For Southern Californians who love Hard Rock casinos, there’s no need to drive seven hours north to Yuba County.
Hard Rock International has expanded its California footprint with Hard Rock Casino Tejon in the Central Valley, bringing the first full-scale gaming and entertainment destination to Kern County.
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The brand’s six-story guitar will be hard to miss as you’re driving the Grapevine.
The $600-million development is on Tejon Indian Tribe lands in Mettler, near the convergence of Interstate 5 and Route 99. The property is owned by the Tejon tribe and is managed by Hard Rock International.
One of SoCal’s largest casinos
With 150,000 square feet of gaming space — including 58 table games and more than 2,000 slot machines — the Central Valley Hard Rock is among the largest casinos in SoCal, The Times’ Christopher Reynolds writes, on par with many along the Strip in Las Vegas.
The Hard Rock venture includes four restaurants, serving Asian street food, tacos, pizza and American comfort food, and at select hours, a fancier “speakeasy restaurant” emphasizes steak and seafood.
“This is something that no other Hard Rock Cafe has … a restaurant within a restaurant,” company President Chris Kelley told Christopher.
Pop music artifacts are also on display in the casino, in keeping with the company’s iconic memorabilia collection. Artifacts include the blue hooded velvet mini dress Sabrina Carpenter wore in her “Please Please Please” music video, signed guitars from Sheryl Crow and Bonnie Raitt, Beck’s tambourine and Natalie Cole’s orange high heels.
A new chapter for the Tejon Indian Tribe
Hard Rock International’s native ownership — it has been owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida since 2007 — was a “major influence” on the Tejon tribe’s decision to team up, Tejon Tribal Chairman Octavio Escobedo III told Christopher.
The casino’s opening starts a new chapter for the tribe, which struggled for generations to gain federal recognition.
As my colleague Suhauna Hussain wrote last month, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs left it off its list of tribes that had formal government status. After gaining federal recognition under the Obama administration in 2011, the tribe began talks with casino operators. Five years later, the tribe acquired the casino site.
The casino has brought economic growth to the area, including thousands of construction jobs and about 1,100 new jobs for Greater Bakersfield.
Escobedo said 52 tribal members had signed on to work at casino jobs, and he’d “love to see that number double over the next year or so.”
In addition to gaming space, the facility will have a tribal government center, a medical facility and housing for tribe members.
The casino’s second phase
Although officials declined to share a timeline for the next installment, plans for the second phase of the project will include a 400-room hotel and spa on site and a 2,800-seat live venue that will host concerts and sporting events.
The ultimate goal is to make Kern County a premier destination for travelers and fans.
Today’s top stories 
A federal agent stands guard outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown L.A. on June 10 as protesters gather to denounce Trump administration immigration policies.
(Eric Thayer / Associated Press)
California Republicans are divided on Trump’s immigration enforcement policies
- A new poll shows that Latino Republicans, with whom Trump made historic gains during the 2024 elections, are the group that most disagrees with the party’s aggressive stance on immigration.
- Of Latino Republicans surveyed, 46% disagreed with deporting immigrants who had resided in the country for a long time, compared with 30% of their white counterparts.
The indictment of a former Newsom aide
- Gov. Newsom’s former chief of staff and two political operatives face federal corruption charges for fraud, including misusing campaign funds.
- Two of the operatives indicted had ties to the video game company Activision Blizzard, which was investigated earlier by the state over sexual discrimination allegations.
- Here’s what to know about Dana Williamson, the former Newsom aide tangled in a corruption probe.
An Amazon climate summit creates unease for California delegates
- Thousands of delegates at the United Nations’ COP30 climate conference stayed on diesel-powered cruise ships, embodying a key contradiction at this year’s global event in the Amazon.
- Infrastructure rushed for the summit reshaped parts of Belém, including new roads that cut through forest, raising concerns about environmental trade-offs.
- Local residents celebrated the global attention and economic investment while worrying the improvements would disappear once the summit ended.
McDonald’s is losing its low-income customers
- McDonald’s prices have risen so high that traffic from one of its core customer bases has dropped by double digits.
- The low-income customers at McDonald’s are quickly being replaced by higher earners, according to company officials.
- The change demonstrates the pressure facing low-income consumers, who are being squeezed by higher costs for housing, clothes and child care.
What else is going onCommentary and opinionsThis morning’s must readsOther must readsFor your downtime 
Kim Abt of Pwrgrls shows off her strength.
(Travis Shinn/For The Times)
Going outStaying inA question for you: What’s one special dish your family makes for Thanksgiving?
Dan Saborio said, “A few years ago, I came across a recipe from chef Tim Love for a turkey brined with chiles and topped with pancetta. I’m not much of a cook and was afraid to try it, but my brother and sister-in-law are great cooks and agreed to give it a go. The results were fantastic and it became a family favorite. The turkey is more flavorful than most, and people fight over the crispy pancetta. I heartily recommend it!”
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And finally … your photo of the day 
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Today’s great photo is from Times photographer Myung J. Chun in Pacific Palisades, where volunteers defied a strong winter storm to restore a beloved community mural — the 552-foot-long “History of the Palisades” — created by Palisades Charter High School students in the early 1980s.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Jim Rainey, staff reporter
Hugo Martín, assistant editor, Fast Break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
June Hsu, editorial fellow
Andrew Campa, Sunday writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
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