Anyone can open a restaurant, but it takes a special kind of person to keep it in business. As more celebrities try to dip their toes into the industry, some concepts are massive successes, while others have been critical failures. See how your favorite celebrity restaurant stands up in a market that was built by chefs, for chefs.
Nas: Sweet Chick
Nas is a Brooklyn native legendary hip hop artist who opened his first restaurant in his home neighborhood, Williamsburg. Nas proudly serves a menu of elevated southern cuisine, keeping the classic fried chicken and sides, but going as culinarily far as serving an octopus dish with Mediterranean seasoning and burnt orange.
Nas himself is behind a lot of ideas on the menu, and as his music career remains on hiatus, he has been opening many more Sweet Chick’s since he opened his first restaurant in 2013. Currently, he has 4 restaurants in NYC, one in LA, and one in London.
Lady Gaga: Joanne Trattoria
Pop icon Lady Gaga opened Joanne Trattoria with her parents in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in 2012. This restaurant was named after her aunt, who tragically died of lupus several years before. Joanne Trattoria serves Americanized northern Italian classics, like spaghetti and meatballs, fettuccini ragu, and lasagne.
While the food on this menu is far from authentic and can even be considered uninspired, the simplicity of the dishes and the quality of the ingredients have gartered Joanne Trattoria some positive reviews. However, Joanne Trattoria has been slandered for their high prices and lack of innovative menu design.
Justin Timberlake: Southern Hospitality
Southern Hospitality has gone through more concept changes than the co-owner and franchisee Justin Timberlake’s career. What originally started as an “elevated” classic barbecue restaurant eventually turned into a quick service tourist trap that charged Manhattan rent prices for small plates of ribs. Lately, Southern Hospitality has gone through some serious changes.
After opening a fast-casual style restaurant in Denver, Colorado, it seems like the franchise is starting to step away from plated meals and focus on counter service to-go orders. Regardless of the direction the restaurant is going, Timberlake is consistently taking steps back from the concept to focus his time and energy on investing in young musicians.
Drake: Pick 6ix
Drake’s Toronto restaurant is located in the heart of the financial district’s “party center.” The King of Canada opened this restaurant with Chopped winner and judge, Chef Antonio Park. Unfortunately, this restaurant has been criticized heavily for not offering a consistent atmosphere and charging wild prices for absurdly complicated meals.
Chef Park is one of this generation’s greatest culinary achievers, but it seems as if Drake and his entourage had their hands in the menu planning. Simple dishes that are intended to showcase quality ingredients get drowned in unnecessary glam, like high-quality sushi getting covered in ketchup and gold flakes. Pick 6ix is currently closed for a reimagination of their concept. L0et’s hope that they make some serious decisions about accessibility and quality.
Jon Bon Jovi: Soul Kitchen
Bon Jovi is one of the only celebrities that is using his wealth to directly benefit his community. Located in Red Bank and Tom’s River, New Jersey, Soul Kitchen offers meals at a donation/volunteer price, meaning that you can pay for your meal with a self-determined donation, or by volunteering your time. They suggest that you should make at least a $10 donation per meal, which is entirely locally sourced and mostly plant-based.
Bon Jovi himself pops into either location every once in a while and either works the counter or does prep work in the kitchen. There is a circulating meme of Bon Jovi scrubbing the toilet at his own restaurant, which just goes to show his humanity and dedication to providing high-quality service and amenities for people who need it.
Celine Dion: Schwartz’s
Believe it or not, Celine Dion brought some extremely high-quality New York staples to Montreal, and she inspired an entire wave of new Jewish delis across the French Canadian city. Schwartz’s has been serving up hot, brined, smoked beef for nearly 15 years now, but when the company went under some financial trouble in 2012, some long-time regular customers (including Celine Dion) put together some cash and purchased the restaurant. Some people even say that Schwartz’s is better than it has ever been, and Dion periodically drops in to sign autographs and hand out free meals.
