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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Sunday Funday was of to a great start with the possibilities of having Brunch with family and friends a total of 8 of us. Getting to the Hard Rock Hotel one of Universal upscale hotel was exciting until we sat down at our table. Our reservations was for 12p and got there about 11:45 and was seated at about 11:50. When our waiter finally came to the table at 11:55 and I inquired about the buffet with the unlimited champagne or Bloody Mary, he told us it ends at 12:00p along with the Unlimited beverages. Crazy Right!!!!! Freaking put that on your advertising and it shouldn't even come up when you Google Brunch!!!! We all walked out!!! I hope the Management Team reads this and takes some action and not hope that this is a sign of what they have to offer. read more

Presentation and atmosphere at the Hard rock hotel is deceiving. But, I still gave the kitchen a try during breakfast. $25 per person for buffet, is a complete trap. The food options were limited and food had no taste. Only thing they provided was an omelet station that had somewhat of a taste. read more

Overall not too great esp during off peak hours. Got a burger and a margarita, burger looked like a pre made frozen patty's , margarita had fruit flies in it. Overall bad even for hotel food. Service took forever and there were unbussed tables all over. read more

I was very disappointed that we missed the breakfast buffet, since we arrived just moments after 11am. They serve breakfast via room service until noon so I was expecting the hotel restaurant to follow the same hours or at least have a few breakfast items on the menu that were available all day. Hey, we were on vacation, and still on west coast time. Anyway, at least we were able to still get coffee. I ordered the chicken potpie which turned out to be pretty good and fulfilled my craving for some greasy spoon, stick to your ribs food. Our server was friendly, though not very attentive. For some reason it just rubbed me the wrong way that neither he nor the host who seated us apologized for not being able to serve us breakfast or seemed empathetic about it in any way. The best part about this place is that like the rest of the Hard Rock resort property, they have rock and roll memorabilia scattered around the place. But instead of the usual autographed guitars and music video costumes, they had dinner plates and chef's aprons with the logo of the restaurant that had been signed by famous rockers. Apparently back in the 80s they used to have bands come in an be guest chefs for the day. They even had a few dishes invented by some famous musicians. There were also some cookbooks on display that had been signed by the artists who wrote them. I really loved the fact that the art on the walls was all album covers that were food related. Some of them were very subtle like Aerosmith's Eat the Rich or the soundtrack from The Breakfast Club. Pretty neat. read more

We had an 11am reservation hoping to catch a late breakfast. I must have missed it in the previous reviews because brunch is only served on the weekends and breakfast stops at 11. Still, the lunch menu was adequate and we ordered spicy Bloody Mary's while waiting for our guests to arrive. Steven, our server, was excellent at taking our requests and patient while we waited for our guests. We added the Gator tail since we had time on our hands, which was accompanied by chips and a remoulade sauce and it was delicious. After our guests arrived my wife and I ordered the BLT with fried green tomato. It usually comes with Texas toast, but we thought that would be a little heavy. My wife opted to have hers on Sourdough and I asked for mine as a wrap using Naan. Delicious and the most applewood smoked bacon I've ever had in a BLT. Our guests ordered the mac and cheese and the shrimp tacos and both were very happy with their selections. Nice outdoor seating near (but not too near) the pool, great atmosphere and outstanding service. Thank you Steven! read more

While staying at the Hard Rock Hotel, I ate here two times. I came here for their breakfast buffet and their dinner. All the dishes on there were great. The portions were just the right amount for a single person. I would really recommend their salmon and chicken pot pie. I've never had a chicken pot pie like this before! Their dessert was okay as well. They carry out a sampler of every dessert they offer. I thought the peanut butter french toast was overly sweet. The creme brulee and banana bread were winners though! The thing that makes this place stand out is their service. The male that helped us was the sweetest thing! He would always be checking up on us (being a party of 14) and he really knows the menu well. Make sure you ask him for recommendations. As for the breakfast buffet, they offer your standard potatoes, scrambled eggs, bacon, omelette station, oatmeal, grits, pancakes, waffles, cereal, biscuits and gravy, fruits, and bagels. If you don't want the buffet, they always have a regular menu to order off of. read more

