Review of Hard Rock Cafe

I regularly visit Hard Rock locations in the U.S. and have never had a bad experience. However, this past weekend at the Nashville location, I had the worst dining experience I have had since going gluten free. I ordered a pulled pork sandwich with a gluten free bun (my regular order) and informed the waitress that I have a pretty serious allergy to wheat. When I received my meal I was positive I received a normal bun because it did not look like what I had previously received and was identical to the normal buns at the table. I asked "is this gluten free" and she said "yes." A few minutes later I asked if she was sure it was gluten free and she said yes. I did not touch my food and when she came back to check on us someone else at the table asked if it was gluten free. She said that she was positive it was, but would take it back to the cook to double check. About 10 minutes later she dropped it back off (looking the exact same) and said that it had been remade and that she had watched the cook pull the bun from the gluten free bag. I was still unsure about the bun, but had been assured by her so many times that I figured I was just being crazy. At this point I was starving, so I scarfed down about half of the sandwich. However, within minutes my throat was swelling and I could tell that I had had wheat. She comes back over and we ask to see the bag that she referred to earlier because I was getting sick and something was not right. Minutes later a man we had not seen this entire meal comes running up saying "that sandwich was not gluten free the manager will be right over." The manager came over and took one look at the remaining bun on my plate and said "that is not our gluten free bun, that is a normal bun." He was very nice and I could tell he was freaked out about what would happen since I was having an allergic reaction in his restaurant. I explained to him that I understand accidents happen and if I had ate the bun without double checking multiple times it would be on me. However, the server assured me on multiple occasions that it was gluten free and even claimed to watch them pull a bun straight from gluten free packaging. This server obviously lied to me and I would not recommend dining at this location while she is employed there.

How confident are you that this establishment takes safety precautions against cross-contact?

— Not at all

Safety Feature Ratings

• Dedicated gluten-free fryer

Is there a gluten-free menu?

— Separate gluten-free menu

How much of the menu is available gluten-free?

— Not Much/None

How would you rate the taste and quality of the gluten-free food you tried?

— Poor