Michael Jordan: Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse
Michael Jordan is doing this steakhouse thing simply, and he's doing it well. Offering locally sourced beef, as well as imported Japanese and Australian Wagyu, beautiful local natural wines, and classic light sides to accompany the fatty steak, Jordan owns one of the most celebrated celebrity restaurants in the game.
His first restaurant is located in Chicago and was founded in 1993 with the same mission statement it has today, prioritizing high quality, accessible, and sustainable ingredients from local communities. Jordan has since expanded to Washington state and Connecticut, following where his favorite ingredients are located.
Sandra Bullock: Walton’s Fancy and Staple
Bullock didn’t have her hand in the design of this restaurant, nor did she have her hand in creating the menu, but she did fund some highly qualified friends of hers and made one of the coolest bakeries-slash-coffee shops in Austin, Texas. In addition to being a sweet cafe, Walton’s Fancy and Staple sells flowers and cute little gifts, and they send references to breweries and cool wine bars in the area as well. Every year on Valentine’s Day, Sandra Bullock shows up and hangs out for the day, so if you’re in town, go pop in!
Joey Fatone: Fat One’s
This former NSYNC member opened up Fat One’s in 2017 as a small hot dog stand outside of a strip mall in Orlando, Florida. He initially did it without telling any of his customers who he was, he wanted his food to precede his reputation in the entertainment industry. However, after a while, people caught on, and by a while we mean exactly one hour into his first service—someone posted a viral tweet that spread like wildfire and clogged up the tiny strip mall parking lot that the stand was originally in.
Since then, Fatone and his crew have opened a storefront and a food truck. Joey doesn’t work the counter anymore, but he’s always in the back prepping and cooking all day. He’s the kind of boss that’s the first one there, the last one to leave, and has the biggest smile on his face out of anybody.
Susan Sarandon: SPiN
SPiN is less of a traditionalist restaurant and more of a gimmicky social club-type environment that people have really learned to love. SPiN is like Top Golf for people who love playing Ping Pong. Guests can rent out table time per hour, or sign up for a monthly rotating membership where you can reserve table space for you and your friends for free.
The menu at SPiN is both affordable and exciting, sourcing local fare for each location and house making most of the difficult ingredients, like vegan ricotta and fermented haricot verts. SPiN has locations in most major cities in America, and you should go check it out.
Toby Keith: Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill
Toby Keith wanted to create his platonic ideal restaurant that caters to both his family-man side and his party-boy side, but separately. During the day and afternoon, this restaurant churns out slightly elevated, yet still accessible, traditional southern bar food. At night, this space gets converted to a 21+ music venue for local bands, primarily focused on folk.
Swing into this restaurant if you’re craving North Carolina pulled pork but you live in Oklahoma. Oh, did we mention that there are three branches of Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill, and they’re all in middle-of-nowhere Oklahoma? If you ever find yourself passing through any random town in Oklahoma, a quick Google search will tell you whether there’s a Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill there or not.
Robert De Niro: Nobu
Robert De Niro wasn’t the brain behind Nobu. In fact, he was really just one of the investors. Nobu was started by the world-famous Japanese chef Nobuyuki "Nobu" Matsuhisa, and he was funded primarily by De Niro and a couple of other small-scale investors.
What simply started as a New York staple in 1993 has bloomed into one of the most successful restaurant chains in the world. With 32 locations around the globe and climbing, chef Nobuyuki "Nobu" Matsuhisa is almost as much a celebrity as the man who helped him get started.
Jay-Z: 40/40 Club
Jay Z wanted to open a sports bar that he would personally hang out at, even if a bunch of fame-hungry fans wanted to come and bother him all the time. 40/40 is a sports bar/club that offers extremely affordable, quality bar fare; inexpensive local craft brews; and membership-only party rooms where people can watch whatever game is playing in peace.
Jay Z himself hangs out in both the private and public areas of his restaurant regularly. Admittedly, people are really cool and respectful to him. He even buys whole rounds of drinks for the bar and even sometimes covers people’s tabs just out of sheer generosity.
