I've only been in one (SF) and really wasn't very impressed with the food, although some of the memorabilia was pretty cool.

Help
 

Does anyone have any merchandise from the HRC in Jackson,TN?(closed)

In my experience, the menu in general (not at SF in particular) took a turn for the worse somewhere around 2000... around that time (shortly after, IIRC) the SF one moved from on Van Ness (which was walkable from where my then-girlfriend/now-wife lived) to the much more touristy location at Pier 39, and prices went up significantly.

I've only been back a couple of times since the move, although I do usually stop in once when I'm in a new city outside the US that has one.

I've only been to one: Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Fla for my dad's b-day last January

He loved it, especially when the staff started dancing to YMCA on every table... it was fun.

I've been to Hard Rock at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, NJ a bunch of times but never actually ate there so it doesn't count.

--Russ

Just noticed that Sydney and Melbourne HRC closed in October..

Seems the owners of the space in Melbourne wanted it back and the lease was up, apprently they are looking to relocate possibly into Crown, Docklands or St Kilda Triangle.

Can't find any info on Sydney though, anyone have any ideas?

Its a shame as a group of my friends have a pre xmas tradition of going, unless we go to the Gold Coast we are SOL.

My favorite HRC is definately the one in Vegas. Atmosphere just electrifying.

That may be just around the time the owner/founder sold it and it went corporate? I believe he retained an interest in any HRC's that have gambling (and/or hotels?) associated wth them, but that's it.

Anyway, we've had one in our town since 1990, and in the last few years the food has become so bad we avoid it like the plague. And we're not the only ones: we've watched their business decline steadily over the years, from gangbusters to pitiful.

So it goes.

I found a list of (mostly) closures and openings in developed and emerging economies.
Hadn't the Sydney HRC been closed for a long time after a fire in recent years?

I agree that the heyday was over around 1990 if not before; what happened to all of the memorabilia? Recycled to the new openings in the Pacific and central Europe?

We also had some memorable birthday parties there, long ago, in Sydney. ;D

i remember in the early 80s when the Hard Rock tshirts/sweatshirts were all the rage. I thought I was so cool when my sister brought me one home from London. I wore that thing out.

the food at HRC, however, never stuck out in my mind as anything extra special.

Does *anyone* go there for the food? I go there for keepsakes of the cities I've visited. I'm not much of a souvenir person, but I like to pick up a pilsner glass from the HRC.

Huge Collection of HRC pins from 1995-2004
 

If interested check it out, Includes the rare Taichung set among many other hard to find pins.

ebay Item number: 330214275728


Thanks,

MJ

In PHX for the Freddies, and had a late lunch locally. DMX was having a few drinks at the bar.

Was very disappointed to find the Dallas HRC had closed before I finally got out there. Ho Hum. My list so far:

Los Angeles (at the Beverly Centre, now closed, I believe)
Chicago
New York
San Francisco
Tokyo
Sydney
Amsterdam
Madrid
Barcelona
Paris
Cologne (bought the tee with the German spelling :))
Roma (where they'd sold out of the standard tee in my size :mad:).

Not many really but I'm glad to say I've never had a bad meal at one.

(and to think, I only popped by to see if a superb eatery I'd found in Rome had been mentioned in these forums).

If you want to keep it that way, avoid the hamburgers at the Pattaya one :)

(Thailand has wonderful food in general, but I've just come to the conclusion that hamburgers are best avoided there; the best burgers I've had there have been mediocre, and I've had some truly awful ones.)

Ate at NYC on the way to the UK. Very nice restaurant. It's probably my #2 favorite.

We have a condo in GCM. Whenever friends visit us there, no matter what country they are from, they always want to go to the Hard Rock, even if it is just to buy a t-shirt. In fact, it's quite obvious that the place was designed more as a souvenir shop than a restaurant. When it rains on 'cruise ship days' the place is packed. BTW, the food there seems to be just bit better than the Hard Rock in Chicago. Maybe it's the salt air!

Fiji!!!
 

I was looking for somewhere for lunch today and I stumbled upon a new Hard Rock Cafe I didn't know existed. It is the HRC Fiji at Port Denarau near Nadi. It identifies itself as HRC Fiji rather than HRC Nadi (or Denarau) and is owned by Chefs, a restaurant somewhat renowned in these parts for the quality of its food and service. The same standard apply to its Hard Rock menu - I had the classic HRC Bacon Cheeseburger and it didn't disappoint (better than London and NYC in my estimation).

Are the any collectors of HRC stuff on FT? Please tell me I'm not the only pin collector.

You are not the only one.....

We always add HRC to our to do list when on vacations. We get 2 sets of shot glass and 4~6 pins from each location. Visited close to 50 cafes and it is getting expensive. Shot glass used to be US$2.50 when I start collecting them, last month we paid US$12 apiece at Puerto Vallarta!!

My 4 years old would go there for the food. It was the only place that we can find American Mac & Cheese in Rome!

