Submitted
Interior of Rockwood Sports Bar in Gainesville, Virginia.
Rockwood Sports Bar in Gainesville, Virginia, the newest addition to
Chef Mike Cordero's expanding sports bar empire is celebrating its grand opening, Thursday, May 31.
Rockwood Sports Bar is a 4,985-square foot sports-themed restaurant serving gourmet American cuisine and signature craft cocktails. Rockwood is Cordero’s eighth Northern Virginia establishment and is housed in the former Ruby
Tuesday’s space in the Atlas Walk area of Virginia Gateway at
7505 Iron Bar Lane. Cordero and his partners are leasing the space from Virginia Gateway management company,
Peterson Companies. Opening festivities will include free t-shirts for the first 100 guests. Designed by restaurant interiors specialist
Yvette Irene, Rockwood has incorporated a contemporary, industrial look and feel. The reimagined and fully renovated restaurant seats 200 guests between three full bars, 50 barstools, 40 indoor tables and 20 outdoor tables. The establishment has two large patios. One patio will have a beer garden theme, whereas the other patio space offers a more relaxed, intimate setting. Semi-private spaces are also available at Rockwood.
All of Rockwood’s menu items will use locally sourced ingredients and Cordero’s homemade marinades and sauces. Featured menu items include Cordero’s famous wings, Southern fried chicken, pork belly Cuban sandwiches and bacon-chicken fritters with chipotle radish sauce. Rockwood’s red velvet milkshake headlines a host of dessert items. Rockwood’s bar menu will also have an assortment of specialty cocktails. Daily deals, late night menus and live entertainment will be a regular part of Rockwood’s rotating specials. Chef Mike Cordero began his career as a center field for the Seattle Mariners. After leaving the MLB, Cordero shifted his focus from the baseball field and moved into the food arena – his other lifetime passion. Since then, Cordero has gone on to own eight popular Northern Virginia sports and restaurants, launch his own wine label (Cordero Wines) and hot sauce brand (Bronx Tale).
“Rockwood is an exciting sports bar that is perfect for watching the game or unwinding outside with a cocktail,” says Cordero. “We’re thrilled to bring our original concept to Virginia Gateway and offer the Gainesville community our American comfort food classics.” In addition to being one of culinary personality Mike Cordero's unique sports bars through
MACNAC Hospitality, Rockwood is locally owned and operated. Gainesville owner Adam Kasrawi said the restaurant has been open for the past three weeks, over which time they have received a positive reception. Today, he will launching his grand opening, and the sports bar & grill will be open for business at 11:30 a.m. According to Kasrawi, Rockwood stands apart from other restaurants because of "our food, our service and our TVs," which are perfect for watching sports games. The restaurant includes two sections one for families and the other for adults. Kasrawi said Rockwood is privately owned and he is happy to have it in Gainesville, which has become his home. Rockwood is open
Monday-
Friday from
5:00 p.m. – 2:00 a.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from
12:00 p.m. – 2:00 a.m. for brunch and dinner. For more information on Rockwood, please visit:
www.rockwoodva.com, and for more information on Mike Cordero, please visit
www.chefcordero.com.
About Mike Cordero
Mike Cordero is a Bronx native with a lifelong passion for food. He started working at his local pizza shop at age 13 and there learned to make New York style pizza. At age 20, Cordero moved to Fairfax, VA to pursue the President of Operations job with Italian Delight (a New York pizza chain). Cordero then launched his own venture, Bravo Cucina Italiana fine dining Italian restaurant, with chef and business partner Sergio Castilloni. After opening five Bravo locations in the greater Washington area, Cordero sold four of the five locations to Castilloni and kept the original Fairfax site to operate himself. Cordero then went on to open Malibu Grill, a Brazilian steakhouse, and six various restaurants in the Northern Virginia area. He is now the executive chef and owner of A-Town, Barley Mac, Bronx Pizza, Don Tito, Don Taco and Primetime Sports Bar, The G.O.A.T. and Rockwood.
Submitted with additional information from Stacy Shaw of Bristow Beat.
