Hi. It’s me. I blog about food. Like…alot. Of course, you all know this by now.

One of my best friend’s was recently visiting Central Florida from New York, and while in town he was staying on Universal Orlando property. We made plans to grab dinner one night and decided to go to The Kitchen at Hard Rock Hotel. While I’ve been to the Hard Rock Hotel many, many times for various events, I’d never eaten at The Kitchen.

It’s apparent here on the site we rarely talk negatively about any of experiences, and think we’re pretty fair in our presentation even when something not-so-great happens (be it food, an event, a concert, etc.). I’m gonna be really honest here, folks: The Kitchen ain’t good. At least not in my recent experience.

Here’s the deal: the food is mediocre, the service is so-so, and the prices–in my opinion–are almost unreasonable. I get it’s primarily focused on driving business amongst tourists and they probably just “put up with it,” but considering what I ordered and what I paid, there’s just no value there.

Let’s take a look:

Dining Area

Fun dining room. No problems here. Themed exactly how you would expect a touristy hotel restaurant to be themed. I like the exposed kitchen (no pun intended), and the seating at the bar area is quite nice.

The Food

I ordered a wedge salad, along with Mac-n-Cheese (no healthy eating on this excursion). Nice presentation on the salad but it was nowhere as delicious as it looks. Pretty bland, actually. A not cheap bland. And the mac-n-cheese? Well, I very easily could’ve made this simple dish at home.

Now, my friend ordered this amazing burger, and said it was just as good as it looks. I’ll just have to trust his word.

Am I being too harsh here? Have you been to The Kitchen to eat? I’d love to hear your thoughts, and learn a little bit about your experience.

Location deets:

The Kitchen
5800 Universal Blvd
Orlando, FL 32819
1.888.832.7155