Hard Rock Cafe

• gradeGrade A
• inspection score12 pts
• critical violations2
• last inspectedFebruary 18, 2026 →
• address1501 Broadway, Manhattan 10036
• cuisineAmerican
• phone2123433355

Is Hard Rock Cafe clean?

Hard Rock Cafe is currently Grade A from NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), from an inspection on February 18, 2026. Inspectors wrote up 2 critical violations — the kind most directly linked to foodborne illness. On Cooked's ladder that reads clean 😇.

What did inspectors find at Hard Rock Cafe?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on February 18, 2026, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🧼staff skipping handwashingcritical
  Personal cleanliness is inadequate. Outer garment soiled with possible contaminant. Effective hair restraint not worn where required. Jewelry worn on hands or arms. Fingernail polish worn or fingernails not kept clean and trimmed.
• 🛠️surfaces / setup not up to code
  Non-food contact surface or equipment made of unacceptable material, not kept clean, or not properly sealed, raised, spaced or movable to allow accessibility for cleaning on all sides, above and underneath the unit.
• 🍴utensils stored sketchycritical
  Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.

When was Hard Rock Cafe last inspected?

Hard Rock Cafe has 4 inspections on record going back to April 18, 2023, averaging 9 points.

Hard Rock Cafe vs Midtown-Midtown South

Midtown-Midtown South runs 83% clean across 2,302 tracked restaurants — 1,604 clean, 93 mid, 234 cooked.

Against the 2,302 spots Cooked tracks in Midtown-Midtown South, this one comes out cleaner than 22% of them.

Other spots in Midtown-Midtown South

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  mid · May 27, 2026
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• A Starbucks
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• A Starbucks
  clean · February 11, 2026
• A Amor Loco
  clean · May 29, 2025
• A Barnes & Noble Cafe
  clean · October 8, 2025

See every restaurant inspection in Midtown-Midtown South →

How New York grades restaurants

New York City health inspectors score violations in points, and lower is better: 0–13 points earns an A, 14–27 a B, and 28 or more a C. Every restaurant is inspected at least once a year, and the letter has to be posted in the window. A restaurant that scores 14 or more on the first inspection of a cycle does not get a letter right away — it stays “Grade Pending” until a re-inspection settles it, which is why some spots here show an hourglass instead of a letter. Cooked only ever shows a letter the city actually posted; we never infer one from a score.

Read the New York ratings guide →

Inspection findings and available history come from the authority’s published records. Cooked checks daily; publication can lag behind an inspection. Read the date on each result and check the official source for newer information.

Source: NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) via NYC Open Data. Cooked refreshes this data daily — this listing's most recent inspection is dated February 18, 2026. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.

check your own block 📸

Cooked covers 10 cities on official inspection data — see who's clean, mid, or cooked near you.