Note: I only give 5* ratings to truly exceptional, best-in-class establishments. The hostess this past Wednesday night was atrocious. We arrived at 8:18PM, and asked for a table for 5. She asked if we had a reservation, which we did not. She said the wait time would be 1 hour. There were MANY open tables in the restuarant. We explained to her that a staff member on Monday night (we ate there before) had told us we would not need a dining reservation and that Wednesday night dinners feature a tableside magician who does close-up magic for kids. She "apologized" that we were misinformed, said that there were over 20 reservations for 8:30 so the "empty" tables were really booked, and kept reinforcing that the 1 hour waitlist was our only option. We left the restaurant to purchase food from the to-go service next door, but while we were there I checked OpenTable and found a dining reservation for both 8:30 and 8:45. I booked the 8:30 reservation, received an immediate confirmation, and walked my family back to the restaurant by 8:23. Another host was with the hostess. He asked me if I had a reservation, and in front of her, I said "yes, for 8:30." WE WERE SEATED IMMEDIATELY. I watched the nearby open tables as we ordered and ate. By 9:15, many of the tables WERE STILL OPEN. The hostess is a liar. I only wish I had taken note of her nametag so I could put her on blast. After a very long day at Universal Studios, the last thing guests want to deal with is this kind of trash. And in this economy, the restaurant should be grateful for every dime it can earn. The food is surprisingly delicious. The magician was around, but he spent a very long time at one of the tables and we never experienced any of it. To be honest, I think it's a complete detraction from this restaurant, as the food is fantastic on its own. Our server was friendly and attentive. Despite the horrible hostess, I would dine again here in the future. read more

You know how sometimes you stay in a hotel, and by the end of the trip you would rather eat trail mix in your room than go to the same restaurant one more time? The Kitchen is NOT one of those. We were at the Hard Rock for five days, and we had lunch here for our first meal, a final breakfast before our flight to leave and several meals in between. Every one was delicious, and the service was awesome. The breakfast buffet comes close to some I have seen in Vegas, and for a small extra charge you can do the Rockstar buffet which comes with bottomless Mimosas or Bloody Marys. I sure did miss that when I got home. One night at dinner we even had visits from characters! It was just so much fun, and we didn't have anything from the menu I wouldn't eat again! Definitely at least try this place if you're at the Hard Rock or Universal! As mentioned in my other review, I wish we had spent more time here and not bothered with Velvet the "lounge" at the HRH! I cannot wait to come back here! read more

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Wow just wow!! Amazing breakfast lunch and dinner. The desserts here are amazing! Ask about magic Mark and you'll be amazed. This place is family friendly and awesome!! This place is a 10/10 and I highly recommend!! read more

Made mistake of doing their Christmas Eve dinner. Way over priced for quality, bland food, slow service. Overall general feeling of ehh at the whole place. The only highlight was Craig the magician. read more

We attempted The Kitchen Sink Challenge. The challenge is a two part combo, featuring The Kitchen Burger - a 10oz angus beef patty, cheddar, bacon, lettuce, tomato, chipotle horseradish aioli, and onion rings, on a brioche bun. With a side of fries and friend pickle! I'm a bit picky so I went no aioli or Lettuce/tomato and opted for extra onion rings vs the pickle. If that's not enough, you also get The Kitchen Sink Cake - a 31 step masterpiece weighing three pounds, and seven layers! The layers are: brownie, devil's food cake, vanilla cheesecake, pecan pie, chocolate chunk cookie, vanilla chiffon, and peanut butter crunch; all held together with a rich buttercream frosting between each layer, and covered in chocolate ganache, chocolate chips, chocolate sauce, a Heath bar crunch, WITH a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream!!! This this is a monster, and if you eat it all within 30 minutes it's FREE! Otherwise, the combo with drink is right at $50. *For annual pass members, you save 10%! They also validate for free parking with a dinner receipt. Sadly, in the challenge of us vs. food, the food won, but we made a valiant effort at such a monstrosity, and this battle will get a rematch A very special thank you to manager Randy and his team for making our dining and challenge experience top notch, and for being so great to us! read more

