Of course we love our mom & pops, and our favorite burger joints around the country are pretty much all independently owned, but there are certain times in life—overnight layovers, hungover Sunday mornings, all-day shopping trips at the outlets—that the only options around are the chains. Chain Reaction is here to help you decide when to go for the burger, and when you're better off sticking with the chicken fingers.

Hard Rock Cafe 801 4th Avenue San Diego, CA 92101 (map) 150 locations worldwide, from Bankok to Boston, see list at hardrock.com

The Schtick: Tourist-friendly restaurant with a rock and roll theme

The Burger: A tasty 10-ounce burger that's surprisingly well crafted, though not without its flaws

Want Fries With That? Yes. Fries are light, crisp, and well seasoned

Setting: Framed music memorabilia covers every available space on the walls, but though the end effect is heavily themed, it doesn't look tacky

Price: All burgers, including the "Local Legendary", are $13.99 (price may vary by location)

I've always thought of the Hard Rock Cafe as a place reserved for the tourist and convention crowd. It's a great chain to fall back on after a day of sightseeing or a mid-convention business lunch. The music memorabilia decor and big, cozy booths make it markedly cooler than most chains, and sometimes, a predictable menu of American standards can be comforting.

The last time I visited a Hard Rock was years ago at the now-closed location at the SkyDome/ "Rogers Centre" in Toronto. Because the restaurant overlooked the field, I had to pay a premium to watch the Blue Jays lose. The burger wasn't great, most likely because the Hard Rock's default cooking temperature is medium well, and I was not yet wise to the benefits of medium rare. The second time around, I knew better.

Burgers are definitely a key component of the Hard Rock menu. Options include burgers topped with everything from guacamole to grilled portabello mushrooms, all of which are a staggering 10 ounces (except for one option, a classic six-ounce burger). Each city also has a "Local Legendary" with toppings that reflect the local cuisine. In San Diego, there are a few Local Legendary options, but the burger inspired by a California burrito was the most intriguing.

The burger starts with a patty flavored with "carne asada seasoning" (according to our server), topped with guac, pico de gallo, sour cream, and shredded jack and cheddar cheese. On the bottom, between the patty and the bun, is a layer of fries. On top, a deep-fried jalapeño. Unfortunately, the burger's main selling point (the seasoned patty) was its undoing. Instead of being rubbed with cumin and cilantro, the burger had the unmistakable flavor of commercially produced taco seasoning. Worse still, the salty, watery seasoning mix skipped the patty entirely, and instead of flavoring the meat, soaked the fries and made them wet and massively salty.

After clearing the sodium soaked sticks away, the burger was much, much better. All of the toppings worked together to bring fatty, flavor-rich accents to the patty, which had visible grill marks and was cooked to a respectably moist medium rare. By itself, the beef wasn't terribly flavorful and was pressed too firmly to have much in the way of texture, but as one component of a complicated burger, it was tasty.

Chips and salsa come standard with this burger, but I opted for fries instead. The light and crispy fries were dusted with seasoning salt, which made them extra tasty and all the more difficult to stop eating. Alongside the massive burger, this is somewhat of a liability.

Initially, I was pleasantly surprised by the Hard Rock's burger, but when I got home, things went south. Despite only eating a few bites with the seasoning, I was so massively dehydrated that I had to shot-gun pint glasses filled with water. Making matters worse, the sour cream (which felt so right while I was eating the burger) felt very, very wrong. I can't endorse this particular "Local Legendary", but if you get roped into going to Hard Rock Cafe, they do make a decent burger (if you stick to one of the more traditional options). But, if a burger is really what you're after, at $14 (plus tax and tip), it may be worth the extra effort to go out of your way to find a local mom and pop shop.

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