We went to the Hard Rock Café on a Thursday night, and had no problem walking right in. In fact, I’d say over half the restaurant was empty, which was great for us. While we were waiting for our food we could wander around the restaurant, looking at all the cool memorabilia hanging on the walls.
I had the grilled beef fajitas, your traditional roll-your-own fajitas but with a little bit of a different flavor. I thought they were very good and would have them again. My wife had the bacon cheeseburger, which she said was very good also. The pricing for the food seemed reasonable also, especially considering we were in Gatlinburg where all the prices seem to be inflated.
When we passed the Hard Rock Café the next night it had a line out the door, so if you can go during the week (not sure what Monday through Wednesday are like, but Thursday was not very busy), Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights looked very busy.