Located in the Hard Rock Hotel, the breakfast brunch was delicious. We sat down as soon as we got there at 10:15am. But I can see it being crowded earlier to get to the theme parks. We had the buffet and also visited omelet and pancake station. The service was quick and courteous. BEWARE... we did not stay at the hotel so we self parked. We stayed for an hour and a half and it cost us $47. ABSURD! read more

The ambiance is very nice and our server was awesome. The prices are what you'd expect for a resort restaurant, the food was great, the wings we ordered were delicious even if the portion was a bit stingy. The location is great, it's a lovely stroll to the Universal Studios entrance and Hard Rock Live. This review would be four stars with only these factors taken into consideration Our issue was with the parking. Open Table states that parking is validated, not discounted. During Halloween Horror Nights evening parking at City Walk is not free, so we decided to dine at The Kitchen and walk over to Hard Rock Live to attend a concert. We dined at The Kitchen and they instructed us to take the receipt to the parking lot cashier when we were ready to leave. We walked over to Hard Rock Live, watched the show, and came back to the parking lot cashier with our receipt as we were instructed to do at the restaurant. The parking lot cashier was extremely rude and she told us we were only getting a $8 discount on their parking, which is more than $40 a day. This would have been absolutely unacceptable IF it had been true. We got to the gate, inserted the "discount" ticket, and the kiosk did NOT charge us a parking fee. Which means either the kiosk wasn't working or the parking lot cashier was extremely misinformed, or else she was just looking to ruin our good mood and our experience at The Kitchen and the Hard Rock Hotel. If it was the latter, she certainly succeeded. That's a real shame. We had originally planned to dine at The Kitchen before going to see another show at HRL this week, but instead we'll park at Sapphire Falls and dine at Amatista Cookhouse where they'll just stamp the parking ticket and not hassle us when we go to leave. read more

Quality restaurant. The prices are a bit steep but expected from a restaurant within the hard rock hotel. The price is well worth it for the food. The portions are massive and each ingredient is freshly and carefully prepared. I got the kitchen burger - comes with onion ring, Chipotle aioli sauce, lettuce, tomato, cheddar cheese, and bacon. Everything you need in a burger. The burger was carefully cooked, not too greasy and the buns were soft and and crisp on the inside. The chipotle aioli blended all the ingredients and really enhanced the burger. The fries were not greasy - perfectly cut and seasoned. To top it all off, they give you a fried pickle which is a pleasant surprise. Overall a great place to eat with a nice ambiance to enjoy it with. read more

The Kitchen - Menu lunch time - New American Near Me - Orlando, Florida

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Excellent service and good food. Definitely a must visit if you are staying at the Hard Rock resort. read more

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I loves me a Breakfast Buffet! The added bonus at The Kitchen is that all the best dishes on the a la carte menu can be ordered from the omelet station in the back. The standout for me was the Elvis French Toast, it's topped with peanut butter and bananas. (you can grab bacon from the buffet to make Elvis proud) The coffee is good, the staff is friendly and the other buffet options were pretty solid. Great option for a blowout meal on checkout day. read more

The breakfast is not worth it. 26 bucks gets you an all you can eat buffet on par with the free breakfasts found at hotels like Hampton Inns. However, Server was friendly and coffee was good. Still, would not recommend. Expected more from Universal's top tier hotel. read more

Great food, fast service. Their Gluten Free menu is huge and has some very tasty items. The gf flatbread tastes like a normal flatbread and the wedge salad is a little different from the norm, but I was pleasantly surprised with it. I definitely want to go back and try some more menu items. Great experience. Also, if you want to go out afterwards, the water taxi or bicycle taxis are very convenient! It's only a couple minutes to City Walk. read more