Mark Wahlberg: Wahlburgers
When Shake Shack started to build in popularity, Mark Wahlberg and his brother Donnie though it would be a good idea to start copying their design but with some added Bostonian flair. While the menu at Wahlburgers is actually pretty good and simple, and they try to source their ingredients locally and make all of their pickles and fermented products in-house, this restaurant chain is failing quickly.
The Wahlbergs tried to spread their business too quickly, and their real estate decisions were hasty and expensive. Currently, they are rebranding, but the Berg-boys are unsure whether the restaurant business is sustainable for them.
Ayesha Curry: International Smoke
Ayesha Curry regularly gets swept under the umbrella of “celebrity trophy wives” in the sports scene. After all, she is married to one of the greatest basketball players of all time. But, what some don’t know, is that Ayesha Curry owns several restaurants both in San Francisco and the surrounding area.
Her flagship restaurant is called “International Smoke,” where she mashes Caribbean, Korean, Japanese, and American flavors into one consistent barbecue restaurant. Curry was the first person in San Francisco to offer a smoked fish and raw bar in her restaurant, and her raw bar is still the most popular thing about the franchise.
Danny Trejo: Trejo’s Coffee and Donuts
Danny Trejo, or ‘Machete’ as he’s known in Hollywood, is a passive restaurant pioneer who likes to introduce traditional Mexican flavors into uniquely simple and American-European dishes, like coffee and donuts. Trejo has his own roastery located in downtown LA that employs ex-cons and addicts in recovery and pays them well, in addition to providing them with health benefits and housing, to expertly roast his ethically sourced personal coffee line. Trejo is famous for his margarita and horchata donuts, and he has numerous enticing vegan selections as well.
Channing Tatum: Saints & Sinners
Although you won’t find any semi-nude male models dancing around your bubbling tableside pots of crawfish and gumbo, you will have a sinfully good time at this New Orleans based restaurant. Ryan Gosling mashed both prevalent parts of his early life, working in nightclubs and eating traditional creole food, to create one of the least forgettable restaurant experiences that one could have in a tourist town.
Although, we do suggest that you get a little more creative with your food choices when you visit New Orleans (NOOR-lans if you’re a local), checking out Gosling’s spot for an evening of bites and drinks might not be your worst decision.
Ludacris: Chicken + Beer
Chicken + Beer is a celebration of all that is southern, but primarily a celebration of traditional Atlantan food. Although you may know Atlanta for the famous “lemon pepper wet” wings, fried chicken, specifically spicy fried chicken, has preceded chicken wings by several decades.
Ludacris wanted to celebrate two of his favorite things about the south, hot chicken and cold beer, which is arguably the best combination of any two ingredients if you’re living your life right. Currently, there is only one location of Chicken + Beer and it’s in the Atlanta airport. Yes, you heard that right, but if anything is worth flying for, it’s good fried chicken and beer.
Francis Ford Coppola: Cafe Zoetrope
Francis Coppola dreamt of becoming a world-renowned chef, but instead, he became a world-renowned filmmaker. After his jaunt in cinema, Coppola opened his family winery and Zoetrope in San Francisco, focusing on traditional Italian preparation techniques and ingredients, but Americanized far enough to be accessible to a pedestrian audience.
Cafe Zoetrope serves reserve wines from every Coppola winery, including a long list of wild fermented natural wines that Coppola holds near and dear to his heart. If you find yourself in San Francisco and you want a taste of traditional Italian fare in an extremely historic building, go check it out.
Kathleen Edwards: Quitters Coffee
Amid random stops on the great highways of Canada and America, Kathlee Edwards became fascinated with the concept of the high-end small-town coffee shop. After returning home and deciding to take a break from music in 2014, Edwards purchased a run-down storefront in Ottowa, ON and the rest is history.
Quitters has blossomed from a simple coffee shop and became a critically acclaimed cafe and bar, serving local whiskeys and beers, as well as roasting their own coffee and making their own vegan baked goods on the premises. Quitters is dog-friendly, and they even give out community incentives to people who volunteer their time to local restorative foundations.
