Downtown Dallas, Prepare to be Rocked
The legendary Hard Rock Cafe makes a comeback to Dallas
By KEVIN COKELY and STACIA SMITH
Updated 6:00 PM CST, Mon, Jul 6, 2009
After being out of the area for two years, a restaurant known around the world is making a return to Dallas.
Nearly two and a half years after the original Hard Rock Cafe Dallas at 2601 McKinney Avenue closed in February 2007, a new Hard Rock Cafe Dallas will open July 15th at the southern end of Victory Park.
"I think we wanted to find a great location and the very best location in Dallas," said General Manager Todd Stoerkel.
"We had such great support at our McKinney Avenue location, and we were here in the Dallas market for almost gosh, 21 years," said Stoerkel, who was also the last general manager at the McKinney location. "We're just excited to be back in the market and we know that those hard rock fans are gonna come find us here in Victory Park."
Hard Rock Memorabilia Designer Andrea Torgeman spent nearly half a year selecting the more than 200 pieces of rock memorabilia prominently displayed on the walls.
"It took me about four or five months to actually go through the thousands of thousands of pieces that we have in our memorabilia collection, sort through and see what were the right pieces for Texas," said Torgeman.
An entire wall is dedicated to rock legends from Texas -- including pieces from Buddy Holly, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Willie Nelson, even the Dixie Chicks.
"I'm just trying to create a place where people can come and feel like they're amongst the artists and amongst people from their hometown" said Torgeman.
One of the many items that will be on display in the new building is a cowboy hat worn by the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Elvis Presley.
Touch screens at every booth will allow customers to view Hard Rock's entire collection of rock memorabilia.
"It will give you some background on the artist, and give you some background on the actually memorabilia piece," said Stoerkel. "If you want to get real close up to see the artist's signature, it will allow you to do that."
Hard Rock Cafe Dallas opens July 15. The Grand Opening celebration is planned for Thursday, August 20.
The new location is at 2211 North Houston Street and will seat 265 people with room for another 40 on the patio.
"It's a bit of a change in design for us," said Stoerkel. "A little bit more upscale, a little bit more contemporary. Maybe a little bit more relevant."
The first Dallas Hard Rock Café opened in 1986 and was closed by the company in March of 2007 in order for the brand to actively explore more strategic locations in the market.
First Published: Jul 6, 2009 10:42 AM CST
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