South of the Border

In this town where Hard Rock Tijuana T-shirts were sold as a joke for years, life has surpassed humor.

The cafe that has brought rock and burgers to the world’s elite in London, New York and Los Angeles opened another of its distinctive locales on Tijuana’s famed-but-gaudy tourist strip last month, where it sits among countless pink curio shops and green discos, sandwiched by Chuty’s: The House of Beer and People’s open-air night club.

Locals are elated. “It’s the only place in town where you can hear good rock,” says Tijuanan Pedro Delgado, 20. “You can hear a live band and hang out with friends.”

About 300 youths heard live rock (by the Mexican group Ike) and hung out with friends on a recent Saturday night. Meanwhile, a line several storefronts long represented those who would have a half-hour-plus wait to step inside the newest offspring of London’s rock n’ roll landmark.

The brisk business is partly due to the Hard Rock being the latest spot in a circuit of upscale venues frequented by Tijuana’s young upper class. But the cafe also has weekend tourists, mostly American, flocking to this standing-room-only event.

This place looks like any other Hard Rock. There’s no mistaking the beige stucco, hardwood floors, collectible posters, autographed guitars and brightly lettered T-shirts, sweat shirts and jackets that fill the gift shop.

Hard Rock manager Victor M. Orozco points out the gift shop gear and the universality of the Hard Rock menu, which is virtually the same one that diners get in any Hard Rock from Tokyo to Chicago.

Although not all Mexicans would be pleased, Orozco says 95% of the restaurant’s produce is imported and that much of the staff is American-trained. The decor, including a guitar autographed by Guns N’ Roses’ Axl Rose, is first-rate--the restaurant cost $3 million to build ($1 million more than the cost to open Hard Rock San Diego in 1988). The liberal service philosophy at all Hard Rocks--”Love All, Serve All”--has already resulted in a $10,000 donation to the needy from the Tijuana facility.

Orozco says that although the Hard Rock chain has three other restaurants in Mexico--in Acapulco, Cancun and Puerto Vallarta--this one’s proximity to the border means it is the first to garner enough imported produce to rival the dining quality of European and American counterparts.

The effort at this self-proclaimed “Border of Rock n’ Roll” was not lost on American visitors.

“I came to see the new Hard Rock,” says Tye Sovine, 21, of Riverside. “It looks like it’s pumping.”

“I will be back.”

Next up for Hard Rock? Paris in November.

Name: Hard Rock Cafe, 520 Avenida Revolucion (between 1st and 2nd streets), Tijuana. For more information, call 011-52-66-85-02-06..

Door policy: IDs are checked and only those 18 and over are allowed in after 10 p.m.

Wining and dining: There is a two-drink minimum after 10 p.m. Beer starts at $2, mixed drinks at $3. Burgers with fries start at $6.80.

Language: Spanish and English. All the waiters are at least partially bilingual.