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Worst service ever! We had a reservation and the restaurant was not busy. We were assigned a waiter that was covering inside and outside tables. We watched all the tables around us having attentive service. We waited over 15 minutes before our waiter showed up to introduce himself and take drink orders. When he returned with the drinks we placed our simple food order. It look an hour for entrees for 3. My husbands filet was over cooked and didn't receive his side dish. After we were done eating the waiter stopped by to check in. My husband commented that he didn't receive the sides and he said oh I will order it now. We said it was too late and just wanted our bill. Eventually we received the bill and he never returned so we left it at the table. We witnessed very attentive waitresses at all the other tables. Other guests came and went while we were still eating. A manager came over while we were waiting for our food but never returned to check on us. Poor management and staff. The food was decent but not worth the price. read more

We're staying at the Portifino, and checked out The Kitchen for their Brunch at the Hard Rock Hotel across the water. I must say, it's better than the brunch we have over here! Beside the food, the staff is wonderful. They were very attentive, friendly, and very helpful! If you're staying in the area, pop by to try their brunch. Yummy! read more

I went to the kitchen again and it was amazing, yet again. Most of the staff remember me and I think it was wonderful. The buffet was always full. There's so many options to choose from. Both back and front of the house were awesome! I'll be back soon! read more

Breakfast buffet is excellent...gluten free french toast and pancakes...omelettes...fruit..cereals...bacon..sausage...great! read more

The Kitchen - New American Near Me - Orlando, Florida

Breakfast buffet is a really good deal here. Most breakfast plates are upwards of $15 and drinks were around $4 so getting the buffet for $20 makes sense. There's cooked to order waffle, pancake and omelet in addition to fresh fruit, grits, oatmeal, cereals/pastry/etc. Wasn't here with kids this time, but know they would have used the "kids only" nook to play and eat while hubby and I relaxed. Nice little setup and service was very good. We will definitely return next visit to Universal. read more

The Kitchen at the Hard Rock Hotel is about what I expected. When you are a "captive audience" in the United States, you get shit food. That's how it works. If you're in an airport, mall (this is changing), or theme park, your food is going to be atrocious. I had the breakfast buffet here because there weren't any other convenient choices (I'm a captive!). I found it to be in line with my expectations in terms of price ($20 - incl Coffee, OJ + buffet) as well as the quality of the food. My first morning I made a mistake and ate from the buffet. The food tasted in line with most breakfast buffets and really reminded me of Shoney's. Been there? If not, you can find them at nearly every off ramp in the SE United States. On Day 2 I wised up and had my omelette and pancakes made to order. MUCH better. Fresh food is always better, even if the ingredients are crap. read more

Yum! I went here with 8 women for my bachelorette party dinner and had a fantastic experience. Our server Jonathon was so attentive and fun. As part of the bachelorette party, we each had tasks to do or find with different men throughout our night and take photos with them. Jonathon played along to help us and even recruited other male members of the wait staff to achieve our goals. It was a BLAST. Okay now on to what you actually want to know about- the FOOD!! The bread service was pretzel bread and cornbread, which hit the spot. I had an incredible filet mignon. It's served with mashed potatoes, spinach, and a red wine glaze that was to die for. Seriously, I licked my plate. Other favorites from the table were the burgers and the mac & cheese. The occasional character comes around while you're eating, which was fun for us. In our time there, we saw Scooby Doo and a minion. I would definitely return here. read more

The Kitchen - The filet mignon. I haven't stopped thinking about it! - New American Near Me - Orlando, Florida

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Love this place. Every time I come I get something different. I can Come here just for the apps. You have outside seating options too. The weather seems to be always pleasant enough. Mac n cheese and the empanadas are my two favs! read more

The Kitchen - Holiday tree! - New American Near Me - Orlando, Florida

Great food---WORST SERVICE---EVER. OK....for $175 for eight of us.....for lunch.....I would at least expect my soft drink orders to be correct. Not once, not twice, but e-v-e-r-y time the waiter would bring the drinks, they were incorrect. And, he was extremely rude (like we were an inconvience for him). He acted like he was getting the required 18% because we had eight people....so, he didn't need to provide any type of service (and, he didn't). Worst service EVER!!! Now, the food was excellent. Huge portions, and cooked perfectly. So, if you can live without good service for an expensive lunch/dinner at the Hard Rock Hotel, then the Kitchen is for you. read more

