Squeezed between building an historic hotel and defending their turf in Florida, Seminole Tribe of Florida officials took an hour Tuesday to concentrate on the one element of the casino lifestyle that matters to everyone: Food!
The tribe, which operates 12 casinos, 27 hotels and 183 Hard Rock cafes in 74 countries worldwide under the Hard Rock International brand, celebrated the opening of a new-and-improved Hard Rock Café on its Hollywood, Florida, property.
Seminole officials smash guitars to signify the opening of a new Hard Rock Cafe in Hollywood
As is their Hard Rock tradition, tribal leaders and CEO James Allen smashed guitars to signify the opening. While it’s hard to quantify how many guitars have been busted during the Seminoles’ ascension, suffice to say it’s in the thousands, with destruction ranging from the Atlantic City grand opening in June, to inclusion of drummer Nicko McBrain last October announcing the expansion in Hollywood to the 1,914 obliterated (a Guinness World Record) when the tribe opened a new parking garage in Hollywood in December 2010.
But Allen, speaking next to displays paying tribute to Gloria Estefan’s boa-like concert scarf and Freddie Mercury’s gaudy stage pants, emphasized that the event marks more than a mere restaurant opening to the tribe. It’s the beginning of what Allen hopes will be the Hard Rock Café’s overall new focus on upgrading its menu and dining experience.
“About two years ago we made a decision to really get into the day-to-day business of the café business,” Allen said. “This is a second launch with a new commitment to the quality of food.”
The café’s hamburgers, which the officials called “steakburgers” (Steak ‘n Shake be damned) are the focus, said Stephen K. Judge, president of cafe operations for Hard Rock International. He said a proprietary blend of spices is the key, and the meat is prepared fresh in a meat grinding room on location.
The event comes just three weeks after the Seminoles locked in their dominance in the Florida casino industry. Seventy-one percent of Florida voters approved Amendment 3 on Nov. 6, designed to require any gambling expansion in the state to require voter approval. The Seminoles and Walt Disney World supported the endeavor, which will make it extremely difficult for the eight South Florida racetrack casinos to even add blackjack, for example.
Meanwhile, the tribe continues cranking out its $1.5 billion upgrade on the Hollywood property, featuring a guitar-shaped hotel, which Allen said was an idea floated back in 2007. Allen said about 45 to 50 percent of the glass exterior is up and the project is on schedule to open in fall 2019.
“I don’t want to jinx us but we’re actually a little bit ahead of schedule,” he said.
The tribe originally built an outdoor mall and entertainment area, called Seminole Paradise, but flattened that part of their property last year. The new guitar-shaped hotel and the existing hotel are on opposite ends of the property, and the new Hard Rock Café appears to be about halfway between them. (A series of temporary walls creates a discombobulating effect of suspending all prior available spatial relationship reference points.) The entire project will be covered, other than the pool area.
About 10 tribal members and guests participated in the guitar smash.
“I think we have the best in the business working on this stuff,” Hollywood representative Chris Osceola said, with a sense of wonder for the empire his 4,200-plus members co-own.
Another tribal council member took the stage to a song by the Rolling Stones before his remarks, a coincidence Allen noted – and a testimony to the Seminoles’ growth since buying the Hard Rock brand.
The Rolling Stones latest tour, covering 13 cities in sports stadiums across the world, kicks off on April 29 in Miami at, yep Hard Rock Stadium.
