Hard Rock International Inc. has added new menu and design elements to two U.S. restaurants — including a “Burger Room” for grinding beef onsite — as part of a revamp that will culminate with the opening of a new prototype in London next year, the company said.
The first Burger Room and other refreshed design elements are on display at a new Hard Rock Cafe that opened in November in Hollywood, Fla. The restaurant is the first part of the $1.5 billion revamp of Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, which will open in fall 2019. The Hollywood cafe covers about 10,000 square feet and seats more than 250.
“We are trying to refresh the brand and the business,” said Jim Rogers, Hard Rock’s vice president of marketing, in an interview last week. “The business is still strong, but it’s a 48-year-old brand. Periodically you need to look at ways to keep it current and make sure you are connecting with the younger and broader demographic.”
Hard Rock was found in 1971 in London and has grown to 183 cafes worldwide. The company has 44 restaurants domestically, including 38 company-owned locations.
Elements of the evolving Hard Rock design were also incorporated into other domestic units earlier this year, including one in Atlantic City, N.J., Rogers said.
The full prototype debut in a London opening on Piccadilly Circus next year, next to the five-story Lillywhites sports equipment store.
“It’s a great location,” Rogers said. “Construction time lines could change, but we’re looking for a summer opening next year.”
“We’ve put a lot of development work into the steak burgers,” Rogers noted. “We’ve introduced ‘grind rooms,’ where we grind the meat in front of people. It’s premium Angus beef and it’s ground throughout the day. We’re taking fresh-not-frozen one step further.”
While older units will not have the Burger Rooms, they will be introducing heightened product like the steak burgers, which will roll out next year to domestic and international locations, as well as fresh-not-frozen chicken, ribs and new nachos.
“We’re also finalizing a milkshake platform that we will launch at the same time,” Rogers said. “It will include both adult and kid versions.”
The planned Piccadilly Circus unit will be a two-story location with the Rock Shop for merchandise on the street-level floor and the open kitchen and restaurant one level down. The lower level will also feature a stage for live bands, Rogers said.
The brand is also adding stone pizza ovens for flatbreads and flat-top grills instead of open gas grills.
“We are going back to our roots,” Rogers said. “This concept began in 1971 as a burger-shake place. We’re driving innovation around those two platforms, but we’re trying to do it in a contemporary and modern way.”
Some of the modernization includes rock memorabilia used more judiciously, he said.
“It’s a more modern and contemporary design with a better use of the memorabilia,” Rogers said. “It’s fewer items, but they are grouped together in parts of the cafe. It’s thinking about it strategically. It helps with the design a lot. It brings more attention to the individual items.”
Rogers added that the changes are being made to make sure Hard Rock Cafe continues to appeal to all generations of guests, including contemporary musical artists.
“There’s more about going to a restaurant than just the food,” he said “It’s the experience. Our approach and our business model leads us right into that. Our cafes have always been experienced-based. People can photograph themselves with the memorabilia.”
In the most recent Nation’s Restaurant News Top 200 report, Hard Rock Cafe ranked No. 176 among chains in domestic systemwide sales with an estimated $210.8 million for the fiscal year ended in December 2017.
The Seminole Tribe of Florida acquired Hard Rock International in March 2006. It has venues in 74 countries.
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