The Kitchen is an elevated version of a hotel restaurant. The one that serves three meals a day and has diners dressed up and some who look like they stepped out of the pool. It is spacious with high ceilings and a Hard Rock Lite amount of decor. However, unlike most hotel fare, we found the drink selection impressive. The wine selection was terrific. The menu varied and frankly, the food was great. Cauliflower with hoisin sauce was tasty although needed some spice. The wings were exceptional. The dessert selection was beautiful with a 5-star selection. We needed a place to eat on-site but didn't feel like The Palm. Happy with our choice. Make a reservation if you can. read more

Went for the Thanksgiving buffet and it was good overall but Trattoria Del Porto has a better selection for the same price.

This restaurant is amazing. Amazing in service and food! They also have character dinning. We stood at the Hard Rock Hotel for 8 days last year in June of 2016 and had dinner at The Kitchen almost every night. Our waiter.... :-( I forgot his name but he made sure we got exactly what we wanted and made us feel so welcomed. My husband was having a pork chop withdrawal and he told the waiter and they made him his favorite meal, white rice with pork chops and their drinks overtime was on point. If you have not been here you really have to stop by and try them. read more

The Kitchen - New American Near Me - Orlando, Florida

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We enjoyed friendly and professional service in a stylish establishment but honestly, the food was not the best. The lamb chops special ordered medium rare came out medium well.The mac and cheese was OK but really not memorable. The best part was our drinks and the dessert which were spot on! read more

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The Kitchen at The Hard Rock Hotel is a calming environment in comparison to the hustle and bustle of the theme parks. Not to mention, it is 10X better than theme park food. I ordered the Grilled Teriyaki Beef Tenderloin Skewers which was fantastic! The Tenderloin was well seasoned, tender and juicy. Dipping the skewers into the sauce did not overpower and make the beef too salty. The BBQ Chicken Flatbread was more of a pizza than a flatbread. The flatbread was delicious and very flavorful, but the crust and dough was chewy like a pizza. The Lamb Wrap was okay. Could have had more Tzatziki sauce. The wrap itself had bitter undertones that wasn't very enjoyable. Our waiter was very kind. He saw that it was my birthday (I was wearing a birthday button) and he brought out a cake with "Happy Birthday Sara" written on the rim of the plate. The personalization made my birthday weekend extra special. read more

A new limited menu and a new chef. High end price and low quality food with very little flavor. The server was great but he does not cook. I had been here many times in the past. No more! read more

We dined here two mornings in a row while staying at the hotel. The breakfast buffet is solidly decent and a reasonable price (for a theme park hotel). Service was excellent both times we dined. We also got some take out from here one late night after returning from the parks hungry. Breakfast buffet: This is the best deal as there is a omelet station as well as freshly made pancake/waffles available. One day I ordered apple cinnamon waffles with caramel sauce, the next blueberry pancakes. They have the normal fare available in warmers: bacon, sausage, eggs, pancakes, potatoes, grits, pastries, bread products, fruit, yogurt, etc. I always find it best to have a big breakfast before the theme park so you can put off lunch until after the lunch rush. A bonus about this place is the Kids Crib, which is a nook in the back corner with bean bag chairs, Shrek playing on the TV and a few toys. After the first visit our kids made a beeline back there, lol. It's nice for parents to be able to finish a meal and enjoy their coffee without rushing because of the kids! Take out was actually good too! Hubby got a burger which he said was very good. I ended up going for the grilled chicken kids meal which came with broccolini, mashed potatoes and a cookie. It was the right amount of food since I wasn't overly hungry. My kids like their kids meals too (mini ht dogs and grilled cheese with fries and a cookie). We all had a picnic on the floor in our room- much easier than trying to wrangle tired kids in the restaurant! Although I would not make a special trip to dine here while staying at the hotel it is a solid choice. read more

