Original Hard Rock Cafe of Empire

We had a blast! I had a cup of chicken corn chowder and a Cesar salad with salmon. And my husband had trout and eggs. Everything was top notch, and service was fast and courteous.
We will be back :)

Best veggie burger sliders. Great and original menu options. Cute place. Perfect stop after coming down the mountain.

The food here is 3 – 4 stars, but this review was mostly influenced by the service we received. We were heading up to Winter Park on a Saturday morning and the pass was closed, so just about every car heading that way stopped in here to burn an hour while they waited. Surprise, one waiter and one cook! Your leisurely morning shift just turned into the Saturday night shift! All i can say is the situation was handled very well, and while i could tell the waitress was a little stressed, it didn’t show in her service or her attitude towards us or any of her tables… very well done.
As i mentioned, the food wasn’t to die for (i got a venison eggs benedict, which was very good but not 5 star good), but handling this potential nightmare scenario in such a calm and collected way was very impressive to me.

Great place to stop for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Just a mile off the freeway. Attentive waitress, the food was fresh and nicely prepared. They offer venison sausage on any of the meals, the venison is the way to go it taste like steak, no joke. Will definitely go again when in the area.

Great food, great service, reasonable prices. Will definitely return when we visit the area again. Especially enjoyed the blueberry pancakes.

Stopped in in way up to Granby. Service was unreal. Got 3 of 6 orders wrong, and one didn’t get their meal at all after all of us had finished. Manager took that one meal off the bill but zero apology for any of the errors.

Wow, this was one of the worst restaurant experiences I can remember having. If it were possible to give zero stars, I would have. We came in as a party of 6 on our way from Denver to Winter Park for a wedding. Our server was clearly new as she was being shadowed by another server. We placed our orders and that was when things quickly went downhill.
Two orders came out incorrect. When we brought it to the server’s attention, we got no apology just an eye roll and she took one of the plates back. After bringing a new plate, the bun was nearly frozen. While this was happening, I still had not been served my food while others in my party were nearly done eating. I had ordered a simple bunless hamburger and a side salad. When the server brought back the corrected order, she didn’t even notice that I was the only one without food. We brought it to her attention and we were given more eye rolls. A server came by about 5 minutes later and said my burger would be done in 2 – 3 minutes. Everyone at the table was done eating and I still had no food so we canceled my burger and I walked across the street to get some trail mix at the gas station.
Finally, a manager came to our table. She informed us that they so generously took the burger (that we never received) off our bill and also gave us a discount ($ 5.79 on a $ 65 bill). She was extremely rude and never apologized. I understand there being a learning curve with new staff, but that is never an excuse to treat your customers so poorly. Needless to say, we will never go back to this place and I hope that this review helps deter others.

Great breakfast. Had the eggs Benedict with home made venison sausage. Yum yum. Good strong coffee, and great service. Will stop in again if I’m in the area.

Actually use to be a good restaurant last couple times I went through really is falling off. They didn’t even have chicken fried steak for breakfast?

Left Jenny’s because they quit serving breakfast at 11:30 and suggested this place. Good breakfast here but coffee was $ 2.25 (Jenny’s just $ 1 !) and we only got one slice of toast :(

Good stuff!
Glad I stopped in here than the other joint down the road.
Best biscuits and gravy I have had in this part of the country.
I am always skeptical of trying BnG somewhere new. They did it right.
I would only say, more gravy please. If I were to nit pick like Brian from Boulder,
the coffee was ok. And Brian’s comment that $ 21 is pricy for a burger, soup and coffee including the tip? Wow, where does he eat. Who is this guy? He should go back to McBurger’s.
Good job OHRC. I will stop back in when in town
Thank you

Good food. Had the hard Rock omelet and a side order of bacon. Omelet was good, came with fresh fruit. Bacon was awesome, very thick and tender. Coffee was OK. Interior was nice, the fans were awesome. Service was good.

Terrible service, sat down and waited ten minutes for service ordered drinks and then waitress never can back to take our orders but she did manage to take our menus from our table. We will never return.

Went on a whim and wasn’t disappointed. I ordered the buffalo burger and was blown away. Best burger I’ve ever had and also has some local draft beer. Will be back again.
Staff was super friendly. Can’t wait to return. :-)

Awesome burritos and a super friendly staff. This place is tucked away in a little mountain town on the way back to Denver.

The orginal Hard Rock Café is one of our new favorite places to eat after snow shoeing or hiking. The new owners (Jan 2013) make everything from the dressing to the deserts. The husband and I both vote that their sweet roll is one of the best in the State; it is the owner’s grandmother’s recipe and is so good and gooey. I have had Beer Bacon Cheese soup, a Southwest omelet, and a salad on our visits and all were wonderful. The patio is perfect for sitting in the town of Empire and enjoying the view of the valley.

«Local charm with a small price tag»
This was a lovely little Unilocal find. Thanks again Unilocal reviewers! I was driving down the highway and was hungry for some breakfast, and since I like Empire, I figured I would stop there. Drove in to town and parked on the side of Hard Rock care.
Cute, small restaurant with a few tables outback looking at the mountains. Pretty quiet inside, but it wasn’t very busy. Servers were some very nice local girls. the place was definitely filled with people from Empire. All very friendly.
Ordered the pancakes with potatoes and their bacon (which is cured in brown sugar). Extremely reasonable here, and there were 6 or 7 pancakes. Basically, I couldn’t tell how many there were, more than enough. The bacon was superb, melt in your mouth delicious and potatoes were very flavorful.
I never felt rushed and the ladies offered me plenty of coffee, even coffee to go. With me, you can never have too much coffee, especially in cool weather.
I was so glad i came here, i will be back again when I drive through.

My crew stopped here on the way back to Boulder-​town after a weekend of ski and snowshoe. Very convenient parking — just slide on in as you drive by! Nice interior — not sure when they updated it, but it’s nice to find it kept up and not run-​down.
My food was good, but not great, although the food of my friends looked great. I had a cup of the tomato pepper bisque and a burger. The soup was fabulous. The burger was correct correctly to my order, but I found myself wishing that the bun was of better quality, but worse, the tomato (and other vegies?) were refrigerator cold, which made the burger seem cold rather than hot.
The price is more in the $$ category, as a I had a buff burger, cup o soup and coffee, bringing my total to $ 21 after trip. A bit pricy for a quick bite.
In any case, I’d be happy to bring my next carload of friends here after a day (or more) in the mountains.

We come through Empire once a year and usually make a stop at Jenny’s. Jenny’s is great, but today they’re closed. Went to Hard Rock instead and am now converted. Next year, this will be our pilgrimage.
Excellent specials, creative dishes and classics, nice space, and beer. We asked for chicken on the side of an order of nachos and got a bowl of without doubt the best chicken on the side that we’ve ever had.
I will still go to Jenny’s for pie, though. Good enough here, but better up the road.

Food: 2 star
Price: 3 star
Portion size: 4 star
Service: 4 star
Beacon BBQ burger, Beacon Hamburger, Taco salad, 12oz draw of Fat Tire, 1 iceT, 1 coke= $ 35 plus tip.