Hard Times Cafe

Gave 2 stars because you always have to walk through a wall of cigarette smoke at the entrance because of bar patrons who constantly smoke right outside the entrance. YUCK!

Love the veggie chili! Even meat eating friends will agree it’s really good. My dad refused to believe that there was no meat in it. I’ve been to many locations, and this one is just as good as any. Chili salad is my favourite, and don’t forget to ask for cornbread! It’s delicious!

I’ve always loved the food here, especially the cincin chili and the vegetarian chili. The cornbread is excellent and we really enjoy migrating over to the pool tables quite often. My only complaint is that the help is not as professional as they could be; service is uneven, they are not always well groomed which is a little bit of a turnoff for a restaurant.

They’re chili is ground so fine it becomes mush. Tasteless mush. Had mine on a bed of flavorless spaghetti. I could not even finish it. My friend who had a similar dish couldn’t even finish his. How they’re famous for their chili is beyond me.

Great bar! Had the egg roll appetizer. Just enough for two people.
They offered Cincinnati Chili. Being from Ohio this was a great surprise. Tasted just like back home. Serving was huge, took half home.
Wide variety of beer and drinks.
Will go back again.

I am an avid Hard Times fan, but this one was great. It is part Hard Times and part pool hall, so you can eat delicious food and play. The place was empty when I went so the service was great. Our server was very nice and so was the manager when I had made a special request.
Now. onto the food! I LOVE the vegetarian chili here. I highly recommend getting it over the meat kind (my carnivorous SO agrees!) I had some over my french fries (instead of the tater tot option on the menu). I would get it on the side because it makes the fries/​tots too soggy. On the other hand, it worked wonderfully on top of the nachos, which are awesome. Get nachos and be merry.

Ordered cat fish tacos with sweet potato fries
Tacos were soggy, i guess precooked and microwaved, with lettuce and cabbage abs lemon juice on them; no chipotle mayo at all. Overall petty bland. I got about a third of the fries as anyone else at the table, not sure if it was bad portioning or if the waitress, who was so stoned she couldn’t read her own notes on what we ordered, got the munchies. Everyone else enjoyed their burgers and chili though so i guess the lesson is that as long as you order what the cooks feel like making your food will be fine.
Probably won’t come back, unless the rest of my friends are dead set on it, eh.

Good reliable food. Cornbread — yeah– make sure you ask for it. Sweet and yummy. Almost dessert. A real treat.
This place is 2 in one — a bar with pool tables and a family friendly tv laden restaurant that serves chili multiple ways, burgers, wings, sliders, tator tots, yum. Entire menu is comfort food but you can grab a salad too if you are going a bit lighter. Drinks are served in very generous size glasses.
Specialty is the chili. Vegetarian is very good — ask for a taste sampler if you are not familiar or want to try something new. Can’t go wrong with any of them. The add ons of cheese, onions, spaghetti, etc make it 2 to 5 way.
A quick enjoyable place to grab a warm and comfy bite.

Would barely get one star if not for the fact that this was a Hard Times, and as such, the food was worth it. Otherwise, no thanks. I’ll just drive down to the College Park or Waldorf locations. Totally not worth it otherwise, and here’s why.
Service: could not have been more amateur if they tried. Had to ask three times to change the channel, and each time was told «Oh yeah, that’s not a problem, I just need to ask the manager.» And it’s not like I bugged her every time I saw her. We’re talking about a half hour total time here. Insane. Took them forever to get all of our drink orders right, couldn’t wait for dinner orders.
Food: always worth it. Hard Times serves up authentic Texas and Cincinnati style chilis and for not a lot of dough. When someone in your party orders a side of steamed veggies, though, it shouldn’t take the entire meal for them to come out. That’s not an approximation, that’s the literal truth: we were paying the bill when the veggies finally showed up. Inexcusable. They still had the rice for a Southwest Chili Mac, though, which was a huge win for me. So, mostly good on this front. Oh, and one of the other patrons got just a bowl of chili… hers came out last… WAY last… as in, several minutes after we all received our meals. When the simplest dish (put the chili in a bowl) takes the most amount of time… I blame the coaching.
Cleanliness: Fail.
Décor: way too dark to read the menus, we had to use our cell phones in order to see anything. That’s just embarrassing. Chairs were non-​uniform, shoddy, old, falling apart. Also embarrassing.
Noise: too loud and the band was only just setting up, they didn’t start until after we left. Inexcusable.
Overall, not worth it really. If it weren’t for the food, we wouldn’t have gone in the first place. We only visit the area when we’re stopping by to see relatives, and we will definitely not be coming back in the future. There are a ton of good places in Frederick to choose from; this is not one of them. Don’t get me wrong, I will continue to patronize other Hard Times Cafes in the area, specifically the College Park location, but this location sadly falls short of the mark by a lot. Thank goodness they can’t tinker with the recipes at least.

We walked in as they opened and waited half an hour for cold hot dogs and fries. A guy who ordered off the dinner menu was finished by the time we were starting. There were three people behind the bar who were paying more attention to stocking and chit chatting with each other which I’m sure is the reason for the slow cold food. May have asked for it to be warmed but no one came back to check on the food.