Nation’s Restaurant News:
Rock Bottom Restaurants Inc. said it plans to debut a new “polished casual” concept next month in Omaha, Neb. The new restaurant, Rock Bottom Gold Medal Tap, will focus on craft beers from Rock Bottom’s proprietary lineup and microbrewers around the United States.
In addition to the requisite emphasis on specialty beers, the brewpub concept will have a large selection of cocktails, infused spirits and wine. The menu reportedly will feature steaks, seafood, build-your-own burgers, flatbreads and prime-rib specials on the weekends.
“This is kind of a hybrid concept for us, which should allow us to make it more attractive for potential franchisees that want to align with Rock Bottom but don’t want to incur the cost of building a brewery,” said Dave O’Connor, franchise marketing manager for Rock Bottom Restaurants.
The company first learned how to execute the Rock Bottom concept without an on-site brewery at franchised locations in the Denver and Minneapolis international airports, O’Connor said.
“We found that we couldn’t build a brewery, but we could ship in our beers to serve on tap and carry a selection of others,” he said. “So we said, let’s see if we could do this in other areas.”