Gloria Estefan: Larios On The Beach
Gloria and Emilio Estefan wanted to open a restaurant that celebrated both their heritage and their mother who, after immigrating to America, opened a Cuban restaurant and ignited a passion for food and service in her children. After their music career fizzled out, the Estefans started Larios on the Beach and began serving up Cuban and Cuban fusion classics that mimicked those that they had when they were children living in Cuba.
Although the mission statement is to keep this restaurant as Cuban as possible, there are some experimental dishes, like a Chinese and Cuban fusion fried rice, and smoked St. Louis style ribs with a Cuban BBQ sauce that they have both vowed to take the recipe of to the grave.
Lisa Vanderpump: Villa Blancader
Vanderpump opened Villa Blanca when her run on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills came to an end. Villa Blanca is a Mediterranean (primarily Italian) inspired restaurant that uses good local ingredients and is located in centralized Beverly Hills. Vanderpump originally tried to make Villa Blanca as exclusive as possible, but as her experience in the industry grew, she learned about the importance of sustainability and philanthropy.
She regularly invites homeless folk into her restaurant to eat for free, and she has multiple departments in her kitchen that serve as rotating slots for homeless individuals to work as they get back on their feet.
Stephanie Izard: Girl & The Goat
Stephanie Izard was the first woman to ever win Top Chef, and Girl & The Goat is her most popular, highest critically acclaimed restaurant to date. This restaurant serves all of its dishes family-style, meaning that you serve yourself, and your guests, from the same large plate and share your dishes.
Girl & The Goat serves regional cuisine and wild game, focusing on seasonal ingredients and ethically sourced meats to create an unforgettable, and expensive, dining experience. This restaurant regularly closes during times where there are no local ingredients available, so make sure you carve out some time for yourself when you’re passing through Chicago.
Kandi Burruss: Old Lady Gang
This family-owned restaurant celebrates all that is good and pure in southern food. When Kandi Burruss moved from NYC back to Georgia, she, her mother, and her two aunts decided to open a restaurant. The original Old Lady Gang was what her mother and her sisters used to call themselves when they hung out, and that usually entailed cooking for their entire family.
Instead of keeping their cooking low key, Kandi Burruss provided them with an opportunity to cook for others in a structured environment. They’ve been running their southern eatery since 2012, and it doesn’t look like the Old Lady Gang is going to be going anywhere any time soon.
Elizabeth Chambers: BIRD Bakery
Chambers and her husband Arnie Hammer opened up BIRD Bakery back in 2012. Chambers grew up helping her mother and grandmother run their catering business out of her childhood home, so when she was given the opportunity to open her own bakery, she jumped at the prospect and has been running with it since.
BIRD bakery serves the highest quality ingredients that they can locally source at a fair and ethical price range. Chambers and Hammer donate all of their leftover food and pastries to homeless foundations and various philanthropies around San Antonio, Texas.
Joanna and Chip Gaines: Magnolia Table
Magnolia Table opened when Joanna and Chip Gaines purchased the old Elite Cafe building in Waco, Texas. This was the cafe that famously housed Elvis Presley and other political elites for long periods of time, and when the great tornado of 1953 destroyed the building, it sat dormant until the early 2000s.
Now, Magnolia Table is a full-service restaurant, with a take away counter and a market inside as well, so if you can’t get a table to sit where the king sat, you can at least eat the food that was made in the building.
Chris Noth: The Cutting Room
The Cutting Room was purchased by Chris Noth in 2004. Since then, he has hosted a metric ton of A-list musicians and chefs for multiple, low-key nights in a row. This is where John Mayer, Lady Gaga, Ed Sheeran, and David Bowie all periodically shared the stage and played to dozens of high-brow diners in an intimate and private setting.
This restaurant is thoroughly unattainable to the non-elite class, but every once in a while they make some exceptions and they’ll drop the price of the menu for one or two nights, allowing common folk to enter for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Florida Georgia Line: FGL House
The Florida Georgia Line is actually just two dudes from both Florida and Georgia that like to make music and eat together. That common interest built two lifelong careers in the music industry that coincidentally just dipped into the restaurant ownership world.
