New restaurant with casual dining, rooftop views and electronic music vibe coming to downtown

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Paul Sletten’s next downtown restaurant blends three food truck brands into a brick-and-mortar space with stunning rooftop views and a nightlife life centered around DJing and electronic music.

The Rockford chef and restaurateur, who also owns Abreo and Social in downtown, plans to open Disco Chicken at 212 E. State St. by spring. The space was formerly Taco Betty’s and 212 Grindhouse.

Related restaurant: Social Charcuterie Bar & Cocktails reopens after three-year hiatus in downtown Rockford

The three-level restaurant will be anchored by the casual, creative chicken sandwiches, loaded tater tots and tenders that have been served at the Disco Chicken food truck around town since May 2019. But you’ll also find Bad Humor ice cream treats and canned cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks similar to what’s at VeeDubs mobile cocktail bar. All three are food trucks Sletten’s business runs.

“It’s really like we’re taking our food truck brands and putting them into this building,” he said. “All three of them work really well for the unique layout of this building.”

The space has indoor seating on two levels and additional seating on a rooftop deck, which has views overlooking downtown including the Rock River, Joe Marino Park, the Iconic Energy tower and Rockford City Market.

“I’ve had some of the most amazing nights of my life downtown being on that rooftop,” Sletten said. “There’s just such an energy and electricity and a vibe there: It’s the coolest spot in town.”

Sletten was a partner in Taco Betty’s when it opened in 2017, and he ran that restaurant until 2019. Taco Betty’s operated until late November 2021, when it rebranded as a burger spot called 212 Grindhouse. The burger joint closed five months later and the space has been empty since.

“It’s such an iconic spot and it’s just such a perfect gathering space for people, for downtown, for the community,” Sletten said. “It’s been hard to watch it sit empty and be underutilized the last few years.”

Sletten, who is under contract to purchase the building, will spend the next several months renovating the space to prepare for its opening as Disco Chicken.

“For the most part we’re going to rip everything that’s in there out,” he said. “The only thing that’s going to resemble it before will be the basic building itself.”

More downtown business: Here’s the vision for The Music Box of Rockford, a downtown listening lounge coming soon

Disco Chicken is designed to be a casual restaurant with a simple and delicious menu for people of all ages, Sletten said. It serves buttermilk fried chicken tenders, loaded tater tots and original sandwiches such as The Wizard, a fried buttermilk boneless chicken breast with Korean barbecue sauce, toasted sesame seed and cilantro-cabbage slaw served on a brioche bun.

“We never even intended to be a food truck. We always intended to be a brick-and-mortar restaurant,” Sletten said. But an opportunity for a food truck presented itself first. Now, the brick-and-mortar is coming about five years later after Disco Chicken built a following at places like Rockford City Market and Food Truck Tuesdays.

Its theme is also inspired by Sletten’s love for underground and electronic music. He said electronic music will be at the core of live music events at the space with DJs and some bands.

“There’s a great local music scene, tons of great local DJs doing everything from house and techno to pop music,” Slatten said.

More restaurants: Keebler Kitchen in Rockford focused on fast, affordable food with late-night hours

He said Disco Chicken is intended to be a casual quick lunch spot, a family dinner location and later in the evening a nightlife spot. Sletten said he hopes the new restaurant works hand-in-hand with The Music Box of Rockford, a listening lounge created by Miles Nielsen and Kelly Steward that’s also slated to open in 2024.

“We hope to be able to generate some cross business for each other,” Sletten said. “We’d love to see more nightlife. It makes the city more alive when you drive down the street at 10:30 at night and it’s not just dark and quiet.”

“Like anything that I do, I just want to create a place that I want to be at.”

This article is by Steve Summers and Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas