Hard Rock Cafe Budapest review and thoughts

I just visited Hard Rock Cafe in Budapest. It wasn’t the first time I visited the place, but since I hadn’t been there in more than a year I thought it was about time to return to heaven for people who like to listen to loud music while eating.

Hard Rock Cafe arrived in Budapest just before Christmas in 2011 and my impression is that it has turned into a big success. It seems to be large crowds of people there throughout the entire day and lots of tourists I speak to visit the place, not only because it is cool, but because they love the food.

Hard Rock Cafe location

It must be said that Hard Rock Cafe in Budapest has the most brilliant location of all restaurants in the Hungarian capital. At the location with most tourists in all of Budapest it is located just at the corner where the shopping street Vaci Utca meets Vorosmarty square, so couldn’t be better. As the sun starts shining and the thermometer shows more than 10-15 Celsius they add an outer terrace making it possible to eat in open air.

Hard Rock Cafe review

From the first second you enter Hard Rock Cafe you get a feeling that this is American. The service and the way they treat their guests is somehow not typical for Eastern Europe. The waiters are really polite and “cool” at the same time and they do their uttermost to make all guests feel at home entering the restaurant.

If you have a favorite course in Hard Rock cafe you will probably find it in BUdapest as well, because the menu is a traditional Hard Rock Cafe menu with the legendary burgers, sandwiches and other courses waiting for you. After visiting the Hard Rock Cafe in Budapest 4 times I have still yet to become disappointed with the quality, but the only “problem” is that it feels a little pricy. It isn’t expensive compared to other Hard Rock Cafe restaurants around the world, but compared with other restaurants with similar profile in the capital.

This means that if I want to eat an excellent steak I’d rather eat a bigger and better one in Pampas Steakhouse or Prime Steakhouse, than in Hard Rock Cafe. The hamburgers aren’t that expensive, so if you want a great, big and juicy burger, the Hard Rock burgers should be considered. The most expensive burger costs around 4000 HUF which is quite similar to the hamburger prices in for example TGI Fridays.

Hard Rock Cafe is family friendly

A very positive thing about Hard Rock Cafe in Budapest is that it is family friendly. They have high quality chairs waiting for families coming with small children, they have facilities where mothers can change diapers on the smallest ones and they have big children menus where you find special offers for children, in addition to the fact that it is possible inside the menu to color guitars and draw other pieces of art.

The ketchup problem

This isn’t really a problem, but still it gave us a good laugh during our last visit. Most ketchup lovers agree on the fact that Heinz ketchup is among the best available in the world. So, next to my fries which was served together with the hamburger I thought I wanted to use some ketchup. The problem was just that it was impossible to get the ketchup out of the bottle it was in. We got a few drops on our plate, but after fighting the bottle for a minute we gave up, only to see that the people on our neighbor table fought exactly the same fight. The father wanted to give some ketchup to his son, but it simply did not leave the bottle… huhu! Guess we were all to lazy to ask the waiter for help.

Hard Rock Budapest wrap-up

If you want a Hard Rock experience while in Budapest, do not miss out on this one. They give you an authentic Hard Rock meals with guitars on the walls, music videos on big screens and quite loud music on the loudspeakers. I guess I am conservative, so I would enjoy my meal even more if the volume was turned down a bit, but I guess that is just me. The price level is higher than in most other Budapest restaurants, but it seems as if people and tourists in general gladly pay what Hard Rock Cafe asks for, so why lower the prices then?

Hard Rock Cafe Budapest information

Address: 1051 Budapest, Deák Ferenc utca 3-5
Opening times: 12.00-01.00 or 02.00

What is the price of a Hard Rock Cafe t-shirt in Budapest?

I am going to Budapest and would like to buy a Hard Rock Cafe t-shirt while there. How much does it cost?

There are quite a lot of products you can buy in the Hard Rock shop in Budapest, but if you want to buy the traditional short armed Hard Rock Cafe t-shirts with white or black color the price is 7700 HUF per t-shirt. If you are new to Budapest and do not really know how much this price is in other currencies, then we can tell you that with the actual exchange rates of today this is:

6500 HUF is in American Dollars about 31USD. If you come from Great Britain and London then the price is about 20GBP (Sterling). For those located within in a country with Euro the price is approximately 25 Euro. This may of course change from time to time, but currently the HUF is very strong, but that can change within days, and then the price of the Hard Rock Cafe t-shirt will feel cheaper to people arriving from abroad.

Most people buy Hard Rock t-shirts because they collect. If you don’t then you should probably not buy one in Budapest, because the price is really high. If you go to other stores you will find normal t-shirts at much lower prices, so you can probably buy 2 t-shirts for the same price as the t-shirt from Hard Rock Cafe. But if you collect, then money is not a question, and of course you should buy a t-shirt!

Good luck, and we hope this answer can help you!

Ask your Budapest question!

Lunch in Hard Rock Cafe

Yesterday we finally had the chance of visiting the newly opened Hard Rock Cafe in Budapest. So, Hard Rock Cafe was the location for our Saturday lunch, and we were not disappointed. The dishes on the menu are quite similar to the ones you can find in a Friday’s restaurant, and the price level is very much the same. But, the quality is far, far better!

We ended up eating a big hamburger and a fajita with beef and chicken. For dessert we had a brownie with chocolate sauce, ice cream and whipped cream.

Hamburger in Hard Rock Cafe
Hamburger in Hard Rock Cafe

The quality of the meat served in the hamburger was great and tasty. Almost felt like a good beef, very juicy and delicious! The fries served to the hamburger was just perfect. To the fajita we got 4 tortillas and lots of snack to fill the tortillas with. No complains at all!

Fajita in Hard Rock Cafe
Fajita in Hard Rock Cafe
Fajita in Hard Rock Cafe
Fajita in Hard Rock Cafe

For dessert we had the brownie which followed the quality of the rest of the meal, great stuff. In addition to this we had one drink each and the final price was 11,000 HUF (35 Euro). A bit more expensive than most restaurants in Budapest, a little bit more expensive than Fridays, but much, much better… so we are already planning our return to Hard Rock Cafe.

Good Brownie with ice cream and whipped cream
Good Brownie with ice cream and whipped cream

Hard Rock Cafe – finally in Budapest

We have written a lot of articles about Hard Rock Cafe in Budapest, and we have received a lot of questions from people curious whether they will find a Hard Rock Cafe in Budapest as they come, or not. Well, the time of waiting is over! Hard Rock Cafe has finally landed and since Wednesday last week visitors have been filling the restaurant ready to grab nice hamburgers and buy traditional Hard Rock Cafe articles.

For pictures from the new Hard Rock Cafe restaurants, visit our Hard Rock Cafe Budapest page.

The restaurant is located in the heart of Budapest, at the Vörösmarty Square, so it should be easy to find for everyone in Budapest, even if you have not clue at all about where things can be found in Budapest. Enjoy, and time to grab a burger!!

Hard Rock Budapest
Hard Rock Cafe in Budapest

Hard Rock Cafe in Budapest 2010?

I often get the question if Hard Rock Cafe can be found in Budapest. The answer has so far been no, and it will probably be so for a year more, at least. Starbucks also planned for a long time to open in Budapest, and in 2010 they finally managed to do so. Anyway, out searching today I found a page claiming that Hard Rock Cafe might come to Budapest fall 2010 (fall 2010: this has not yet happened). At HardRock.com there is a list of “coming soon” Hard Rock Cafes, and at the bottom of the list Budapest can be found.

So far we only have Hard Rock Cafe on t-shirts in Budapest, but it would be great to be able to visit and see the real things, so lets hope – and time will show!

Hard Rock Cafe Budapest
Hard Rock Cafe Budapest - only on t-shirt!