When Morton sold his Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel to the Morgans Hotel Group, he also sold those naming rights, which then gave rise to two US franchised hotels (without cafes) in Albuquerque and Tulsa. However, in the transition of the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel property, originally owned and then later sold to Rank by founder Peter Morton, Morton retained hotel naming rights west of the Mississippi. cafes are corporate owned and operated, except for cafes in Tampa and in the (now closed) Four Winds New Buffalo casino.

Hard Rock Cafe typically does not franchise cafe locations in the United States. Hard Rock Cafe locations in the US vary from smaller, more tourist driven markets ( Biloxi, Pigeon Forge, Key West) to large metropolises ( Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York City, Chicago, Boston, Washington, D.C.).

The chain began to expand worldwide in 1982 when Morton opened Hard Rock Cafes in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Houston, and Tigrett opened locations in New York, Dallas, Boston, Washington, D.C., Orlando as well as Paris and Berlin. In 1978, a second location was opened in Toronto, Canada. Hard Rock initially had an eclectic decor, but it later started to display memorabilia. The first Hard Rock Cafe opened on June 14, 1971, at 150 Old Park Lane, Hyde Park, Mayfair, London, under the ownership of two Americans, Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton. As of July 2018, Hard Rock International has venues in 74 countries, including 172 bar or cafe-restaurants, 37 hotels, and four casinos. was sold to the Seminole Tribe of Florida and was headquartered in Orlando, Florida, until April 2018, when the corporate offices were relocated to Davie, Florida. In 2007, Hard Rock Cafe International (USA), Inc. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll memorabilia, a tradition which expanded to others in the chain. is a chain of theme bar-restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London.

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