FGL House is a classic BBQ spot and show venue in Nashville, TN that can host up to 3,000 individuals at one time. If you want to have a cool night partying, but you don’t want to dash across the city to get dinner and see a show, look no further.
NeNe Leakes: Famous Famiglia
NeNe Leakes doesn’t independently own Famous Famiglia, but she did open one of their most successful franchises located in the Sacramento airport. Leakes took a step back from television and decided to work in a more egalitarian manner. She regularly wears her work uniform in and runs the cash register; she even makes pizzas on occasion.
In addition to the pizza that Famous Famiglia is known for, Leakes’ location has an expansive pasta and plant-based menu that satisfies even the pickiest of customers.
Paula Deen: The Lady & Sons
Before Paula Deen was the culinary juggernaut that she is today, she ran a humble, illegal bagged lunch service out of her house in Savannah, Georgia. The name of her first restaurant was “The Bag Lady,” which was located in a non-permitted space out of the Sears building in downtown Savannah.
After overdrawing her bank account many times and receiving kind donations from the community and her sons, Paula Deen was able to open her first official restaurant called The Lady and Sons. The rest is history.
Ty Burrel: The Eating Establishment
Ty Burrel is a huge supporter of the Park City, Utah food scene, so much so that he recently purchased the oldest restaurant in town and spruced it up with the most vintage stuff he could find. The Eating Establishment has been around since 1934, and the inhabitants of Park City, Utah have an extremely high standard for what to expect when stepping through those doors.
Burrel isn’t much of a restauranteur, but he does love his hometown. Preserving one of the oldest and most important relics in the small city became his life mission.
Pharrell: Swan and Bar Bevy
So, Swan is a small pop-down restaurant in Bar Bevy, which is a year-round classic French bar. Pharell designs menus to be carried out by the Swan team every once in a while. He’s not much of a restaurant owner, but more of an event host and coordinator.
Although his forte is music, Pharell has a keen eye for good, local cuisine. In fact, his knowledge of French cuisine rivals that of the actual employees of the bar. Despite knowing his stuff, Pharell lacks the actual technical skill and practice that comes with making French cuisine, so he leaves that to the professionals.
Joey Fatone: Fat One’s Hot Dogs and Italian Ice Mobile
Joey Fatone has been expanding Fat One’s Hot Dogs since he opened in 2017. His brand expanded so quickly that he decided to start moving north and incorporating more dishes to his short list of simple hot dogs. Fatone recently opened Fat One’s BK-Bites in Brookly, as well as migrating to Atlanta from time to time in the Fat One’s Hot Dogs and Italian Ice Mobile scooping Philly style Italian ice and serving up vegan dogs, burgers and fries from the fabled truck.
Fatone himself takes the wheel and drives to these locations to personally serve his food. He’s so down to Earth that people regularly mistake him for just some guy cooking hot dogs in a truck.
Greg Nicotero and Norman Reedus: Nic and Norman’s
Greg Nicotero and Norman Reedus are the special effects coordinator and star of AMC’s greatest hit show, The Walking Dead. You might recognize them from their other ventures as well, like Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding, and possibly because of their critically-acclaimed restaurant Nic and Norman’s.
They opened this spot in Senoia, GA, and filled it with The Walking Dead memorabilia to attract superfans of the show. However, the memorabilia is arguably the least important thing about the restaurant, because their food is absolutely insane. They serve classic bar fare with a twist that showcases both their personalities in real life and in the kitchen. You should check this spot out.
Giada de Laurentiis: Pronto by Giada
Giada owns a bunch of different restaurants, but she regularly closes them and re-opens new ones with different, modern ideas. Unlike some of her other Food Network colleagues, Giada is constantly on the up-and-up with food trends and ethicality, which landed her this premier spot at Ceaser’s Palace in Las Vegas.
Pronto is a modern Italian cuisine restaurant and wine bar that focuses on sourcing the best, most local ingredients possible. Pronto's wine menu is considered to be one of the best in Las Vegas. Pronto should be a definite stop on your next casino getaway.
Gloria and Emilio Estefan: Estefan Kitchen
This is the newest restaurant in the pantheon of Estefan spots that have been popping up regularly since 2010. This restaurant focuses on light seafood fare, not the traditionalist Cuban-American menu that can be found at their other restaurants.
Estefan Kitchen uses seasonal ingredients to capitalize on their chic location and attractiveness to a younger, more hip crowd. Estefan Kitchen is located in Miami, Florida. It's the perfect spot for light, classy fare after a long day of tanning on the beach.
Scarlett Johansson: Yummy Pop
Yummy Pop was a fever dream that Scarlett Johansson thought up when she was in her 20s. Now that she has gotten older, Johansson decided to take the plunge. She opened her first location in Paris and is looking to branch into the American market when she gets the opportunity. Johannson hired an international chef to craft her flavors, which include apple pie, salt and vinegar, and most famously, sour cream and onion flavored popcorn.
There are no current rumors about Scarlett Johannson moving Yummy Pop west in a specific timeframe, but it will happen eventually, she says.
Robert De Niro: Tribeca Grill
Tribeca Grill was built inside a former warehouse in Tribeca in the early 2000s before property values skyrocketed in Manhattan. Tribeca Grill serves elevated American steakhouse classics, and they import all of their meat from the midwest, Australia, and Japan.
Robert De Niro owns this restaurant, but that’s it. He has no hand in any of the menu decisions or the decor. He simply is the principal investor.
Arnold Palmer: Arnold Palmer’s Restaurant
Before he passed away, Arnold Palmer designed a restaurant that had a menu of exactly what he liked to eat after a long day either at the beach or on the golf course. After he died, Arnold Palmer’s restaurant lived on in his image, showcasing the finest ingredients available in La Quinta, CA.
The menu is accessible and focused around good seafood and proteins from local areas. In addition to that, Palmer’s restaurant has a wide variety of vegetarian and vegan options, all of which were on the menu when they first opened in 2009. Arnie was always ahead of the game in golf, and it seems like he was ahead of the game in food culture and sustainability, too.
Piper Perabo: Jack’s Wife Freda
Jack’s Wife Freda was opened in 2012 with a serious mishmash of ideas blending together into a perfectly Americanized menu. This restaurant serves South African Jewish Grandmother cuisine, hosting a serious list of unique spices and flavors that you wouldn’t find at the typical brunch and dinner bistro in Manhattan. Piper Perabo invested in this restaurant and named it after her grandmother, Freda, and her grandfather Jack.
Neither of her grandparents made the menu or worked in the restaurant—unfortunately, both of them have passed away—but Perabo's unique family lineage lives on through the food that she serves at these three locations.
Francis Ford Coppola: Rustic
Rustic is another Coppola restaurant that showcases modern South American cuisine in a homey, laid back setting. Located inside Coppola’s Sonoma winery, Rustic focuses on serving dishes that are inspired by the weather in the California valley, but the restaurant keeps them traditional by cooking everything on a parrilla-style grill.
This cooking method is unique to those of Argentinian cuisine, and there are very few restaurants in California, or the entire country, that serve food in this way. Head on down to Rustic for a truly unique experience, and try some of the wine while you’re out there too.
Richard Gere: Bedford Post Inn
Richard Gere purchased the Bedford Post Inn in the early 2000s and fixed it up to be what it is today. This upscale bed and breakfast regularly houses some of Hollywood’s most elite characters, and its restaurant does the same. Located in the barn behind the inn, The Farmhouse and The Barn is a modernized American classic restaurant that serves lightened southern fare with a Mediterranean twist.
Currently, this restaurant is closed for renovations, but when they reopen in February, you should expect to see a completely revamped space and a menu that’s driven by local winter ingredients.
Hugh Jackman: Laughing Man Coffee
When Hugh Jackman and his wife Deb were traveling through Ethiopia, they met a strange character named Dukale. Dukale and his family ran a small scale coffee farm, and they were only distributing locally because of the unethical trade value of independently grown beans.
Jackman and his wife went back to NYC and opened Laughing Man coffee using only Dukale’s beans and donating all the profits back into the Hugh Jackman Foundation and the Dukale family farm.
