Hard Rock Café., Baltimore

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Whenever we take guests to Baltimore, they want to go to the Hard Rock Cafe. This is relatively easy since the Hard Rock is located right in the Inner Harbor over near the Aquarium in the old Power Plant. You can't miss the large guitar at the top of the building. Inside you get the classic Hard Rock menu - burgers, ribs, fries, and shakes. Pretty much the same thing in any large city that has these restaurants. The only difference are the rock band memorabilia on the walls and the language the servers speak.

I'm not a huge fan of Hard Rock - the food is very good, but I think overpriced for a burger and fries. I know many people that visit these restaurants in every city - if only to collect a t-shirt or a pin from their shop.

The Hard Rock in Baltimore is pretty much just like the rest of them. So if you are into Hard Rock dining, this place is for you. It gets pretty crowded at lunch and dinner times, so if you can have a mid-afternoon meal, that's a better time to get a table without a long wait.

If you are someone like me who likes to add another Hard Rock Cafe visit to your resume, then by all means go there. But if you are someone like me who is tiring of the outdated concept, tired menu with overpriced food ($15 for a burger? Really?) and music so loud that you cannot hold a conversation over your meal, then by all means go to one of the other NUMEROUS restaurants that surround the Inner Harbor. This was a typical Hard Rock Cafe experience, I can now say I've been there, done that, got a magnet and I will experience another place on our next trip.

Favorite Dish: The appetizer sampler is good, but it's also almost 20 bucks.

I'm not a big fan of Hard Rock Cafe's, but I do like to at least check out the ones I'm near, maybe go in, have a beer, you knoe... this one was OK, the thing I'd really like about this place if I ate there would be the outside dining on the harbor, a night it really seemed like the place to eat.

Favorite Dish: I had an Long Island

Hard Rock Cafes are a chain - I haven't been to this one, but I've been to the one in Miami where we ate with a coupon from the AAA book. The first one I went to was in Atlanta.

This one is special though because it has a Paul Reed Smith guitar as a sign. Those guitars are manufactered locally on Kent Island. You can see the guitar from 6 miles away.

Favorite Dish: The building dates back to the Civil War, and inside there is a 1960 teal Cadillac hovering over the custom-designed bar, which is shaped like a Les Paul complete with inlaid handle.

The actual building dates back to the site where the first Civil War skirmish took place, and used to be a power plant. A 68-foot neon guitar sits high atop one of the 3 towering smokestacks and can be seen from I-95 over 6 miles away. Looming over the bar is a 1960 teal Cadillac, and just above is a painted sky dome ceiling. There is also an echo dome over the main seating area. A montage of musical instruments is incorporated into a stained glass wall created in the style of Salvador Dali.

Favorite Dish: THE HARD ROCK PILSNER: Fill it up with your favorite beer or cocktail and KEEP THE 20 OZ PILSNER GLASS.