It is very clear this restaurant is very poorly managed. Arrived early for our 8:30 dinner reservations, weren't seated until after 9 and several check-ins with the host. As we waited at the bar, we must have counted a dozen empty tables. When we asked, we were told the kitchen was slammed, and they were trying to space out seating tables so they could catch up. Not exactly industry standard. After being seated, it took about twenty minutes to get our drink order in. Our waitress was nice, and apologetic, but full of excuses. Service was extremely slow, and we were told it was everything from the bartender to the kitchen to the fact that the host sat too many tables at once for her. It takes a lot to make me write a review on here. I've been to bad restaurants before, crews have off nights, this stuff happens. Looking at these reviews, it's clear this restaurant suffers from a manager who just doesn't care. What's truly offensive is this restaurant is masquerading as an upscale experience, while being quite content to take the money of tourists who don't know any better. read more

I enjoyed this restaurant, not too formal and yet 5 star service from Bartender. I had one other person with me and the service for foo at the bar was very good. Unlike many place, you could have a conversation. I enjoy all the Hard Rock Hotels across the globe. This one is small scale and easy to get around. Thanks Hard Rock Seminole Tampa! The Cauppichino bar and desserts-Try it. Sooo good. read more

The kitchen is the perfect place to grab a bite to eat or have a drink with your favorite bartender. Restaurant is full on all of the hospitality we have come to expect from Marriott! Thank you Lester for being you- kind and so full of joy and the best hospitality the Marriott has to offer. You should be training the new employees on customer service! read more

The Kitchen - LESTER WHERE R U? - New American Near Me - Orlando, Florida

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I guess it depends on time of day and who you get for a server that marks how many stars you will give. We had breakfast with Sammy as our waiter. He was fantastic! My daughter got the buffet. A lot to choose from. I got the Eggs Benedict and told Sammy that there was only one restaurant that made them just as good. And that experience was 17 years ago in New Orleans. It was that good. My husband had the Salmon on a bagel. The day before, we had a sample of the Chicken Pot Pie in the lobby. Excellent comfort food. I wish we ate there for dinner so that I could add on to this view. We really liked our experience. read more

I've been here several times (brag) for various meals throughout the day. The food is always rich and tasty and the service is great. It is pricey but that's to be expected at this resort and this property on vacation. I will be back every time I return to Universal. read more

I've been to The Kitchen a few times with my husband on vacation. It is his favorite restaurant in Orlando. We have always had exceptional service. The breakfast buffet has just about everything that you can think of, including made to order specialty French toast, pancakes, and omelettes. Dinner comes with complimentary rosemary cornbread and pretzel bread. Both are very good. I recommend the mac and cheese and their flatbreads. The dessert shooters are very good as well. read more

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We went here because a friend had read some strong reviews. Don't believe the hype. Food prices for lunch were pretty much $14 and up, there were a few $10 selections, but not many. We ordered the crab dip appetizer and it came out with been-sitting-out-since-the-night-before stale chips. Eww. The dip itself was great, but there was only enough for half of the amount of chips they served with it. I had the 'soup and sandwich of the day' which was creamy chicken soup (not bad but a little bland) and a veggie panini (VERY bland). It was kind of like eating vegetable flavored cardboard bland. Tasted the mac-n-cheese, it was good, but again, nothing special. Definitely not worth the $11 price tag. What earned the 2nd star? First, our waiter realized how crappy our meal was and didn't charge us for the beer and gave us 25% off. Kudos to him for saving an otherwise bad time. Also? They have a separate dining area for families (aka kids). I wish other places around town would do that. read more

The Kitchen at the Hard Rock Hotel at Universal has been on my list of places to try for a while now. Why? Hell, I don't know. The crowd was sparse, but the service was slow -- this is coming from someone who never has a desire to rush through a meal. I've been told by people in "the biz" that in many restaurants the service is better when they are busy. That must have been the case at the Kitchen. I started with a pretty darned good corn and chicken chowder, accompanied by day-old toasted bread. Then came the turkey club -- there isn't much to choose from there for lunch. They gave me a heapin' helpin' of turkey on the sandwich, but it didn't compensate for the blandness of the sandwich overall. I ate less than half of it. The fries would rate a 3. Again, I don't know why I wanted to go here, but now it's out of my system and I can move on to better things. read more

We had our office holiday dinner party here because it was one of the few places that didn't make things weirdly complicated when we tried to make a dinner reservation for 18 people. Food was great. Service was impeccable. We had the best time. Planning to take my family there for my birthday weekend when we stay at the Hard Rock Hotel. read more

Probably wouldn't come back but I did enjoy the brownie dessert. I don't think the prices match the quality of their food. Food was mediocre. read more

