Hard Times Cafe, Arlington, Virginia Restaurant Details

Food:

Great late night apps. Comfort food for sure. Fast service.

Food:

Great food, cheap beers, great service, can't ask for more.

Food:

Our visit to Hard Times had its ups and downs, but we deemed the experience ultimately deserving of 3 golden stars.
The old saying is that first impressions last forever. If this saying was accurate, then we probably would've gotten up and departed before our food even arrived. Before we were seated to our table, we asked for crayons and the kids’ menu for entertainment purposes. The hostess happily gave us a "4-pack." We were surprised to find only 3 crayons in the box, 2 of which were the same color (GREEN!). We were terribly disappointed and, in truth, felt dehumanized.
However, if we learned anything over our visit, it's that Hard Times' rebound skills are on point. Although chocolate milk wasn't on the menu, our hostess was happy to custom create it for us. She then proceeded to bring us fresh cornbread which may or may not have been part of our meals. We are not fully accustomed to Hard Times’ culture.
Why was the hostess so kind, you may ask? Did she sense us becoming distraught over the crayons? Could she detect the disgruntlement on our faces? Maybe, but in hindsight this doesn't matter. What matters is that the hostess did something extraordinary -- she observed, listened, and managed to redeem Hard Times from our first impression in just a few minutes' time.
Was our visit 100% solid after that? Not exactly. For one, we were deeply troubled by Hard Times' erratic music selection. We still don't understand how the restaurant could muster enough audacity to jump from Trace Adkins to Neil Diamond to the Begees. The unpredictableness of their setlist made us a bit uneasy and anxious.
Regardless, however, the food was solid. Our mac & cheese bites were very good, as was the 3-way chili mac. The chicken in the buffalo wrap was a tad too spicy, but the portion size more or less made up for it.
Was Hard Times perfect? No. But we had a delightful waitress and decent food and thus feel that the experience was worthy of 3 stars.

Food:

Quintessential cheap eats. The chili is amazing. Local tip: They sell spice mixes for all four of their chilis - we love buying them and handing them out to friends as stocking stuffers. Upstairs is a fun sports bar.

Food:

9 months ago in February I wroteHT Cafe was a fun place to be, now Dec 1, 2015 9 months later there's only a handfull of descent servers & bartending staff, Aggie, Josh Boatner, Josh Boggs