Hard Rock Cafe

Food is THE worst. Second to their customer service. This place is a joke.

This is going to be a review that will melt your heart!  My daughter and I arrived here late on a Friday night after flying into Chicago from San Jose.  We were headed to a place down the street when we saw this Hard Rock Cafe on the next block.  We walked up and found out there was a $10 cover charge because there was live music.  We did not recognize the bands, so were about to walk away when the hostess was SUPER nice and waived the cover charge.  We sat down and were treated to a wonderful meal.   I had the cajon spiced shrimp and pear salad.  It was a great mix and one of the best salad I have EVER had.  My daughter had the salmon with fresh vegetables, which was apparently delicious.  In the middle of our dining, we were treated to a wonderful guitar playing young woman with several original songs.  My favorite was the one she dedicated to her brother upon his graduation from high school.  Her whole family was in the audience - proud dad taking pictures and video, and mom sitting up front, looking like she was in heaven!  This girl had TALENT -   playing the guitar, writing out songs and singing with a beautiful voice to top it off!   My daughter and I both loved it , but also understood why they waived the cover charge.  This was a local, brand new artist - just starting out.  My hat goes off to the manager or owner who reached out and helped the new, local talent get the experience of performing on stage LIVE in front of a fairly large audience.  The next band was also good, but did not have quite the charm as the lovely, young soloist!   Back to our feast - we did indulge in dessert!  My daughter ordered some sort of chocolate pudding that melted in your mouth! Yum!  This was a fantastic way to start our weekend in Chicago, and memories to last the year!  This restaurant has a big heart, character, charm, delicious food, comfortable seating and my rave reviews because they HELPED people out, and didn't look at artists in terms of the money, but as a way to help the young people and brought the community together as a result!  This restaurant deserves all FIVE stars!!  We will be back!

This is a good place to see bands perform, and the bartender is really cool and friendly. Between performances, they play music and videos that don't suck. Yeah, it's corporate and touristy and overpriced and all that stuff, but, come on, you knew that going in, didn't you? Overlook all that noise and sit back, eyeball all the rock and roll photos and memorabilia all over the place and enjoy the music.