( Rolling Stone ) -- Just hours before the opening ceremony of his new Rock & Brews chain , Gene Simmons caused a minor stir on Twitter during a `` Fox and Friends '' interview in which he endorsed Mitt Romney for president , claiming that `` America is a business and should be run by a businessman . '' Such a blatantly capitalist statement is n't surprising from Simmons -- as he told Rolling Stone minutes before he 'd make his red carpet entrance with his family in tow , `` I 'm not outspoken , I just say things that make people say , 'yeah , you 're right . ' I hate Nazis like you do and I hate bulls*** . '' In fact , the El Segundo branch of Rock & Brews felt as much like a subtly protracted dry run for a potential Simmons 2016 candidacy as it was a restaurant opening . In part of the introductory presentation , he exclaimed `` El Segundo may mean 'the second city ' in Spanish , but today it 's the first city ! '' Admittedly , the restaurant 's ambitions to connect with the city are very real if bluntly wielded -- earlier in the day , Rock & Brews had a luncheon to benefit the Wounded Warrior program , and during the presentation , two dismembered soldiers with Purple Hearts were presented with a $ 25,000 check . Prior to the presentation , Simmons led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance . `` If you know it , say it with me . If you do n't , shame on you , '' he intoned as American flags waved on television monitors . In line with Rock & Brews ' concurrent opening at the Delta Terminal in nearby LAX , it 's essentially and proudly an up-the-middle sports bar with pictures of The Who on the walls ; despite being a collaboration between a rock legend and a couple of big-shot entrepreneurs , it does n't clash with the sleepy , suburban surroundings . As the introductory three-minute video came to a close , Bob Seger 's `` Main Street '' played , a likely allusion to the fact that Rock & Brews is actually located on Main Street in downtown El Segundo . So what the hell are we doing in El Segundo anyway ? Not surprisingly , he 's got words for his doubters : `` They 're unqualified to snicker or do much else . They 've never done anything . What are their qualifications ? What I 'm doing here proves to every small town in America that they are every bit as cool as LA and New York . El Segundo , great place to live . Small town America is what it 's all about and that 's where KISS got big . '' Let it be known that he did insist we try the food ( `` there 's no other way to describe it except that it rocks '' ) and stressed the family-friendliness of Rock & Brews -- `` You wan na bring your dog , your kids ? Great ! They can have a root beer float and you can choose from 100 craft beers . The brews are local from El Segundo and Van Nuys . We create jobs . This is anti-cool . Cool can go f*** itself . '' Simmons connected the populism of his restaurant with everything from disco 's inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame ( `` What an insult to the memory of Little Richard and Chuck Berry to have disco artists who do n't write their own songs and play their own instruments . It 's a sham to have Grandmaster Flash and Disco Bob and MC Criminal in there '' ) to Kurt Cobain 's suicide ( `` I say this respectfully to him -- ' f*** off ' '' ) to , well , pretty much any music made after 1990 other than Katy Perry ( `` I love her voice '' ) and Madonna ( `` a true rock star '' ) . Rock & Brews itself resembles a less-tacky Hard Rock CafÃ© , and if we were to call the menu fare `` unpretentious , '' Simmons would likely be insulted that we used a four-syllable word . Though the 100 beers on tap appeared to be more of a draw than the food , servers milled about with soft pretzels , pizza , pulled pork , meatballs and fried calamari . Philosophically , this is food Simmons considers to be timeless the way `` jeans , your leather jacket , your T-shirt '' are . Rock & Brews boasts absolutely no pretense whatsoever that this is anything other than brand extension for Gene Simmons . Simmons does n't fancy himself to be a restauranteur and certainly not a connoisseur . Rock & Brews is unabashedly American and run like a business by a businessman -- `` we 'll have 50 in under 2 years and my goal is 500 is 5 years , '' Simmons said . `` Ask Starbucks -- if it 's good , we 'll have two or three on every corner . And my track record 's pretty goddamn good . '' See the full article at RollingStone.com . Copyright © 2011 Rolling Stone .
Gene Simmons opened a chain of Rock & Brews in El Segundo . The restaurant 's ambitions to connect with the city are very real . Rock & Brews itself resembles a less-tacky Hard Rock CafÃ© .