Twisted mac....yummmmmmmmmm ^^

My wife and I visited the Caymans a couple of months back and the HRC there is open again. But I have to admit it is probably the smallest one I've been in. Definitely a different experience than eating at the Orlando HRC.

It's interesting to see how many locations are listed here, that are not on the website's list anymore: http://www.hardrockcafe.com/location...3/locator.aspx

Added a couple more to my first post.

There's also a HRC fans of on Facebook.

I've only ever been to two (despite having them in every city I've lived in... I just never think to go there)


Key West
San Diego

Both were pretty good.


Went to the Hard Rock Hotel in Vegas but ate at another one of their restaurants. Very tasty.

A HRC is opening in Venice (ITALY) this week-end !
The smallest in Europe, but the most beautiful: a fantastic Murano-glass chandelier, wonderful venetian floors, white marble tops in the bar, etc.etc.
It will be a must in Venice !

Bump for a pinhead...I've decided to part with my Horoscope Guitars Set and my Zodiac Jigsaw Puzzle Set. Thought I'd give FT a chance at them before I eBay them. The Horoscope set is limited to 500 pieces and the Zodiac Jigsaw was limited to 5000 sets. Click HERE for the HRC Pin Catalog Online, and insert the bolded words into the "Group" field to see what I'm talking about. For the European FTers, I'll be at the HRC in AMS either 9th or 10th May.

I've been to a scary number of HRC's:

Europe:
Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen, London, Paris, Madrid, Edinburgh, Lisbon, Gran Canaria, Moscow

Africa:
Johannesburg (fake), Nairobi (fake), Cape Town (closed)
Oceania:
Surfer's Paradise, Queenstown (closed), Sydney (closed), Melbourne (closed)

Latin America/Caribbean:
Buenos Aires, Panama, St. Thomas (closed), Nassau

Asia:
Bangkok, Tokyo, Hong Kong (Peak), Kowloon, Beijing, Shanghai (closed), Bahrain

North America:
San Diego, New Orleans, St. Louis, Boston, Honolulu, Montreal, Dallas, Cancun, Las Vegas, Maui, San Antonio, Chicago, San Francisco, Denver, Atlanta, St. Thomas, Dallas (closed), New York (original one - closed)

I went by the one in Taipei when it was still running but it was early morning and not open.
Oddly, I never made it to the one in Austin before it closed!

Here are mine:

Europe:
London, Paris,

Africa:
Cairo, Sharm el Sheikh

Latin America/Caribbean:
Aruba, Buenos Aires

Asia:
Hong Kong (Peak), Kowloon, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Phuket (not quite open), Seoul

North America:
Atlanta, Atlantic City, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas (Closed), Honolulu, Houston, Key West, Las Vegas, Maui, Memphis, Miami, New York, Orlando (old & new)Phoenix, San Francisco, San Juan, Washington DC,

Canada:
Vancouver (Closed)

Mexico
Puerto Vallarta, Tijuana

Added Amsterdam and Dublin.

I sure wish they would do the city tees in colors other than white. My favorite shirts are my grey Hong Kong and (now lost) grey Shanghai.

This is my list...

Mexico (Home)
Cancun
Acapulco
Los Angeles
Rio de Janeiro
Boston
NY
Orlando
Toronto (Skydome)
Montreal
London
Madrid
Barcelona
Paris
Rome

Not many so far, but hopefully more will come... =)

My list ... and some stories to go with it
 

My list

- Buenos Aires
Been there twice. On the first run I did not get what I wanted to buy so was lucky when I was invited back. My luggage didn't make it so I got Amex to pay for my HRC shirt. In addition I scored a 120 Euro EZE-FRA C upgrade.

- Sydney, Australia (closed)
- Melbourne, Australia (closed, now a function room)
- Bahrain
appears to be in the middle of a living district
- Rio de Janeiro
far away from everything
- Niagara Falls Canada
- Ottawa
- Toronto
- Toronto Skydome
- Hong Kong
There used to be a second on The Peak
- Prague
It's still closed but about 10 years ago there already was a Planet Hollywood. The street 'merchands' sold fake PH and HRC t-shirts even though there was no HRC.
- Copenhagen
- London
- Paris
- Berlin
- Munich
- Athens, Greece
- Guam (twice ;))
- (Saipan)
Booked a $110 return flight GUM-SPN-GUM just to get to the HRC but
was delayed from ICN and rerouted ICN-NRT-GUM the next day.
Never made the flight :(
- Rome
VDBed FRA-EZE and was rerouted via FCO. Spend the afternoon in FCO
but lost my luggage (see above)
- Narita
- Tokyo Roppongi
- Tokyo Uyeno Eki
- (Yokohama) seen it but wasn't inside. Does this count?
- Malta
- Malta Bar (Valletta)
- Malta Airport Bar
Three places in one day. Been a while since I did that ;)
- Tijuana (appears to be closed now)
- Amsterdam
nice place sitting in the back
- (Oslo)
this weekend
- Makati (Manila, .ph)
- Lisbon
- Singapore
- (Seoul)
been there just a few weeks before grand opening
- Madrid
- Mallorca
worst food ever in Palma. Double charged for drink. Did not tip only to find out that my CC was charged double. Complained, got full refund. Will spend money in Oslo this weekend.
- Stockholm
- Bangkok
- Dubai

United States

I believe some places in the US closed already (Fort Lauderdale turned into Hollywood, Fl?)