The Kitchen - Kids crib - New American Near Me - Orlando, Florida

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Best brunch in Orlando! Sundays are epic at the Hard Rock Hotel! Their acoustic brunch rivals the best buffets in the world. The staff is relentlessly helpful and the flavors are always perfect. You can have it all: live music, unlimited mimosas, all you can eat, and right next door to Universal Studios. Get your brunch on! read more

Having visited here a few times, I am definitely a fan of The Kitchen. A few favorite dishes - shrimp tacos, the Kitchen burger, and the mac n cheese. The Kitchen is a quick walk over from Universal Studios as it is at the Hard Rock Hotel. On our last visit we chose to eat here over anything at City Walk because it's just so good. During this visit the timing with the complimentary corn bread and pretzel bread coming out of the kitchen at the same time as our meals was a bummer. We ended up ignoring the bread and eating our meals, taking home the bread as leftovers. The decor is rock n' roll as expected due to the restaurant's location. There is memorabilia and chef jackets signed by different rock stars everywhere as well. read more

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The spinach artichoke dip was bland and cold but the good news is it was a big portion. The burger was not good. It was also cold as well as our fries. There were only 4 tables of customers and food was slow and service was poor. However, restaurant itself was beautiful . They need to work on their food. read more

The Kitchen - Spinach and Artichoke Dip - very cold and bland - New American Near Me - Orlando, Florida

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As standard hotel means go this place is solid. A weekend or so ago I stayed here and on my final morning had breakfast at the Kitchen. Overall I was satisfied. The best deal is the buffet, naturally. Everything on the buffet is available for purchase separately so why not just get everything? You know, I'm American. I'll take more than I need. You know, the place wasn't bad, but I wasn't blown away either. It's buffet style so it's not overly hot. It's a little wet from the condensation, but still a little dry. It suited the purpose. I definitely wasn't upset I went there, but know I'd only ever go there if I stayed on the property again. I will say the staff was very friendly and the service was above par. That definitely helps. But for a memorable trip to Orlando, this wasn't a high point. read more

Omg we needed a break from the crowds at universal and it was soooo worth it. Super awesome service from Allie her recommendations were spot on and the food was super good as well as the desserts Will come back read more

Went there several times during the convention since I was staying at the hotel. Not a lot in the area that delivers. This place has a pretty decent variety of healthy and comfort food. Complimentary bread plate of cornbread and pretzel and they are both amazing. Artichoke dip is excellent Gator app is good Calamari is dissapointing Caprese salad is great, but I added chicken and cucumber Mac and cheese is top tier Shrimp tacos are ok Creme Brulee is excellent bread pudding is excellent Kitchen Sink cake is ridiculous (like seriously, its huge) Even if more options were available, I would still come back. read more

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My friends and I love a good brunch that offers bottomless beverages and The Kitchen at the Hard Rock Hotel did not disappoint! I have tried many brunch spots in the area and I must say that this one was really, really good and worth the price! On this occasion six of us met for an afternoon of eating and drinks and after several hours of fellowship, we left completely satisfied. The options seemed to be endless. There is literally something for everyone. From pastries, to tradition breakfast items, salads, and bagels, there was just no way to try everything. The carving station and made to order station of wonderfully displayed items was hard not to indulge in ( try the stuffed French toast). After several plates of food and many mimosas, it was time to just relax and listen to the live music. I don't know the singers name, but he was really good! He sang the right songs for the environment. His voice just added to the experience. Our server was nice and so was everyone that worked there. They answered questions and were very personable. The only thing that wasn't that great were the bloody marys, but everything else was fantastic! As a local, sometimes I forget about the offerings in our local hotels. The Kitchen Acoustic Brunch was a great refresher! read more

