Hard Times Cafe

I really wanted to like Hard Times Café.
I really wanted to like their Terlingua Red, Texas, Cincinnati, and Vegetarian Chilis.
I really wanted to like their sports bar.
But most importantly, I also really wanted to like their service.
Unfortunately, all of the above leave a lot to be desired.
$ 7.29 for a bowl of Cincinnati chili with beans is a little outrageous, considering Cincinnati chili is made cost the same as a fucking candy bar back home in Ohio.
If I want to go to a sports bar, I’ll just take my money to The Greene Turtle. They have better service, better food, and better everything.

Been coming to hard times for decades. Thus Germantown location is decent. Service is hit or miss. But the big tvs during football season are nice.

This place is okay for sports venue but they dont do a good job with cleanliness. The wings are good and so is the sauce. The waitress are okay. well some are. The constantly badger you if you want to order something almost to the point where it seems like I have to order something just to stay here. I dont drink but I ordered a soda and the drink had so much ice that there was just a ¼ amount of soda. So I sent it back and that seemed like some sort of insult or something. I was like if its a problem I just have water. Nachos are good too and so is the chili. The chili is something to go home and tell momma about. What I hate is when there are boxing fights they charge a cover fee $ 10 or whatever. I dont mind paying, What I hate is seeing the bums who hang out in front of the windows watching the fight for free.

Located just down the road, this is our go-​to sports bar. The ladies at the bar are always friendly, though things can get pretty crazy when the place is packed and they’re pouring for both customers at the bar as well as in the restaurant/​billiards area. Your best bets are to go on weeknights for drink specials (or game days for DC teams). Park in the back!
Love their vegetarian chili, and nachos! Their tortilla chips are made in-​house, and they’re pretty good about really loading up the chili and jalapenos. Veggie burger is meh… looks like a freezer patty.
Wednesdays are trivia nights, plus their «mug night» specials. Don’t bother coming on Saturdays if there’s a cover for an event/​fight night… the bar will probably be mostly empty, no drink specials, and it’s just never worth the extra $ 5.

This was probably a decent sports bar in 1984, but apart from the TVs, absolutely nothing has been updated.
It still smells like cigarette smoke in the bar area. Yikes! Or maybe that’s just my crazy pregnancy nose. Either way, it had me running.

Really poor service at the bar. Not crowded, two bartenders, and no service. This is with a cover charge at the door. Really not worth the time or money. Prefer Baileys.

After reading the reviews, I’m not sure why I tried this place. I was craving a great burger. The patty they used looked like it was frozen. Chili mac was discusting. Never… ever… again!!!

I came in here to eat, the napkins ws dirty, I lost my appetite so i went to a different place and the bartender was a bitch. and the bartenders seemed like they had an stuck up attitude.

Recently ended up here on a Friday night after the group’s plans went awry. There was a $ 5 cover which made me blank stare the bouncer after seeing how run down the place is (and this from someone who likes dives). But whatever, it’s just $ 5.
I was excited for the bbq wings since they’re grilled but they were dry as a desert. The sauce was okay but I wouldn’t bother eating here again. Worse, the drinks were ridic watered down. I fucking HATE bartenders that water my shit down.
I give HTC 2 stars because Uncut Band was performing that night (maybe that’s what the cover was about) and it was cool to see a a multi-​ethnic crowd of various ages listening to some go-​go. Also, the guys in the group were happy with the beer selection.

The only reason I step foot into Hard Times is to play pool. Everything else about this place is awful. The food is overpriced and underwhelming; the drinks are completely watered down, and the establishment itself is grungy and dirty.

The female bartenders ignore the female customers at the bar and police follow people out of the parking lot every night and hand out DUI’s like crazy.

My son’s and I were there for the Redskins playoff game vs the Seahawks. The game was a big disappointment, but that’s a separate story. For the game, we ordered 24 wings (12 bbq and 12 Texas style) and an order of chilli nachos, along with three pints. The wings were meaty, well cooked, and the sauces delectable. We liked that they came grilled with a slight char to them.
The nachos were ordered with Cincinnati chilli, cheese, onions, and jalapenos. Overall, the nachos were good and flavorful, but could have used more chilli. I would have given this a four star review if it wasn’t for the fact that the bartender kept short-​pouring my pints.
The first two pints that were served to me were about 1.5″ full from the top. It was busy and I was into the game, so I let the first two slide. On the third pint, I pointed out the short pours and had the waitress return with a full pint.
Overall, I would give high marks for the ambiance (for sports bars that is) and the food; however, keep an eye on the short-​pours!