- Atlanta
used to live there and for lunch it was just 5 minutes away
- Baltimore
- Boston
old location, new location in a couple of weeks
- Chicago
- Cleveland
- Denver
- Detroit
- Gatlinburg
drove into Gatlinburg on a weekend trip not knowing there was one.
- Hollywood CA
Old LA cafe is closed but been there.
- Hollywood FL
- Honolulu
- Indianapolis
part of a three-in-a-day trip
- Key West
- Lake Tahoe
- Las Vegas
not the strip yet
- Miami
- Minneapolis
- Nashville
- New York
old + new location
- Niagara Falls USA
- Orlando
- Philadelphia
- Phoenix
took a cab to the HRC thanks to a missed connection at PHX. Rushed back only to find out my flight was delayed for another 2h
- Pittsburgh
- Sacramento
- San Diego
La Jolla appears to be missing from the list.
- San Francisco
- Seattle
- Washington DC

Thanks to the All Access 2.0 (pre Web 2.0 ;)) card I got quite a few pins, luggage keys, ... that I usually give away. I have a scary number of t-shirts and polos, though.

Added two more in post #1 from our trip to Egypt.

newbie to this site
 

New to this site, but am an avid HRC pin collector.......

If you haven't checked out the NEW Dallas location, it's extremely nice and very high tech........

UP TO DATE LIST OF HRC VISITS

HARD ROCK CAFÉ'S UNITED STATES
Atlanta
Biloxi
Boston
Cleveland
Dallas-NEW
Denver
Hollywood
Houston
Indianapolis
Louisville
Memphis
Myrtle Beach
Nashville
New Orleans
Niagara Falls
Philadelphia
San Antonio
San Diego
San Francisco

OUTSIDE U.S.
Aruba
Cancun
Puerto Vallarta
Niagara Falls, Canada

Copenhagen
Oslo
Gothenburg
Stockholm
New York
Cleveland (Two nights in a row, actually. Went there first on the 3rd of July, and on the 4th it seemed to be the only place open in Cleveland)
Chicago (Drinks only
Hollywood (CA)
London
Cardiff
San Francisco
Lisbon
Amsterdam

My list:

Atlanta
Austin
Baltimore
Cayman Islands
Cozumel
Dallas (old)
Denver
Honolulu
Lahaina Maui
Las Vegas
New Orleans
New York (old)
San Antonio
Tijuana (now closed)

Salt LAke City
 

I stayed in Park City, Utah over the Thanksgiving holiday for skiing, and drove into Salt Lake City Sunday evening to pick pins up from the HardRock....SURPRISE---the location is CLOSED!! GRURRRRRRRRRRRRRRR


O-WELL---guess I should start calling first...

hot fudge
 

The current "dynamic currency conversion" thread in the China forum has prompted me to post here because it reminded me of my most recent HRC experience.

(The thread connection boils down to the fact that the HRC tried to DCC me and then claimed powerless to charge me in the normal manner until I got their merchant bank on the phone.)

Moving on, I stopped in during an afternoon respite because I was craving some mud pie. While the menu description featured "hot fudge," the ensuing product was bathed in chocolate sauce.

As a former ice cream store employee, I know the difference between these two animals. If the chocolate sauce had been heated up and/or the price tag less than $5 (it was $9), I might have let it slide.

But, since neither of the above conditions were met, I sent it back 3 times for refitting. The end result wasn't much different, unfortunately.

In any event, the next time any of you go to the HRC in BJ, I advised you to beware of DCC and push them on the hot fudge issue.

As far as I'm aware, there has never been one in Seattle. There is one that will be opening soon (likely next month), but I don't recall one ever having been here.

Rather new to HRC 'spotting', but here is my list so far:

The Americas:
Detroit
St. Louis
Sacramento
Cleveland
Chicago

Asia:
Hong Kong (Not the actual café as it is closed for re-construction, but the souvenir boutique on the Peak)

Europe:
None so far despite living only 10 minutes from the one in Copenhagen and have been traveling throughout Europe extensively. If anyone is planning to visit the one in CPH and needs a local eating buddy let me know :)

San Francisco
Hollywood
Orlando
Miami
Las Vegas
Maui
Fiji
Tijuana
Nassau
Sydney
Cabo
Surfers paradise

I've Passed or Step in..

Cayman Islands
NYC
Chicago
San Diego
San Fran
Honolulu
Macau (Hotel)