European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 28, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Hard Rock cafe arc known for their hamburgers a even though foreign food critics Don t always think much of them. Is muridniwmar<2 customers line up outside London s hard Rock one of the City s More popular tourist spots. By Spencer Bright the associated press a two things Haven t changed in 20 years at the hard Rock cafe the lines of people waiting to get in and the arguments about Why they bother. In a Savage review marking its 20th anniversary earlier this month Jonathan Meades the restaurant critic for the times of London wrote Quot if you like Char grilled food to taste Burnt you will like this. Something called pig Sandwich kept me awake All night even though i had eaten it in  on the same Day the equally conservative daily Telegraph praised the food and called the hard Rock Quot wonderfully  since it opened in a converted Rolls Royce showroom on Hyde Park Corner on june 14,1971, arguments have raged about the hard Rock phenomenon. It s modelled on a traditional american diner but so have Many other restaurants in London. The museum s Worth of Rock n Roll Memorabilia is interesting but the restaurant was a Success before that was built up. The service is fast the food tasty and the atmosphere Friendly a that All helps. Here s one theory the hard Rock has built a Clever myth around itself. Everyone knows it s famous no one knows Why. For instance Carole King s song hard Rock cafe was written about five years after it opened but Long before she visited. For 12 years the original owners resisted expansion. Now More than two dozen exist around the world. The biggest in Orlando fla., next to Universal film studios seats 5,000 people a Day and is built on a guitar shaped Bridge. It s owned by rank organization the British entertainment conglomerate that also owns hard rocks in London new York Dallas Boston Washington d.c., and Cancun Mexico. Rank also franchises hard rocks in Stockholm Sweden Houston Reykjavik Iceland Acapulco and puerto vallarta Mexico Bangkok Thailand and Singapore. Quot what we have found is we Are widening our Market Quot said Robert Earl president of rank Leisure Usa. Future plans include hard rocks in Paris Berlin Moscow and Budapest Hungary. Earl believes the mystique will survive expansion. Quot the line outside the London restaurant used to be full of brits and yanks now there Are people from Europe and the far East. Opening a hard Rock in Bangkok does nothing to damage the Marque Brand name Here Quot Earl said. Quot if i wanted to be a commercial Swine i could open a hard Rock shop in Heathrow Airport or another one Down the  the hard Rock was founded by two Young americans Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton. Their tempestuous partnership ended after a decade and Tigrett became sole owner. Morton later challenged him by threatening to open a hard Rock in America. After tortuous negotiations they agreed to split the United states and Divide up the rest of the world. Tigrett eventually sold out to rank but his ideas persist. A picture of his Indian guru Sai Baba still hangs in the restaurant. So does his slogan Quot save the planet Quot which was blazoned across the restaurant before ecology became trendy. Quot Tigrett and Morton thought there was a Market for americans coming Over Here and for Young brits who had not been exposed to anything except wimpy bars Quot said Earl. A favourable review in Newsweek helped establish the place. But the essential element in spreading the word was the hard Rock to shirt. Quot if you interviewed a thousand americans departing tonight from the various american gateways to London and say what Are the three things you Are going to do in London you would get a very High percentage saying i m going to the hard Rock Quot said Earl a britishers. Quot and a tremendous amount of them see it As the gift the to shirt they la return with for their younger family members that Are not with  Shelley Birkeland from White Bear Lake minn., confirmed that bit of Market Wisdom. Quot i had an order from someone Back Home for souvenirs Quot said Birkeland who was at the restaurant with her 16-year-old daughter Katie. She said she has been to hard rocks in new York and Chicago and her husband brought her a to shirt from the one in Reykjavik. Her companion Pam Downing has lived in London for two years and says she has escorted five dozen americans to the hard Rock. Quot it does t really remind me of Home though the hamburgers Are like Home which is hard to find in London Quot she said. Quot the Young people who come Over to visit me All want to come