorite — the birria beef dip sandwich, which is slow-cooked birria beef served on an artisan ciabatta roll with mayo, Chihuahua cheese, thin-sliced yellow onions and flash-fried jalapeños, with a side of birria consommé dipping sauce. The birria is spot-on tender and the consommé has a flavor all its own. 

Other new $12 lunch menu items include a huge, shareable tray of BBQ pork nachos with mixed cheeses, pico de gallo, primo queso, lime crema, fresh jalapeños and chopped cilantro, “Buffalo Springfield” chicken tacos, roasted cream chicken and mojo pulled pork bowls, “Sweet Heat” fried chicken and cedar plank salmon served with a sweet & smoky BBQ sauce, rockin’ rice and fresh broccoli. 

Kareem says the best-selling lunch menu items, however, are the blackened shrimp Strawberry Fields salad, with baby greens, strawberries, avocadoes, cucumbers, red onions, candied walnuts, feta cheese and lemon pepper vinaigrette — and the new smash burger. “But, everything we make is from scratch,” he says. “Our customers really seem to appreciate that.” 

For dessert, there’s a new S’mores Dip, which is enough for at least 3-4 people. Kareem says they melt milk chocolate chips and toast a large amount of marshmallows and top it with chocolate syrup and powdered sugar, with a generous supply of softer-than-usual graham crackers to dip. It’s so decadent that it’s hard to stop at just one or two graham crackers each (we didn’t), but it was hard to walk out of there after we all wolfed it all down. 

For those who have the ability to day drink, there also are some new drink specials on the VIP Early Access menu, including a very tasty Bourbon Street amaretto sour, with Benchmark single barrel bourbon, Amaretto DiSaronno, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup and aquafaba. There’s also a smoked Rock ‘N Roll Old Fashioned made with Buffalo Trace bourbon, simple syrup, Angostura bitters, Amarena Toschi Italian black cherries and orange peel. 

And, speaking of bourbon, Kareem says that with all of the customer requests for more bourbon at the Wesley Chapel/Lutz location, he has added a huge variety of both popular and rare brands, from Woodford Reserve and Knob Creek to American Legend Hell House by Lynyrd Skynyrd and Bespoken…and many more. 

You gin lovers have two new options — the Pink 75 made with Beefeater gin, St. Germain elderflower liqueur, grapefruit juice, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup and prosecco (Jannah got it made with Tito’s vodka instead and loved it), and the Bee’s G’s Knees, which is made with Beefeater, blackberries, blueberries, basil, wild berry purée, honey simple syrup, lemon juice and aquafaba. The Bee’s G’s Knees is served topped with a cool-looking heated bubble that releases smoke when it pops. There also are two new mules, a new mojito and much more. 

The Return Of Live Music 

Although Jannah and I have also always enjoyed the rock videos at Rock & Brews, we weren’t the only ones excited for the return of live bands on Friday nights to the restaurant. 

“Our bands know that this isn’t a concert hall,” Kareem says. “They’re mainly background noise. We want you to still be able to have a conversation at your table when they’re playing.” 

Check the Rock & Brews Facebook page to see what bands are playing on upcoming Friday nights. 

In addition to the live music schedule, Kareem, who recently joined the BNI Alliance networking group, says his assistant GM Devin Johnson comes up with creative ways to attract more customers, including “concert” events where all the videos playing will be of a certain artist’s music, “and we’ll have special drink and food menus to go with the music. We had very successful Tom Petty and KISS ‘concerts’ here. Our next one is a Queen ‘concert’ on Saturday, April 6. For special events like these, we make the entire restaurant feel like a concert hall, so people who never got to see Freddie Mercury can almost feel like they’re experiencing him live.” 

Rock & Brews (26000 S.R. 56 W., Lutz) is open Mon.-Thur., 11 a.m.-11 p.m., 11 a.m.-midnight on Fri. & Sat. & 10 a.m.- 10:30 p.m. on Sun. For info, call (813) 800- 7625, visit RockandBrews.com.