Time was when the Hard Rock Café was a place to drop in to get a bite of musical nostalgia washed down with a pricey burger and a drink.
While the nostalgia is still a high point, the food and beverage are gaining fast!
Having let its former home in Back Bay go to the developers, the Hard Rock in Boston is now located on its own campus near everything from Faneuil Hall to the Garden to the Greenway. And while it still may draw tourists and music fans off the Freedom Trail for a look-see, more and more are staying to eat and even catch a show in their expanded live music venue, the Cavern Club. While the crowded authenticity of the original CC (which was apparently built with bricks from the Hamburg haunt where The Beatles first made it big), the new Cavern is still one of the best “cellars” around, with great sound and sightlines in an imminently rentable space for parties of all kinds.
But even if it is too early for live music (as if!), the Café is still a great hang. In addition to items once owned by all of your favorite stars – from Ian Anderson and Black Sabbath to Warrant and Yes – the Café not only offers a special Boston only area (featuring personal effects from everyone from Aerosmith to Billy Squier, the Bosstones to ‘Til Tuesday, (and, yes, the New Kids), all guests are grabbed by the eyes by the wall full of locally-made, world-played Zildjian cymbals, which glistens behind the extended, flair-tended back bar like a sizzling beacon you can almost hear.
Speaking of sizzling, the Café’s “artists formerly known as chefs” offer a wide array of fresh-made and grill-prepared foods, from their famous fajitas and ½-pound bursting burgers (which may still be pricey, but now much more worth it) to grilled Norwegian salmon, home-smoked ribs, aged steaks and a massive combo called “The Texan” that boasts pork or chicken with chipotle BBQ sauce, cheese, fried jalapenos and onions that will fill you to the ZZ Top. For those who still want to drop in for just a bite, the Café also offers an array of fresh salads and filling apps, including bruschetta with Roma tomatoes and shaved Parmesan, Rockin’ wings (with either tangy or “Metal” sauce), and their not-so-lite but happily loaded Nachopalooza. On the back end of the experience are such worth-hanging-aruond-for desserts as a Ben & Jerry’s-topped fudge brownie sundae, a real Oreo cookie cheesecake and fresh-made apple cobbler that is as American as Rock itself.
No matter who you are or what you eat, a trip to the Hard Rock is not complete without taking something home. And we do not mean just the leftovers that you will enjoy later! While tourists love the HRC store out front, insiders know that you have to come inside for the best souvenirs. From special glassware for their hurricanes and other fruity drinks (a holdover from days gone by, but now with more real fruit and other fresh ingredients) to a new set of gear especially for the younger rockers (check out www.hardrock.com/promo/roxtars/), the Café has raised the stakes (and the steaks) and made a visit more worthwhile for music fans and families (which are hopefully the same thing!).
In addition to a fun-packed menu that includes crayons, stickers, and an entire activity book, RoxStars also get their own menu! In addition to such standard “Headliners” as a cheeseburger, chicken tenders, mac & cheese and fish sticks, the new menu also offers a “Live Well” menu that adds grilled chicken breast with broccoli, Cavatappi pasta with marinara and the good greens, and a chicken-topped salad with a side of carrot sticks, all of which can be sided with fresh fruit and washed down with milk or juice (or a milk shake because…c’mon!). Who said healthy can’t be cool?!
Speaking of fruit and cool, the Café’s beverage menu now includes more of both than ever! From fresh sangrias and the tropical Fruitapalooza, the Jack and SoCo-based Southern Rock, the vodka and Bacardi-infused Purple Haze and the Magical Mystery Mojito with Hendricks gin and flowery St. Germain to seasonal sippers like the recent Pinktober Rita and the non-alcoholic (but no less yummy) Wildberry Smoothy (purchases of which helped raise money for breast cancer research), the Café offers drinks to quench your thirst, ease your mind and help others do the same. In addition to a wider selection of “Alt Rock” booze-less beauties (including a fresh-made strawberry basil lemonade, the Red Bull-ed Mango Tango and diner-style shakes made with both Ben & Jerry’s), there are also entire menus through which you can Get Your Fruit On or get Comfortably Rum (Oh! And did we mention the wine and beer lists that include flavored Prosecco and artist-inspired vintages?). So no matter what you need to wash down your dinner or rev up your night, the Hard Rock makes it easy!
So whether you dig checkin’ out the gear of your favorite band or having a fun place to meet the gang after work or to bring the entire family for a Boston tour break or just a great meal, the Hard Rock Café has everything you need and much more than you may have thought.
22-24 Clinton Street
Boston, MA 02109
(617) 424-7625