Hard Rock Cafe opens inside Seminole casino complex
With its guitar-shaped hotel towering over Hollywood, the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino has added the first restaurant to its sprawling, under-construction indoor complex: Hard Rock Cafe.
The 10,000-square-foot, classic-American pub opened Wednesday in Seminole Hard Rock’s expanded dining and shopping pavilion, a suite of indoor dining and retail spots planned to open when the resort’s $1.5 billion upgrade finishes in fall 2019. The plaza replaces Seminole Paradise, the casino’s outdoor complex that was demolished this spring.
Last week, the cafe shut down its 14-year-old original location inside the casino to relocate to its new digs nearby, adjacent to the casino’s Player’s Club section. The 250-seat restaurant, like its sister cafes around the world, is adorned with pop-rock memorabilia.
This Hard Rock Cafe also features an open kitchen, a 7-foot brick pizza oven and a “meat grind room,” where typical cafe dishes such as rib-eye steak, hickorysmoked St. Louis-style ribs and steak burgers will be prepared. Other new additions include a triangular island bar; a central stage for live music on Fridays and Saturdays; and a Rock Shop, which sells souvenirs, Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood president Auggie Cipollini says.
The revamped cafe, of course, isn’t the only dining option open during construction. The elegant Japanese restaurant Kuro, which overlooks the resort’s pool, hasn’t moved, and revamped its menu and chefs in September. Blue Plate, the Bol and the food court also remain open, as does Council Oaks Steaks and Seafood, now in a temporary location next to the Hard Rock Event Center until its new restaurant space opens next fall.
The gambling resort topped off its 450-foot-tall, 640-room guitar tower in July, and is expected to finish by summer 2019. A Seminole Hard Rock spokeswoman says more restaurants and shops will be announced in the coming months.
Hard Rock Cafe opened Wednesday at 1 Seminole Way, in Hollywood. Hours of operation are 11 a.m.-midnight Sunday-Thursday and 11 a.m.-1 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Call 954-315-9112 or go to SeminoleHardRockHollywood.com.