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".

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The patio will soon be pet-friendly; happy hour with half-price wine and $3 doms/wells/margs every Thur-Fri 5-9pm. For more info, get rok'd at the Facebook page.