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Great morning breakfast option! They have a wonderful breakfast buffet with an assortment of healthy to sweet options. There's an egg station where you can choose to make anything from scrambled eggs to eggs benedict. I went with eggs benedict and my boyfriend had a huge omelet stuffed with everything veggie and some bacon, both cooked to perfection. There is also a pancake station and breakfast pizza station as well. I loved the assortment of fresh pastries and as well as the hot food station with options from scrambled eggs to potato hash, but my favorite was the fresh fruit. The service was great and the food was amazing, a must go. read more

The Kitchen - Eggs Benedict - New American Near Me - Orlando, Florida

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I was so disappointed with our experience at The Kitchen. Our family celebrated our daughter's 21st birthday there and it proved to be an absolute DUD! First of all the food was not particularly good. The fish special I had was cooked well but had no taste at all. I kept adding salt so I would at least taste it. The accompanying sides were inedible. My din described his hamburger as so-so and my daughter barely touched her salad. When we made reservations we noted that it was a special birthday but no effort was made to make it feel like a special dinner. I even brought sparkler candles and the server had to be asked to light them AFTER she brought the dessert to the table. It was a very sad celebration indeed. We have no intention of ever returning to this restaurant. Too many other nice places to waste time or money on The Kitchen! read more

The Kitchen - Talia's birthday! - New American Near Me - Orlando, Florida

The food was sub par and flavorless. The service was slow. My steak was over cooked and I had to ask twice for a steak knife. My water was delivered 20 minutes after ordering it and wasn't ever refilled. I will never go back. Disappointed to say the least. I gave 1 star because I couldn't rate it any lower. read more

After reading about this place, we decided to make the trek to Hard Rock Hotel and try out The Kitchen. Word to the wise: if you're staying at one of the off-site hotels, I would take a cab here.. it is QUITE the trek. Fortunately, the food was worth it. The gyro sliders, complete with lamb&pork patties, topped with lettuce and tomatoes, were delish. Their tzatziki sauce perfectly tied the sliders together and gave it that "gyro" taste. The carne asada pita was delicious too -- the manchego really gave it an extra kick. Their steak sandwich was served "philly style" -- onions, cheese, and shredded rib-eye, oh my! I'm not the biggest fan of philly cheesesteaks but this sandwich I definitely liked. Something about the ribeye's seasoning that I really enjoyed. Sandwiches ran around $12-$14.. a bit pricey for my taste hence the 4-star rating. I would definitely come here again on any future Orlando trips.. the food I had here was definitely of high caliber and ranks second only to Emeril's as "best food I had in Orlando!" read more

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Service... sub par. I wish I could tell you they were busy but that was far from the case. Our server had at most 4-5 tables. Once our dinner was dropped off we barely saw her. At 8:45 we asked for a dessert menu.. at 9:00, we asked again... at 9:15 she finally brought it to us. Not before lying to say she was waiting for the dessert tray to be put back. Which we could see sitting. The food was okay, nothing to write home about. The mac and cheese was dry, similar texture to elmer's paste. Not impressed. read more

Breakfast there starts pretty early. If you're there for breakfast or brunch, just go ahead and do the buffet. My family and I have done the math, once you pay for a la carte coffee and orange juice and an omelette, you've already hit what the buffet would cost anyways! Our server, Ron, was attentive and helpful. Pancakes made on demand are DELISH! Omelette station in buffet will make you Eggs Benedict, or eggs any way you'd like them! Great and easy way to start your day before going to the park (Universal) or preparing for a long day of lounging by the pool! read more

My friend and I ate at The Kitchen last night. The ambiance was great. I sang along with all the music playing in the background. The meal was delicious. I had the ahi tuna, my friend had the filet (well done what is wrong with him?) My tuna was delicious. My friend enjoyed his meal, too, but the thing that really stood out was our server, Bryan. Bryan was so nice and professional. He was eager to offer suggestions since it was our first visit. Bryan made sure we were happy during our entire visit. I live in Orlando and will visit again for Bryan's phenomenal service and the good food. Thank you, Bryan. read more

