When Hard Rock Cafe opened on Beale Street in 1997, it was confirmation for many of the value of real estate in the re-emerging entertainment district.

The restaurant at 126 Beale St. will permanently close July 30 when its lease expires; 52 people will lose their jobs, according to the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

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“We are currently expanding operations in 50 locations within the next five years and are open to having another location within the Memphis market if the right space can be identified,” according to statement from Hard Rock International. 

Thousands of people showed up for the free street party when Hard Rock Cafe opened on Nov. 16, 1997, originally in a recording studio at 315 Beale St.

The North Mississippi All-Stars opened the gig, followed by The Jayhawks and The Wallflowers, a group that featured Bob Dylan’s son, Jakob Dylan.

“Restaurants have a life cycle,” said John Elkington, the former operator of Beale Street, noting there isn’t much demand for Hard Rock T-shirts anymore. “Hard Rock is really in the hotel business. That is what they do.”

Hard Rock Cafe, which had Memphis roots, started in 1971 when it opened its first restaurant in London. The company was founded by Isaac Tigrett and his business partner, Peter Morton.

Tigrett was the son of John Burton Tigrett, a longtime Memphian.

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Hard Rock Cafe International, which has hotels, Cafes and casinos in 68 countries, has been owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida since 2007.

Elkington was instrumental in helping bring Hard Rock to Memphis long before it was in bigger markets.

“Hard Rock was the premiere restaurant tenant in the ’80s and ’90s. I thought with Memphis musical history, we should have one.”

To get it to consider Memphis, Elkington and other city leaders hatched a courting plan in the mid-1990s that included giving its president, in town for two hours one day, a whirlwind tour of city’s music highpoints, starting with a police escort from the airport.

“We came down the interstate with sirens on and everything to see Downtown Memphis,” Elkington said.

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The entourage stopped at Graceland, Sam Phillips’ studio (Phillips was there), W.C. Handy’s home and Beale Street, of course. 

“I had Rufus Thomas get up and say stuff. And I said, ‘This is where the music originated, right here. So, if you’re not here, you’re not part of it,’” Elkington said.

It helped that the executive, new to Hard Rock, had just left a gig leading the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; Memphis at the time had a chapter on Beale Street.

In the end, the Hard Rock team loved the 11,000-square-foot music studio at the intersection of Beale and Rufus Thomas. But it was leased to a group of musicians who had paid their entire lease in advance. 

“So, I had to convince the guys at the recording studio to give it up for the Hard Rock,” Elkington says. 

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Elkington worked out the terms with Hard Rock while he was driving, in pouring rain, to Natchez, Mississippi, for a funeral.

The theme of the opening-night party, on W.C. Handy’s birthday, was “Home at Last.” 

Fifteen or sixteen years later, Hard Rock was less enamored with its spot at 315 Beale, but it still wanted to stay on the iconic street. It went back to Elkington.

“I put them in touch with Elvis Presley Enterprises and actually the Belzes because Hard Rock wanted to build a hotel,” Elkington said. 

EP Kitchen Delta Kitchen & Bar had left 126 Beale in 2008. In 2014, Hard Rock Cafe moved there, soaking up the vibe of the original home of Lansky Bros. At the opening, the restaurant was decked out in Elvis swag, including artifacts Elvis had worn.

The new address also had a vacant lot to the east, good for parking, but also big enough for a hotel.

The talks continued for years, including as late as the spring of 2022 when a zoning letter was filed with the Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development, indicating a plan to build a Hard Rock Hotel at 326 Beale St.

“Discussions around the Hard Rock Hotel have cooled, but we still see overall growth in the entertainment district on a positive,” said Paul Young, CEO of Downtown Memphis Commission. 

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“The current Hard Rock space is prime real estate. We look forward to seeing the next activation.”

The landlord is Hal Lansky.

It’s not clear who will market the property.

“We are not at that point now,” said Ron Belz, president and CEO of Belz Investco GP. 

A current Tripadvisor poll shows a 2.5 average rating from 33 reviews, including 10 who rated their experience as terrible; 7 others said it was poor.