The whole experience was fantastic. The staff was welcoming and always friendly. They were quick to get everything we needed and were a joy to be around. To compliment the amazing service was the amazing food. I was overwhelmed with the endless amount of options at the buffet and even more surprised by how delicious all the food and deserts were. I couldn't get enough and I'd gladly go back. read more

Stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel, so definitely wanted to try The Kitchen. It was pretty good. However, overall we weren't super impressed. We were seated right away and our waitress was nice. The service was a bit slow considering it was very busy, but not detrimental to our experience. The drinks were delicious. Tried the strawberry fields and pepper margarita, both were really great. I shared the bangin' tempura cauliflower and steak flatbread. Both were just okay. Actually, the cauliflower had too much batter and not enough sauce for me. The flatbread was better, but again not anything super special. So overall, I would go again and try something different, but I wasnt very impressed. On another note, my friend is gluten free so she was very happy to be handed an entirely gluten free menu. read more

We stayed at the Hard Rock hotel for the weekend with a large party. From the moment we got there, things kept on going wrong. I don't know of we were just frustrated with the other problems and everything stuck out a lot more or if this review is really warranted. I think the biggest problem I had was the food. I ordered off their pre set menu with an appetizer, entree and dessert. I ordered the calamari, chicken penne Alfredo and banana pudding as the dessert. The calamari was fine enough, the pasta was flavorless and lacking to say the least and I didn't get to try the dessert because our service took so long that we had to rush out due to another reservation. It was a disappointment because the place has potential. The staff was nice and seemed eager to help, just overwhelmed. Not worth the money. read more

Server was very sarcastic and not helpful with our decision making for the meal. The meal was brought out cold, burnt salmon, and dried out steaks. Their magical dining menu on their website as well as Visit Orlando states calamari as an appetizer option, but the print out at the restaurant does not. It was a "typo" according to the server. It took 30 minutes for each portion of the meal, and we hardly saw our server for wine orders or any water refills. We were at the restaurant for a total of 3 hours... which is ridiculous. The sad part was once we brought it to the managers attention, she had nothing to say except laughing. We then saw a complete 180 change in the staff with the service being very polite and welcoming.... It shouldn't take a complaint to higher ups to ask for decent hospitality. My friends and I are all in the industry and understand how we are all affected and working through the challenges from the pandemic, etc. but there is no excuse. read more

We made a reservation, specifically for the character "meet and greet". Earliest they had available was 8:30. We were not seated until 8:55, even though there were several empty tables, they say it was because the kitchen wasn't able to produce the food quick enough. Wow. Also missed the characters because of this. What poor management. Once seated the server took about 15 minutes to even come for a basic food order. Food came out in adequate timing and I had the bacon wrapped meatloaf, it was delicious! That's the only positive thing I can say. Will not becoming back. read more

Dinner was absolutely fantastic! I had the roasted chicken, my oldest son had the margarita flat bread, my youngest had the kids cheeseburger, and my wife had the fish. It was all very good and our waiter was excellent and really catered to the kids. We went back the next morning for breakfast. The breakfast was a buffet and it was pretty good. The scrambled eggs were a bit watery and the sausage links were a bit under cooked, but everything else was very good. Our water was pretty good, but he was a little slow. read more

We stayed at the Hard Rock for four nights and ate at The Kitchen three times with a party of 10 - 5 adults and 5 children. We were disappointed twice and if we had other choices we would not go back there. We ordered the Seafood Pasta ($29). We expected to see some shrimp, scallops or fish as the menu indicated. The largest piece of seafood was a piece of shrimp approximately 1/4 inch large. There was a total of four pieces of seafood - mostly fish but none larger than that small piece of shrimp. When we commented to the waiter he said that the chef minces the seafood and he had told him many times that the guests have complained but it is still prepared the same way. On our final visit we had reservations for 10 at 3:15pm - the restaurant was not crowded - approximately 6-7 tables. We ordered both drinks and entrees as soon as the waiter approached. I spoke to the manager at 3:55 since we had not received any entrees. She said that the orders were waiting for the french fries. At 4pm, all the entrees were served by the manager with an apology. She provided a complimentary dessert for the table - a several layer slice of cake with ice cream. It was huge and very difficult to cut. Fortunately the top layers were served first to the children. The adults received the bottom layers which much to our surprise had one layer of peanut butter. We had one child allergic to peanut butter but fortunately he received the top layer. You don't serve a party of 10 with 5 children a product containing peanuts without asking - especially when you haven't ordered it off a menu. read more