A la carte vs breakfast buffet What a bunch of friendly rockers. Eager to please and ready to serve. The restaurant keeps in sink with the hotels theme adding the chefs to list of rock stars by displaying the chefs jackets for all to see. It's a well deserved recognition. The food is kept well and has good flavor. While the Sapphire 's breakfast offers more for the same price, you will walk away satisfied. Our waiter gets kudos for being so attentive while the restaurant was busy .The a la carte items may in the end cost the same as the buffet. So your only dilemma is.. do I want one thing for breakfast or do I want to sample a lot of different things like thea custom omelette or the Elvis French toast. Either way you can't lose Enjoy read more

Went here for lunch today ordered the philly cheese steak which took awhile but was well worth the wait it was outstanding! Our server Craig was very apologetic for the wait which was no big deal.. will definitely go back to this place everytime I stay at Hard Rock! read more

I ate here two different times with my family during our 4 day stay at Hard Rock, and in a nutshell was mostly a standard, slow service, highly overpriced, kind of rude hotel restaurant. The first night we just had a few appetizers and somehow the bill was nearly $100. The calamari tasted frozen. The beef appetizer was pretty good, the dipping sauce was tasty. I appreciated the pretzel appetizer but the cornbread was dry. Service was slow the entire weekend and it wasn't worth the cost. We got take out the last night and they failed to inform us that we would be charged the same ridiculous service fee as if we got room service. We waited an hour an a half for a small order of take out when we could have ordered it the room for the same price. I will not be back when I stay at this resort, convenient or not. read more

Wonderful food - I had the mushroom risotto with chicken and it was as good as I have ever had. Don't think the food won't be stellar because it accommodates families going to Universal because you would be dead wrong. My server was Tina. She made great recommendations and looked afteR me without "hovering". Keep in mind I am here for a conference so my standards are probably aa little higher than the baca Aton crowd. Most importantly they delivered. read more

Amazing food and service! It is worth the price. Amazing drinks and the kids meal are no joke. Top 3 restaurants of our trip.

Great food, and so convenient to the hotel! Everything I had was amazing! They come in large portions (including the sides), and the appetizers could honestly be a full meal. I tried the pretzels as well as the spinach and artichoke dip, and was so full by the time my entree came. Highly recommend for quick food during your stay at Hard Rock Hotel. read more

Last night I went to the Kitchen to take advantage of their awesome Magical Dining Month menu. On the bright side, I loved my boyfriends app, entree, and dessert, and the server was perfectly attentive. On the downside, I didn't like my entree or my dessert. Coming from someone who loves all food (seriously, upon seeing my face when eating the 5th bite of the pork, my long-time boyfriend commented "I think this is the first time I've seen you not like something.") you know I was disappointed. That being said, we still had an amazing time. Our server was perfectly attentive, always filling our constantly-empty water glasses and knowing just the right time to interject. The ambiance as really cool, sticking with the Hard Rock Theme. And the menu was really promising. So, the food. The sauce on my pork chop was a weird bbq balsamic thing that was super off putting, and though I like all veggies the purée made my stomach churn, and the s'mores dessert wasn't anything special--just your average brownie/marshmallow/ice cream dessert. But just because I didn't like my food doesn't mean I didn't like it all--my boyfriends chicken carbonara was amazing. The smoked chicken added a ton of depth to the dish, and I was really impressed. And his bread pudding dessert was out of this world good. It is a rare day when I would pick a non chocolate dessert over a chocolate one, but I would pick this one a hundred times over even a good chocolate dessert. Both of our appetizers were tasty--I actually liked mine better here, I got the pinchos, which were seasoned to perfection, included an awesome cilantro sauce, and accompanied by sweet potato tots. I'm a sucker for sweet potato tots, I just wish they had included a sauce for these as well. Despite being disappointed with my food, I'll still give the night four stars. Just because I didn't like my food doesn't mean they don't make good food (as was shown by my bfs choices), our waiter was on point, and the vibe of the restaurant made for a really good night. read more

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