BBQ Events: RUB BBQ Opens in Vegas!

Congratulations to Paul Kirk and Andrew Fischel of RUB on the opening of Vegas's newest and best barbecue restaurant... RUB!

RUB BBQ Debuts Best Butt in Town At First West Coast Location Today

Restaurant opens today inside the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino®

LAS VEGAS (Dec. 27, 2007) – Las Vegas heats up on this winter day with the debut of New York City’s highly-acclaimed RUB BBQ with its new location inside the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino®. This will be the restaurant’s second location and only venue outside of the New York original.

The 9,000-square-foot RUB BBQ at the Rio features championship-level barbecue created by Paul Kirk, aka The Kansas City Baron of Barbecue and The Ambassador of Barbecue. With frequent appearances by Kirk himself, the restaurant will be home to resident “pitmaster” Chef Skip Steele. Steele joins the RUB team from St. Louis where he spent years perfecting his barbecue craft.

RUB BBQ will quickly become Las Vegas’ hottest destination for great barbeque and live entertainment. The restaurant features a stage for local as well as well-known artists to perform offering patrons a truly spiced up evening out.

The original RUB BBQ in New York opened to much praise and immediate popularity in 2005 and has remained ahead of the growing trend in barbecue restaurants grilling up in major cities across the country. Celebrity frequenters include Chris Rock, Tyra Banks, Dave Chapelle, Leonardo DiCaprio and Martha Stewart.

“We’re excited to introduce the RUB BBQ concept to Las Vegas and to the West Coast,” said Andrew Fischel, owner and creator of RUB BBQ. “With the sheer amount of visitors that Las Vegas sees every day, combined with the lack of traditional barbecue on or near The Strip, the Rio was clearly the perfect home for us.”

The menu at RUB BBQ will satisfy any level of a barbecue connoisseur’s taste buds, with standard dishes such as Barbequed Ribs cut St. Louis-style, Barbequed Sausage and Pastrami prepared the old-fashioned way, slow-cooked over wood in pits for 14 hours. Specialty menu items include Burnt Ends, smoked twice until crispy and lightly sauced and a The Taste of the Baron that includes a tasting of beef, pork, ham, pastrami, turkey, chicken, sausage and is topped off with a quarter rack of ribs. All selections are prepared fresh daily so once they’re gone, they’re gone.

RUB BBQ was designed by Nevada-based Cypress Architecture and Design. The 230-seat restaurant, which includes a 30-seat bar area, will be a modern take on the industrial loft look allowing guests to enjoy their barbecue favorites (as well as some mouth-watering RUB originals) in an open, high-energy atmosphere. Wall accents of deep, fiery reds will contrast with the weathered metals and will be set near aged brick and warm rustic wood floors and ceiling beams. Combined these elements will create a sophisticated, yet relaxed environment to experience a taste of Americana.

Located on the second level of the Masquerade Village inside the Rio, RUB BBQ will feature live bands on the weekends, from a variety of musical genres.

Rub BBQ is open for dinner from 4 p.m. – 11 p.m. Monday and Tuesday; open for lunch and dinner beginning at 11 a.m. Wednesday – Sunday.

About RUB BBQ/Chef Paul Kirk
The original RUB BBQ opened in New York in 2005 by Andrew Fischel, an ex-student and now partner of Executive Chef Paul Kirk. Chef Paul is recognized as one of the most accomplished barbecue chefs and pitmasters in the world. He is the recipient of 425 cooking awards, including champion of the American Royal Open (the largest barbecue competition in the world) and seven World Barbecue Championships. In 1990, Chef Paul was inducted into the Barbecue Hall of Fame and has been named numerous times to the Julia Child BBQ Team of Ten. In addition to his competitions and prestigious awards, Chef Paul conducts The Baron’s School of Pitmasters, a truly international school, which has held classes across the United States, Ireland, Canada, South Korea and Switzerland.

About Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino®
Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino is a Harrah’s Entertainment resort. The Rio offers guests a unique all- suite hotel experience. Complete with 2,563 all-suite hotel rooms, the property overlooks the famous Las Vegas Strip, one block west on Flamingo Road. The Rio is the home of Vegas’ most popular free show – Masquerade Show in the Sky performing nightly. A sand beach surrounds the edge of the Rio’s tropical lagoon, complete with waterfalls, four nautical-shaped swimming pools, and five Jacuzzi-style spas. The Rio boasts 16 dining outlets, three lounges, two performance theatres (Penn & Teller Theater and the Chippendales Theater), Spa/Health Club/Steam Room/Beauty Salon, 23 retail outlets, five swimming pools, nine luxury Palazzo Suites and three nightclubs.