We liked this place so much that a couple of nights later we went back again. Once again, it was an excellent dining experience. We didn't have to go to far because it's located inside the Hard Rock Hotel. After a long day at the park, it's very convenient. Of course they put down the rosemary corn bread and pretzel bread sticks while you are waiting and they couldn't taste any better. It's easy to get filled up on that alone. We began our meal with the honey garlic chicken wings as an appetizer. The wings were tasty and they came with some kind of crunchy chips. We once again ordered the Mediterranean salad because it was great the first time and it didn't disappoint this time. We also had 2 flat bread pizzas. One was the margherita pizza and the other was the bbq chicken. Both came out hot, fresh, and tasty. We were a party of 3 and had only a couple of slices left over. We had room for dessert and we were glad we did. My wife and I each ordered the banana bread pudding. It comes with ice cream on top. WOW! Worth the calories. The coffee was French Press and really good. Overall the service was very good and friendly as was our first visit. We were again very impressed with the prices for the entrees. They will allow you to charge your meal to your room as will most places in the park. Located near the pool and has some outdoor seating available. read more

The food was very tasty. They got one part of my order wrong but otherwise would recommend it. We came for the breakfast buffet which had tons of choices and all very yummy. Dinner was very nice- the meatloaf was delicious. It was a tad cold - recommend bringing a sweater read more

DELICIOUS food!!!!! Very nice place to eat. Food was great! We had 4 adults and 2 teenagers in our group and we all loved our meals and appetizers. The staff was SUPER FRIENDLY and got our food out to us within a descent time. I would love to eat here again! read more

Love this restaurant. I have stayed at Hard Rock all the time this restaurant has always been great for us. Food is always above standard

I dined here this past Saturday night. I was staying in the Portofino Bay, and we just walked across the street to the Hard Rock. This hotel was really nice, and was fun to explore. The Kitchen is on the bottom floor, near the pool. Our waiter was very friendly and attentive. A basket of delicious bread was sent to the table - I loved the rosemary and basil bread. I really enjoyed my Malibu bay breezes as well - they were large. My brother loved his beer mussels and buffalo wings. We shared a three cheese flatbread for a starter and it was delicious. I chose the mac and cheese for my dinner, and it appeared small at first, but it was so filling and I had more than half left. It was very good. We split the bread pudding dessert -- amazing. I would definitely return! read more

So the buffet here is A-Mazing! It's a little pricey but omg so many options and so much deliciousness! It took til my 3rd or 4th full plate to even discover everything! The seafood was fresh and succulent, as I would expect in an ocean surrounded state. And there were quite a few vegetarian options as well! The servers were on it and super nice! They had no problems looking up things for the child in our party with a peanut allergy. They were super helpful. We got a drink from the bar in a chipped slightly dirty glass and they made a new bigger one for us! We had a large group but never felt like we weren't being served. The outside patio looks really nice in warm weather and they have heaters for when it's not so Florida like. The only downside is if you're waiting, you're outside in the covered patio area. You also have to use the restrooms outside and down the hallway by the pool. They don't have ones near the restaurant. read more

This was a visit for #magicaldining month. It was our first since the Yelp preview and we are reminded that the way to go is to have one person do magical and the other person do just an entree. There's just way too much food otherwise. We brought home four boxes. :) Overall for The kitchen- it's fine. Food was good, service was outstanding, but it just isn't worth the trek out there and the setting wasn't that special for a theme park hotel. It's super casual and there's a kids play area in the corner. (Especially if you had to pay full price.) First things first-park valet AT the hotel and get your parking validated. It'll only cost you about 5 plus tip. (Normal valet there is $34 a day or $29 if you're a guest!!!) Anyway, the night we went, it was a torrential downpour and the hotel was "leaky" - the gift shop had a bucket to catch a leak from the roof and there were blowers outside. And to get into the restaurant you have to go outside and the patio is covered but was badly flooded. Something to work on. We had a ressie- which was good, because there was a 90 minute wait and the check in area was mobbed. But we were seated right away. We enjoyed everything, but especially the blue cheese potato chips (the balsamic glaze was amazing, and we actually got them without blue cheese), and the cheesecake and brownie s'more. I also really liked my grilled pork chop. Nothing bad to say about the meatloaf or the spinach and artichoke dip, but they weren't as good as the others. We would give our server a five, though. Really great. We would go back if asked , but likely will try other places first before making a special trip. read more

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