Has tasty burgers, but really shines with their chili. The daily lunch specials give an affordable options for those who want to get lunch with a friend while keeping the budget.
We go here just about once a week with our kids. We love their menu and their chilli. They are always accommodating and the service is great.
Been eating at Hard Times since I was a teenager in Alexandria, Va and then Springfield, VA. I hope its the fact we got our 2 orders of 5 way chili just post pandemic because it was mostly spaghettti with hard cheese causing the only chili to pull off pasta. WE were very disappointed and would not even consider TO Go again. Just moved here, Still deciding whether to go back at all since the remaining 2 bowls of spaghetti were fed to the dog.
I have been for Lunch at this location twice and both on Tuesday's for lunch and got the Texas 3-way chili and Tuesday is 'all you can eat' chili. both times service was decent, but keep in mind you are at a chili/bar and this is not the Waldorf Astoria. Both times I went, one serving was all I could eat. Yesterday, the portion size was really generous, i even got a chili sampler (after I already ordered my Texas chili) and the corn bread was good, moist, warm, slightly sweet, and the chili was very hot (temperature). So I haven't encountered any of the negative things that others are posting about, maybe Tuesday for lunch is the best time to go? I lived in Old Town Alex years ago and used to walk the the 1800 block to frequent the original location and of course the atmosphere there is great. had a different vibe back then (30 yrs ago) the location in springfield is just way too smokey. So Far i have enjoyed my visits here and hope it continues.
The food is great, and the bartenders are attentive and point on. The restrooms are clean. Excellent pool tables. Deserves 5 stars, but the guy working the door sucked. Asked my guy to lift his shirt, to show he wasn't hiding anything, and then asked me to dump my purse out. I asked if they had problems recently, and he said, "No, we always do this." We've been here so many times, and all we've ever been asked for was our ID's. Not once have we ever been searched. This was total bs. After we sat down, I watched and didn't see him search anyone else. If a chubby guy with a beard is working the door, be ready to be searched. What a d***.
The absolute worst, security there is a joke...not good enough to be a butler. Management are cowards and have no concept of de-escalation or communication skills when it comes to the public, because of their choice to hire children they lost not only the sale of an enormous party, but the patronage of them as well.Do yourself a favor and go somewhere else people, the food was unbelievably poor as well.If there were an option to give no stars it would have happened.
It's a fun place with great food and awesome adult beverages. You can actually smoke in the bar/club side. For the ones who re looking to have good time.
I was there last night with my son which turned 45, so he is no child. The party was about 12 of us. First the entertainment was canceled for the night, then we started out with a manager for a waitress then soon came a another women that had to take over. From there it got worse. Again we are celebrating a birthday for a 45 year old man. My son went out to smoke a cigarette and answer his phone. Mind you he was already in the building then went out. When he came in he was stopped by a security guard and asked for his driver's license. He complied. Once all was looked at he tried to come back to us and the guard says hold on, empty your pockets. WHY? He says empty pockets. Son just moves on with no intent to be rude. He follows him with now his possy of guards and is demanding pockets to be emptied, do you have weapons? WHAT? He goes on and is harassing my son. So to not get the situation escalated, we all just stood up and left. Mind you, we had just gotten the food we ordered. Needless to say we all went else where for a good meal, great company and finished out. Celebration. We will NEVER be back to that establishment. Rude, unfriendly, untrained security. Bad experience. Don't go there if you want a good relaxing evening with friends. They have lost 12 customers for life.
It took forever to get my drinks but they were good when I finally got them.
What a disaster! Went in to watch football & grab dinner only to find out smoking was allowed in the huge bar area. Game was starting so we decided to stay. Hubby ordered a plain bacon cheese burger cooked medium well & I ordered 1 lb of grilled wings & asked for them to be well-done w/salt & pepper (as a dry rub). Waitress came back & said cook couldn’t add the S&P so I asked for them to be plain, well-done grilled. We asked how many wings were in “a 1 lb order” & we were told “8”…. that is quite expensive @ $13.49 but I really wanted wings. Hubby’s burger arrived w/pickles, lettuce & tomato which he had to remove. Once he started eating his burger we saw that it was quite rare in the middle. My wings arrived & I noticed they were NOT grilled but breaded & fried. I spoke to the waitress who took them back to cook who said he couldn’t grill wings that were not coated in sauce! Grilled wings are usually not breaded!! I refused the wings she tried to return to me and instead ordered Texas Chili w/no onions or cheese but w/beans. The chili was awful. It was dried out & appeared either burnt, very old or both. The waitress was very apologetic & we left her a good tip. She did remove my food from the bill. Our waitress was the only nice thing in this place.