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By Jerry Jones
Photos by Victor Lara
The wood-fired heat at Basilio Badillo 447 is more than a design choice — it’s the centerpiece of The Brick Oven, the newest project from Puerto Vallarta business partners Bryan Stocks, Roger Allen and Brian Kent.
The restaurant opened May 17, 2025, in the city’s Romantic Zone, serving antipasti, salads, desserts and pizzas fired at 800 to 900 degrees Fahrenheit in a custom-built oven. Menu highlights include the Margherita, Spicy Chicken, Burrata Rocket and The Vallarta, topped with marinated shrimp.
“The wood-fired oven gives our pizza a smoky flavor and a crust that’s crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside,” Kent said. The open-air garden setting features a full bar and a design meant to flow easily into the partners’ other nightlife space directly above.
That space, The Social Club, opened Nov. 20, 2024. Its speakeasy-style format invites guests to step through a discreet door, climb a staircase and press a buzzer to enter. Inside, four distinct rooms — including two outdoor bars — are decorated with vintage pieces, such as items from Elizabeth Taylor’s estate. The entertainment is deliberately unannounced, ranging from jazz and piano to burlesque, magicians and surprise guest performers. Hours stretch from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m.
Partnership Built on Distinct Strengths
The trio’s path to partnership began with a shared idea for an upscale lounge. They launched One Six One, a craft-cocktail club that marked its four-year anniversary on April 1, 2025, and helped cement their working rhythm. “We all bring out the best in each other,” Kent said. “We have individual strengths that combine well, and we’re an amazing force when we are working together.”
Stocks, an American visual artist, is known for large-scale murals and a vibrant, modern style. His artistic sensibility shapes the look of each venue, from the flower mural at The Porch Café to the color and texture inside The Social Club and The Brick Oven’s airy dining area.
Allen, an interior designer and Stocks’ life partner, is responsible for creating ambiance and flow. He sources period-appropriate furnishings and unique décor elements that help distinguish each concept.
Kent, a Billboard-charting recording artist, DJ and producer, directs sound, lighting, entertainment and brings his creative eye to the design and concepts as well . His music career continues alongside the hospitality work — in March 2024, he released his single “Carry Your Light” at ParrotFish restaurant, telling the audience he had been “working on it for over a year” and was “super excited to share the song with everyone.”
Together, the three have developed a formula: Stocks drives the visual identity, Allen shapes the physical space, and Kent curates the experience. “We all bring out the best in each other,” Kent said. “We’re an amazing force when we are working together.”
Earlier Ventures Set the Stage
Their first joint business, One Six One, opened in early 2021 at Rodolfo Gómez 161. The lounge features craft cocktails, beer on tap and a lineup of house-music DJs, drawing a crowd looking for a more cosmopolitan vibe within Puerto Vallarta’s LGBTQ+ nightlife scene. It marked its four-year anniversary on April 1, 2025.
In January 2024, they expanded into daytime dining with The Porch Café at Amapas 299. The breakfast and coffee spot sits on a leafy patio shaded by palms, accompanied by soft jazz. Stocks’ mural of colorful flowers covers one wall, while Allen’s design touches give the space a relaxed, open-air charm.
Beyond their shared projects, Stocks and Allen co-own Anónimo Video Bar, a neighborhood LGBTQ+ venue they purchased in 2017. Opened originally in 2009, Anónimo remains a long-standing stop in the Romantic Zone’s nightlife circuit.
A Strategic Approach to Location and Timing
By placing The Brick Oven below The Social Club, the partners have created a vertical hospitality hub that can carry guests from dinner to late-night entertainment without leaving the building. Other locations, such as The Porch and One Six One, capture different parts of the day and different crowds.
From speakeasies to cafés, and from DJ-driven lounges to wood-fired pizza, the trio’s ventures reflect the same core mix of design, music and hospitality — all rooted in a deep connection to Puerto Vallarta’s creative and social scene.
This article is from our Fall 2025 print issue. You can view it here.
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