In my seemingly never-ending quest to find the best table service burger at Universal Orlando, I ventured into Hard Rock Café at Universal Orlando CityWalk. The CityWalk restaurants offer more burgers than I can count. This fictional quest could take the rest of my lifetime. Hard Rock Café in Orlando offers many “safe” burgers. Still, these burgers will never be classified as extraordinary. Yet very rarely are they below average. The Country Burger fits that profile very well.

The Country Burger costs only $15.99 and is served with fries. For theme park resort table service burgers, that price point deserves praise. The menu description warns us that we will get two smashed & stacked burgers seasoned and seared medium-well. Hard Rock Café offers three versions of this smashed/stacked burger style. Compared to stack-style burgers in the Orlando area, these rank as just okay.

Your smashed/stacked burger comes with American cheese, leaf lettuce, vine-ripened tomato, red onion, pickles, and house-made burger sauce. On the side, you get some sweet relish. A significant number of things are going on with this burger. Some might ask if there are too many things going on.

On this dining occasion, I ate with a group of 7 people. Perhaps the larger group slightly threw off the service and food quality. Now, that excuse looks weak for a table service restaurant at a major theme park. However, this issue factors into my review slightly.

So how was this meal? The bun tasted, felt, and looked below average. This set a poor tone for this burger. The burger, in totality, offers a bit of unique flavor (in a good way) for a stack-style burger. However, the stacking process failed to provide the expected positive flavors within the bun. The burger sauce complements without overwhelming the burger patty in a very productive way. On this occasion, the burger patties themselves provided enough flavor. Also, the sauce and cheese enhanced the burger nicely, thus, additional condiments failed to be needed. In very non-academic terms, the cheese was just “meh!” So, for a stack-style burger, I expected far more flavor.

At this price point, this burger meets expectations for a table service version. As expected, I received nothing earth-shattering. However, I have ordered far worse table-service burgers at Universal Orlando and Walt Disney World. Hard Rock Café continues to be the “safe” middle-of-the-road option for dining at CityWalk. If looking for a traditional style burger here, the BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger fits that profile.

Hard Rock Café offers more discounts than many other CityWalk restaurants, like AAA discounts. Your dining budget might appreciate some deals along the way.

As always, eat like you mean it!