Robert De Niro: Locanda Verde
Locanda Verde is a modernized classic Mediterranean restaurant located in Tribeca, NYC. Robert De Niro has an affinity for upscale northern Italian food, and he uses Locanda Verde as his root of innovation and inspiration for his restaurants. With a menu overflowing with beautiful handmade pasta dishes, rich slow-cooked meats, and seasonal veggie dishes in a space that was built to mimic huge windowed European eateries, this spot is a must-visit.
If the menu has the salmon crudo, “grandmother’s” ravioli, or anything with fennel pollen in it, you should give it a try.
Zach Braff: The Mermaid Inn
Zach Braff owns not one, not two, but 4 branches of his original successful northeastern-inspired seafood restaurants. This NYC-based restaurant sources all of its ingredients from the dish's places of origin, like lobsters from Maine, oysters from the Delaware Bay, and potatoes from PEI in Canada.
As The Mermaid Inn expands, so does Braff’s involvement, calling on the former Hollywood star to get creative and try new things behind the scenes. Although Braff owns these seafood restaurants, he’s notoriously picky about what he wants to go on the menu. If an ingredient gets the Braff stamp of approval, it has to be good.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, and Sylvester Stallone: Planet Hollywood
Planet Hollywood is an ages-old chain that was built to entice families, and movie lovers alike to join them for an evening of dining and fun. The original Planet Hollywood is adorned with popular movie memorabilia, they play only music from specific soundtracks from the movies they showcase, and every dish on the menu is named after a scene, character, actor, or film.
If you stop into the Florida location of Planet Hollywood within the next 6 months, you’ll be able to catch an entire menu created by Guy Fieri. We suggest that you go for one of Guy’s signature burgers and finish it up with a vanilla shake, which is conveniently priced at 5 dollars to mimic one of the most famous milkshakes in cinematic history.
Ryan Gossling: Tagine
Although Ryan Gosling owns this restaurant, he doesn’t have much of a hand in the culinary field there. He met Chef Ben, a Morroco native who made it his life mission to bring traditional Morrocan food to trendy Los Angeles diners. Gosling immediately invested in him.
Together, they opened Tagine, a tasting menu restaurant that focuses on service, wine pairings, and interesting cuisine that easily boasts one of the coolest menus in Los Angeles. If you don’t visit Tagine, you will be missing out on a legendary piece of Los Angeles history.
Danny Trejo: Trejo’s Tacos
Danny Trejo has been tearing up the culinary world. He even garnered a positive review from Anthony Bourdain right before he tragically passed away. Trejo’s Tacos serves quality, traditional tacos with a modern twist, much like his donut restaurant. The recipes on the menu aren’t groundbreaking. In fact, they’re far from it.
Trejo isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel, he just wanted to make some tacos that held true to the classic Mexican recipes he ate while growing up. Trejo’s Tacos is moving farther east as the restaurant snowballs in popularity. Maybe there will be a Trejo’s Tacos on the east coast someday.
Giuliana and Bill Rancic: RPM Italian
RPM Italian is an extremely high-end restaurant that takes simple, traditional dishes and elevates them with expensive garnishes. Although some of these dishes seem poorly thought-out, something has to be said about a restaurant being bold enough to serve chilled lobster on a Caprese salad.
These ingredients seem to only be there for shock value and profit, but outside of some of the more outlandish choices, the traditional pasta dishes on the menu are truly unforgettable. Avoid the $38 squid ink pasta with breadcrumbs and caviar if you can, and visit a different LA staple that has that dish for exactly $4, called Pasta Sisters.
Moby: Little Pine
Moby opened Little Pine with more than just quality food in mind. He wanted to teach his diners about sustainability and their personal responsibility to eat with thought. Little Pine is an entirely vegan restaurant. The interior is very simple and sleek, yet it appears more natural than a traditionalist modern interior.
Moby donates 100% of his profits to unionized animal rights organizations, and he continually likes to step out of the kitchen to talk to his customers about music, sustainability, and the ethics behind clean, vegan eating.