Hard Times is a community bar, pool hall and hang out spot. In the last five years of visiting the management has changed, servers come and go but a few people make it worth the time to eat and drink at this location. Coming here has to be about friends hanging out not date night or family time (in my opinion). There are two separate sides, one for dining and the bar. Clearly if you bring your kids, stay on the dining side and come before 9pm.
Happy Hour and after 8pm is when adults come to play pool, watch the games on the millions of TV screens, smoke on the patio or just hang out and shoot the breeze. The food has not always been the best, but if you stick to the wings you should be good. Ordering anything else you may find that vein pop out in the front of your forehead. Depending on the cook that night, just ask to get the order right and talk to a manager or they will NEVER improve.
Suggested food: Texas Wings, Honey Mustard (ask for it), Whiskey Burger, Fried Pickles and Chicken Alamo (don’t eat this if you have acid reflux or plan to drink anything other than beer).
Best Bartender experience from Michelle and Shannon. Don’t mistake them for sweet little girls, they run the bar and mean business. Know what you want to order or ask and be patient on Friday nights, Saturday nights and Redskins game days.
P. S. Redskins and Dallas football fans are known to play nicely in this place on days the teams play each other. Have fun!

GROSS.
Nastiest bowl of chili I have ever barely eaten. I think I took 3 bites. It was greasy/​watery and grey in tone, and when I asked for it to be reheated or a fresh bowl to be brought out, I swear the server just put it in a microwave, because there were cool spots when I went to stir and eat from it. I’m ServSafe-​certified and I guarantee that if I went into the kitchen and did a HAACP food safety inspection, these fools would fail. The reason why I didn’t ask for a refund is because we couldn’t get our grumpy server’s attention and the manager/​supervisor on duty was too busy texting or playing Angry Birds or something, so we just paid our bill and left.
Sorry, I hate to waste food, but I wasn’t even going to bother bringing the leftovers home to feed our stray and feral dog & cat community for fear they’d get sick. The restaurant itself feels like it has a layer of dirt and filth over everything, like they’ve used the same set of bar rags and mops to clean everything from front to back with out changing the water. Ladies room was out of toilet tissue in every stall — I was lucky I carry a packet of Kleenex in my purse and hand sanitizer always. If I could put no stars and still submit this review I would.
Do better HTC if you guys want to stay in business. With all that local radio advertising you guys do, people might get the idea you actually serve decent food and have good service.

Terrible chilli! The greasiest, nastiest cat food like substance I’ve ever had. They should be embarrassed serving that.
Restaurant side is very disconnected from the party side.
Not a bad place to meet your team after a sweaty game of soccer for a beer. That’s about it.

This place is HUGE with lots of pool tables and dart boards. Also, they have many TVs. The service is pretty good, also. You can’t beat Hard Times, especially for some chili and wings.

1 star is for the fact that they play the Browns games on Sundays.
1 star is for the excellent server Jess who manages all of our drink and food orders so well for a big group.
1 star is for the DELICIOUS friend pickles. Mmm mmm, they add dill to the batter.
No stars for the greasy chili and the bathrooms that smell like raw sewage. It is what it is though.

The chili here is mediocre at best. As another reviewer mentioned it is ALWAYS swimming in grease. Though the food here is adequately disappointing, I can’t give this place a 1 star because it is a great location to go and watch a game or shoot a game of pool.
Don’t eat here… but drink specials can be worth going for

I wish I could give this place a NEGATIVE number. I went to the one in Rockville 15 years ago and loved it. We came to this one for the first time. I ordered the Chili Mac, my daughter ordered the child version of it and my wife ordered a steak salad. It took almost an hour to get our food; the restaurant was completely empty. When we go our food it was cold. We asked if they can warm it up, so the waitress said it would be a minute; 20 minutes later we get our food and YES it’s hot but completely tasteless and disgusting. We at a little because we were hungry and asked for the check immediately. My daughter who can eat anything didn’t want to touch it anymore and when asked if we wanted to take some home we said NO WAY; we didn’t like it. We all left with stomach aches.
Such a shame; this place used to be soooo good for chili and it was horrible.

This place is huge. Lots and lots of tvs. i went to see the Paquiao v. Margarito fight and the place was packed but still comfortable. It was generally passably clean for a bar and the staff (when they were around) were all friendly. The noise level was not bad and it was easy to converse, which I think is a plus. The bathrooms really needed some work though. I think there were six stalls and 4 were out of order, plus, one of the three sinks was not working and the one I used only had scalding hot water.
As for the food, we ordered chili. Both bowls were somehow cold and we only ate about half. Not sure how that happened but I would attribute that to the large event (I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt here).
I would definitely go back if I wanted a sports bar type place to watch an event as the crowd was well behaved and the staff was nice.