The Hard Rock Cafe Atlantic City will lay off all of its employees when it closes at the end of this month, ahead of major renovation work to turn the site into the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
The cafe, located on a corner of the former Taj Mahal casino, weathered a tough season last year as Taj Mahal casino workers were on strike. The casino itself closed in the fall. A target reopen date for the new casino and entertainment and retail district has not been set – original plans for a Memorial Day Weekend opening seem to have been dialed back to some time next summer.
The Hard Rock Cafe employs 55 people, according to a press release issued last month. Those employees will be paid through Nov. 1, a spokeswoman wrote in an email to Route 40. “They will be given priority consideration for open positions at Hard Rock’s other area restaurants, as well as first consideration for positions when the new location reopens,” she added.
Hard Rock plans to open a 21,000 square-foot “cafe venue” inside the new casino when that opens next summer. The new cafe will employ 100 staff, according to a press release.
The casino property was bought by Hard Rock International and investors Joe Jingoli and Jack Morris earlier this year. Some demolition work on the site is already underway.