Hard Rock Cafe — Restaurant in Cincinnati

I visited the HRC on Sat, July 24th. I waited until now to write my review so it would be free of profanity and anger. It started with a 1 to 1 hour 10 mins wait. With things to do we agreed to the wait. They took my cell #. I knew I would not hear my phone so I kept it in my hand while we waited. After a good hour wait I decided to go back to see where we were on the list. The hostess tells me it will be another 40-50 mins. We wait. Finally we manage to get seated. Our server gets our drinks and ask if we would like an appetizer. We decided we would keep our appetites for the burger and chicken we've had at other HRCs. BUT wait these sandwiches are not on the menu? I ask if the menu is a HRC menu to which he says, "Absolutely". Then when asked about the specific items he states, "well, no we don't have those. We do have a local menu though." This local menu is not a printed item, don't bother asking. We decide to order a Pretzel w/ Beer Cheese brought in from a local vendor. We order as follows: 1 Cheeseburger Med-well NO Tomato and mayo on the side w/ French fries 1 Grilled chicken sandwich with cheese and bacon, NO tomato and honey mustard dressing on the side w/ Onion Rings (+$3.00) Pretty simple .... you'd think! Our local chef-d'oeuvre Bavarian Pretzel with Beer Cheese hits the table. Literally a fly by. Interesting! Immediately I begin to assume that this German fare is made with Rye bread as it is rather dark. NOPE just burnt. This twist of bread is not only burnt but a bit disproportionate, with thick loops and skinny twists. It was covered in what I expect was oil? and salt. As I wiped my hand down a section to remove the amount of salt (I personally don't like the salt), I notice 2 managers speaking with a fellow patron and shaking his hand. I wave to one and as she approaches I stick out my heavily greased hand for a welcoming handshake. Let's just say she did not reciprocate said gesture. I explain that the pretzel just wasn't up to par and we would prefer to have it removed from our check. Her reply, "we don't make those". I was a bit taken a back but questioned if they truly bought it from a cart outside. She feigned a smile and asked if we would like something else. We agreed that it would be okay if we just skipped the appetizer and settle for our sandwiches! Buzzing with anticipation and the gnawing of my big guts devouring my little guts, we prepared for their arrival. We had already determined we were splitting because neither of us could decide just which would be the best so why not try a little of both with a bit of fries and a few onion rings. Here comes 2 servers, carrying 1 plate each. It is going to be phenomenal! Can you say gourmet! I first notice that my +$3 onion rings are little small, a bit crispy and there are 5. In the meantime, my friend has lifted the bun off her burger to discover TOMATO, Lettuce and Mayo! I quickly remove the bun from my chicken sandwich and ala kazam, there is TOMATO, romaine leaves and severely under cooked bacon. I remove the unwanted/un-edible condiments, I realize that the cheese is cold and so is the chicken. The burger was also undercooked. We asked for med/well and got medium (pink throughout). My friend now has her napkin and is wiping at the top bun to remove the mayo that was supposed to be on the side. I ask for a manager. My friend, extremely sarcastic at this point says, well we best cut the 5th onion ring in half so we can split. The mgr walks up as the knife crunches through the crust to reveal NO ONION. As we this to the mgr, he sighs, rolls his eyes, nd walks away! There was no apology, no attempt to compensation, nothing! There was absolutely no action taken. We decide to leave. As we are walking out our Server, grabs my friend's arm. He asks if something is wrong. We give him the brief re-cap and tell him we are leaving. He says, and I quote, "Well I hope you will come back and see us. Have a great night!" NEVER AGAIN! AWFUL FOOD AND...

The food is great but be prepared for some negative experiences. If you get surf and turf don't be disappointed. The scampi for $8 extra, consisted of five of those tiny shrimp in a tiny cup. It is the shrimp you put on top of a salad. They apparently do not know what scampi is. Not worth eight dollars. Even shrimp cocktail comes with bigger shrimp. If you ask for béarnaise sauce with your filet mignon, they won't know what it is. The ribs are fall off the bone with a sauce that's a bit spicier than I'm used to. If you like spicy ribs they're the best. We wait more than an hour ti be served what we ordered. In the meantime they kept pushing more drinks. Finally I stood up and said just let me pay for the drinks and were out of here. "Just wait three minutes," they said. We did and in 14 we were served. "Those filet mignon's take a long time to cook you know." I said, "no, I cook them all the time on my grill at six minutes on each side." The waitress was wonderful and sweet. When I asked her about what they're making in the kitchen she said something like "I don't know nothing about cooking." (It reminded me of Gone with the Wind, "I don't know nothin bout birthen babies") she was still very sweet. I was visited by three people who appear to be managers or bouncers, to see if everything was okay. They should've comped something but didn't. Reading some of these other reviews, there seems to be an awful lot of disappointment. They've been open for a short time and I hope they get it right, particularly in the kitchen. If you have patience the food is really good and the portions are large even for the expense. On the dining floor they try their best. In the kitchen they might be trying their best, but are not quite there. Maybe the shortage of help right now is one of the problems. Anyway give it a try but expect the worst you won't be...

I had never eaten at a Hard Rock Cafe and was excited that Cincinnati had one. Let me tell you how incredibly disappointing this was. One of my best friends came with me who has eaten at several Hard Rock Cafe's and was also excited for me to get to try it (was also disgusted by this place).First, they were not busy as this was early afternoon. Our server never once asked us for refills on drinks. My friend ordered a Bahama Mama and couldn't even drink it because it was so disgusting. The food was very sub par. I had twisted mac and cheese that was so spicy I couldn't even eat it. My friend had a grilled chicken sandwich that was served ON THIN TOAST!! A 15 dollar sandwich served on TOAST give me a freaking break. Also do not try to split your appetizers between two checks. According to our server Hard Rock Cafe's system does not have the capabilities to split appetizers. We were going to try dessert but were so frustrated by our service and subpar/ overpriced food at this point that we felt like it wasn't worth it. So, I went to starbucks and got a cookie for my sweet tooth. My honest advice is to go to the Brick Oven Pizza place next door as they have good tasting overpriced food and have much better service. My friend told me to not pay attention to this Hard Rock Cafe as it isn't a true Hard Rock Cafe and doesn't come anywhere close to the other ones she has visited in other cities. I would advice the management to get ahold of their servers here as we were observing other tables having similar service with other servers of just not being waited on in general. The servers wasted time talking in the corners and didn't really care about their customers experience. A really unfortunate overpriced experience. We will...