Hard Rock Cafe celebrates 20th anniversary in Edinburgh

IT has more than 120 pieces of rock and roll memorabilia on display, has been visited by over two million guests '“ and now Edinburgh's Hard Rock Cafe has celebrated the 20th anniversary of its opening.

Edinburgh Hard Rock Cafe celebrates 20 years on George St Rita Gilligan MBE, Hard Rocks Original Rock N Roll Waitress pictured with Lord Lieutenant of the City of Edinburgh Eric Milligan in 1998

The eatery in George Street has served up over 750,000 burgers and over a million litres of beer in the past two decades and also plays host to weddings.

Staff posed with a Harley Davidson on the opening day in 1998. Lord Provost Eric Milligan was there, as was Rita Gilligan, the first waitress at the very first Hard Rock Cafe in London in 1971.

Now a brand ambassador for the company, Rita returned to the Capital for the 20th birthday celebrations.

The cafe houses memorabilia from rock legends including Elvis, Jimi Hendrix and AC/DC, but the most valuable piece of memorabilia is Beatles drummer Ringo Starr’s leather jacket.

Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall celebrated with Hard Rock Edinburgh on its 10th anniversary, delivering a stunning performance and donating a guitar in honour of the occasion.

Hard Rock Edinburgh serves its own special “legendary burger” – a ½lb burger topped with a generous portion of locally sourced haggis, whisky-laced caramelised onions, mature Scottish cheddar and crispy “neep” straws.

And in the past year the cafe has generated around £32,000 in charity sales and 250 volunteer hours.

It has over 60 employees from 15 nations, together speaking 13 languages. Hard Rock now was 180 cafes worldwide.