Rok Republic
2922 N. Hall St.; Uptown; 214.999.0053
According to Dalton, the first rule of bouncing is "Be nice until it's time to not be nice", which does nothing to answer the question "Wouldn't it be nice if I didn't have to be a bouncer?" Going from manning doors to opening his own, the guy behind Rok Republic.
Now ramping up at Hall and McKinney, Rok's an indoor/outdoor lounge & grill helmed by a burly ex-door manager (kind of a bouncer/maitre d') at Dolce Group's Les Deux in Hollywood; he moved to Dallas for the company, but recently broke free to work out a nightlife concept he describes as "Motley Crue meets Louis XIV", or, Motley Crue, 10 minutes after cashing their first royalty check. Decor's dominated by heavy stone & wrought metal, with a thick chandelier-sentried bar and moodily lit red sofas guarded by iron roses in vases; outside, the vinyl furniture'd masonry patio sports a heavily flatscreen'd bar and a projection monitor that reflects off a sheet of water, making Wind so realistic, an astonished Matthew Modine would inadvertently break it. Fun juice runs from the vodka/cinnamon schnapps/Baileys "Velvet Revolvrr" to the OJ-splashed/Grand Marnier-spiked "Rok'n Ree-Da"; DJs will spin the hard stuff (Thu: Joe Vega, Fri: Ivy; Sat: Inzo...), and to complete the theme, the female waitstaff is dressing like rocker schoolgirls, because what's a bigger turn-on than Lolita Ford?
On Nov 12, Rok's launching a 22-item menu by an NYC chef known for his steaks, with meaty offerings including the “Rockin' Grandma” steak sandwich (with green apples & grilled Gouda/American), and the Rok Burger, with onion rings and both bacon and prosciutto -- in keeping with the first rule of burgers, "Be bacon, until it's time to be more bacon".
