Review of the New Hard Rock Cafe in Yankee Stadium

There's a short list of things I usually go out of my way to avoid like the plague (or the swine flu, if you prefer), and near the top of that list are restaurants that traffic in the loud, kitschy atmosphere for which the Hard Rock Cafes are famous. But, since we have a pair of teenagers who are at the age where two of life's greatest pleasures are baseball and rock and roll, we decided to head over to the Bronx for a game and some dinner at the Hard Rock Café in the brand-spanking-new Yankee Stadium.

We arrived about an hour and a half early for a mid-week game against Baltimore so we would have time to get a table and look around the rest of the stadium while were at it. At the front entrance of the Hard Rock (Gate 6 on the corner of 161st Street and River Avenue) is an outdoor patio with high-top tables and bar service that's a big draw when weather permits. That particular night it was hopping with fans who were enjoying both the great weather and pre-game beers.

The wait for a table was over an hour, so we just went ahead and grabbed a table by the bar and in no time at all we had drinks and appetizers on the way. The level of service was roughly the same as the other Hard Rocks we've been to, which is to say professional and no-nonsense with just enough friendly be pleasant.

The only real disappointment of this Hard Rock was its rather sterile atmosphere. Unlike the darker, richer décor of the Hard Rocks in Boston, D. C., and Philadelphia that are packed with more Stuff than Grandma's attic, this one has only a relatively spare collection of rock and roll memorabilia on display. This may be because it's a relatively small space, but it also seems clear that they've made a point of matching the décor to the rest of the stadium, which is to say blandly tasteful.

This Hard Rock actually offers two different menus depending on whether it's a game day or not. On non-game days they offer a full menu that covers all the sorts of belly-filling, cholesterol-celebrating favorites you would expect, from appetizers such as hickory smoked chicken wings and "Tupelo Chicken Tenders" to entrees that include a New York strip steak and grilled wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon. There's also a hickory smoked Bar-B-Que combo that includes Bar-B-Que ribs, chicken or smoked pulled-pork, as well as a full compliment of burgers.

If you're feeling like keeping that girlish figure however, there are salads and lighter sandwiches as well. Both menus also give a calorie count for each item, which can be either helpful or appalling depending on the item and where you stand with your diet. As far as the game-day menu is concerned, it's similar to the non-game day menu except that it's limited to roughly half the number of items, presumably to simplify service on those days when they expect big crowds.

So all in all, the 'Hard Rock Café Yankee Stadium' is a satisfactorily family-friendly place to cool your heels and grab some chow before the first pitch, but neither the boys nor I would recommend making a special trip there. Rather than being an over the top, kitschy celebration of rock and roll, it's nearly indistinguishable from any other bland, generic sports bar.

(Oh yeah, and as for the rest of the new stadium: it really is a better, more fan-friendly venue, but that's a story for a different day.)