Hard Rock Cafe rolls out a newly redesigned menu

FLORENCE, ITALY – Hard Rock Cafe’s menu takes center stage as the brand rolls out a newly redesigned menu, following more than 14 months of culinary development, intensive research and guest evaluation.

Officially launching on Wednesday, March 26, 2014, Hard Rock Cafe locations across the United States and Europe began to serve a host of new offerings and updated fan favorites to more than 92 million guests across the brand that enter its doors each year. The new menu is available also in the Florence (Italy) restaurant, located in the central piazza della Repubblica.

The brand surveyed more than 3,000 guests in cafes across four continents and 14 cities to collect feedback on more than 100 items from its existing and redesigned test menus.

The research, conducted by Cohen Research Group, included a side-by-side comparison of current menu items and modified versions – taking into consideration variations like seasoning, textures, flavor profiles, burger patty blends, French fry cut and more. The process resulted in the addition of 30 new items and the modification of 28 existing menu items.

“For more than 40 years, Hard Rock has served guests around the world by showing off our unique rock n’ roll atmosphere,” said Mike Zajak, Sr., Director of Culinary Development for Hard Rock. “This menu redesign reflects our ever-present commitment to bringing guests fresh, authentic scratch-based offerings.”

Every garnish and ingredient was put under scrutiny during the process. More than 27 types of buns were sampled before the final brioche bun was selected. Burgers were evaluated by a number of different factors, including various blend combinations of premium ground beef and brisket, as well as fat to lean ratios, thickness and shape.

During the menu revamp, Hard Rock made freshness and quality a top priority. The entire entrée salad selection of the menu was reinvented, with five varieties of lettuce combinations brought in during the testing phase. Seasonal options for vegetable of the day and various burger toppings were added as well.

In the menu was also added the traditional brisket, which is obtained after 14 hours of smoking process. It is a typical dish of the Bible Belt in the southern United States.

In updating plates, glasses and serving dishes, the brand worked with 14 different suppliers and brought in hundreds of patterns, shapes, sizes and colors to enhance the visual appeal of each dish.