Hard Rock Cafe — Restaurant in Philadelphia

I have a tradition. It's a little bit silly, but it makes me happy: every time I land in the USA I go to a bar and always order a beer and a plate of buffalo wings. It's the first meal I enjoy. It puts me in an 'American mood'. Well, not this time. I don't know Philly very well and it was a Sunday evening when I landed. Across the street from my hotel was a Hard Rock Cafe with a spinning neon guitar the size of spaceship, and since I had never been to HRC, I thought 'why not?' The place was quiet with people but loud with music, even the walls screamed at me with the garish pink and yellow portraits of soulless artists I care not to remember (Weezer, really?) I should have known at that point that a sharp exit would have been the better strategy, but I do so love my traditions and my tragedies. I was directed to the sticky bar, its high stools, its bouncy and slightly over-familiar yet well-meaning barmaid and a laminated menu. I went to order a draft beer but they had run out. I ordered a second different draft beer but that barrel had run out too and I got a small taste of its dregs instead. In the end I settled for a bottle that I was assured could be poured into a glass and made to look like it was a draft beer, whatever that is supposed to mean. The beer was fine, just not what I had hoped for. I was then told that they had run out of several dishes, but the wings were still a safe option, allegedly. I ordered my plate of wings and waited, and waited, and then waited some more. The barmaid kindly chased up the order after 40 minutes. She returned with a plate of 6 lukewarm wings doused in gloopy spice and two miniature batons of celery. The look on my face betrayed my feelings of disappointment. This is where something even more terrible happens. You see, I'm British, and no matter how awful something is I am preprogrammed not to complain. I was born without the fussy gene. The fault lies in my DNA. If you serve me something terrible then I am the one who has to apologize. My face is however not that great at lying. My neighbor and the barmaid noticed and asked me to explain myself. I ordered another beer to wash down the excessively saline and barely edible spicy concoction and paid $42 for the luxury of being reminded that there is no place like home cooking. HRC has chosen to be the diner that sits somewhere between the rock and the hard place, neither the food nor the drink were palatable. The music was loud and the despair in this tired and lifeless institution was palpable. It's a hard pass...

I had to pick a star in order to post a review and 1/2 or no star is an option! In town this weekend for a volleyball tournament and stopped after done for the day. Door man and hostess were great!! Got our table immediately. Then it went completely downhill from there!! Our waiter Wesley finally showed up after sitting there 15-20 minutes to get our drink and food order. Came back awhile later and said he’s waiting for glasses to get cleaned and asked if we were ready to order. We informed him we already ordered drinks and food. Obviously that meant order still hadn’t been put in yet! But it continues! We finally get our drinks…. The waters! Awhile later my daughter’s soda comes. Takes a sip and not even what she ordered! I ordered a beer. Still waiting for our food. I see our waiter Wesley coming out and flag him down and he asks if something was wrong. I said “yes, I ordered a beer and still didn’t get it and my daughter ordered a Diet Coke and got a Dr. Pepper! He eventually replaced her soda but still no beer! Food finally came out…..my daughters! She tells gentleman that brought it out that I had ordered a beer and a haven’t gotten it yet. I told him to forget it, there is no reason I have to ask for a drink 3 times!! 15 minutes later still didn’t have my food!!! Finally he shows up at the table and asks if I had gotten my food acting completely confused! I told him I did not and to take it off my bill I didn’t want it now and asked to speak to a manager. We sat there waiting longer cause he didn’t get a manager, so asked hostess and she got her and a couple minutes later a manager showed up! Just before she comes out Wesley walks past the table and throws our bill on the table and keeps walking and doesn’t say a word. My girlfriend asked about the manager and he kept walking and ignored her! Manager came out and was informed of everything and handed her the bill and told her I will not pay for this! The best part was the waiter actually had the nerve to circle the tip suggestions on the bill!!! If you wanna take your chances that’s your choice, but if they tell you Wesley is your waiter I would ask for different...

I took my best friend for dinner to celebrate his birthday. I ordered my dessert first. (I always do this.) I had the home apple pie with ice cream. It was delicious. For drinks we had the smoked old fashions and they were pretty good. The smokiness lasted the entire drink and definitely gave it a flavor boost. For my meal I ordered the One Night in Bangkok Shrimp and the Spicy Chicken Cheesesteak with fries. He got the Steak Salad and the Chicken Mac and Cheese dish. The shrimp were delicious. The cheesesteak was super over salted. It was horrible. I ate a few bites and gave up because it was making me feel like my blood pressure was sky high. He said the steak salad was good but the chicken on his Mac and cheese was also super salty. The Mac was so bad he wouldn’t eat it. We spent $200 on the food and drinks and left feeling highly disappointed. Our waiter at the bar was not attentive and we had to ask for everything we needed. Silverware included. The food runners were really nice and friendly. I still left a nice tip because I know how it is these days. But here’s where I lost it, as we were leaving, I started sweating like crazy. My entire body felt HOT. We made it outside and across 12th street and I immediately threw up all of my food. In the middle of Market Street. It was so embarrassing. No, I was not at all drunk. It was for certain that food. I felt almost immediately better once it was all out. Horrible experience. I’ve never felt like...