Hard Rock Cafe Rocks La Jolla on Opening Night

It takes a lot to rock this town. But from the looks of the glitteratti wining and dining in downtown La Jolla Saturday night, amid groupies, spotlights, and chauffeured limos, San Diego has found something it can really get excited about--at least for one night.

The Hard Rock Cafe.

The rock ‘n’ roll restaurant threw open its barely completed doors on Prospect Avenue to 1,000 ticket holders, who spent $100 each to eat bite-size burgers, guzzle champagne in plastic cups and rock with The Stray Cats until midnight. Proceeds benefited the Child Abuse Foundation of San Diego County.

Anyone driving by Saturday night--and many did--might have thought the Academy Awards had moved south. The sidewalk filled up faster than the two-story, 6,000-square-foot restaurant. Security guards manned every alley, parking garage and corner within a block. Women wrapped in formals and men wearing tuxes strutted through the casual restaurant like they had just won the lottery.

Was this just a restaurant opening? No. This was San Diego’s springboard to national renown. Up there with Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, London. Where else, after all, could one actually see song lyrics handwritten by Bruce Springsteen?

With as many party watchers as party-goers, the sold-out bash proved to be the most media-hyped event since the Super Bowl hit San Diego last January. So coveted were the tickets that this week their mere mention produced audible sighs across town. One attorney said it was worth the $100 just to make his friends jealous.

Only hours later on Sunday morning, he and his friends and anyone else could have walked in and ordered a grilled burger for $5.75.

Pricey tickets didn’t keep everyone away. Daryl Shepard, 20, crammed onto the sidewalk with hundreds of others outside Hard Rock so he could hear the band that played on the cafe patio. Was it really worth the drive from Encinitas?

“Hey, it’s a happening! It’s the Hard Rock Cafe,” he said.

Rumors that Rob Lowe and Demi Moore would attend brought out La Jolla High student Maria Ramos and her girlfriends. Kept from the festivities by security guards and chain barriers, the girls still figured they could glimpse lots of “stars!” on the cafe’s terrace.

Rob and Demi never showed. Neither did any other Hollywood stars. But the girls got to see Mayor Maureen O’Connor and her infamous predecessor, Roger Hedgecock.

“That mayor’s a great lady,” Maria concluded. “She said she thought the people on the outside were more interesting than the people inside.”

The insiders seemed more concerned with being seen than seeing anyone else. Dressed in more glitter and sass than a Christmas tree, they sparkled for each other. Yuppies wearing New Wave at San Diego’s version of an Andy Warhol cocktail party.

All this for the opening of the world’s ninth Hard Rock Cafe, famous for rock star memorabilia, ‘50s music, burgers, shakes and fries?

San Diego, rock ‘til ya drop.