Lisa Vanderpump: Tom Tom
Vanderpump opened this restaurant for her two favorite industry bartenders, Tom Sandoval and Tom Schwartz. The interior and bar menu are the focal points of this restaurant, combining the design ideas of Nick Alain and both Toms to create an otherworldly industrial vibe that is truly unlike any other bar in Los Angeles.
The cocktail menu is the crown jewel of this establishment, pairing the ideas of both Toms with those of world-famous mixologist, Sly Cosmopolous. Happy hour is the perfect time to visit this restaurant, with half-off cocktail deals and cheap, beautiful dishes made to share.
Michael Jordan: 1000 North
Michael Jordan doesn’t entirely own this restaurant, but he is the primary partner alongside developer Ira Fenton and former New York Giants quarterback, Tucker Fredrickson. The idea behind 1000 North was to give people pulling up to the docks an opportunity to forego the traditional marina dishes and eat something healthy.
1000 North puts extra special care into making sure that all of their plates are coordinated via ingredient quality and ethical sourcing. In addition to that, they have a full “health-conscious” menu that caters to all folks that have different dietary restrictions.
Jessica Biel: Au Fudge
Unfortunately, Au Fudge just closed as a public service restaurant, but it’s still open for private events with the same menu as before. This southern comfort food restaurant was celebrated in West Hollywood for being a creative and family-friendly place to visit with both your friends and your kids.
However, they never picked up much of a local crowd because of the small space and availability of other, longer-established institutions nearby. Desserts were the focal point of Au Fudge’s menu, and their retail shop still remains.
Quentin Tarantino: Do Hwa
Tarintino has a soft spot for Korean barbecue, so when he had the opportunity to fund the mother-daughter immigrant team of Myung Ja and Jenny Kwak, he jumped on it immediately. He had been friends with the family for a few years before investing in them. Since the opening of Do Hwa, they have received more positive press than any NYC-based Stephen Starr restaurant to date.
Critics suggest that you pop in to try the pork ribs and whatever rotating dumpling is currently on the menu.
Robert Redford: Zoom
Redford opened Zoom in Park City, Utah in 1995. It is one of the most highly-celebrated eateries in the area. The space used to be non-pretentious and music-themed, but nowadays they’re going for a more elevated gastro-pub type vibe.
Evidently, you shouldn’t sleep on the pork ribs with the cornbread and poppyseed coleslaw, or the jalapeno crab mac and cheese. These are just some of the highlight dishes on this menu completely chock full of bangers.
Jimmy Buffett: Margaritaville
There are dozens of Margaritavilles strewn around America, but there is only one original Margaritaville, and it's located in Key West, Florida. Jimmy Buffett opened his first Margaritaville in his favorite place on Earth in 1999, and his goal was to serve fresh-caught island fare and cocktails. Go figure.
Believe it or not, Buffett’s restaurant makes one of the most world-renowned margaritas in history, which makes sense since it’s the signature drink of the legendary king of relaxation himself.
Sammy Hagar: Cabo Wabo Cantina
Cabo Wabo Cantina is a Hollywood-, Las Vegas-, and San Lucas, Mexico-based restaurant chain that’s owned by Sammy Hagar. These restaurants serve coastal Mexican fare and strong drinks. They play heavy metal music and generally get pretty rowdy in the late night.
Before Andrew WK, Sammy Hagar was the king of (responsible) partying, and that energy is present in all of his restaurants. Keep that in mind when you’re looking for a place to bring the kids for a quick meal on vacation.
Gavin Degraw: The National Underground
The National Underground is a chain one owned by the Degraw brothers. Recently, the chain was exclusively sold to Gavin Degraw. The original idea behind The National Underground was to provide a space for fellow musicians to hang out and learn from the locals that regularly played there. This was the setting originally inspired Joey Degraw.
Unfortunately, The National Underground is coming under some financial scrutiny. They are quickly losing funding and they have had to shut down 3 of their 5 locations.
Sebastian Junger: The Half King
The Half King was started in 2000 as a place to house journalists and filmmakers after their long days in studios in the Chelsea neighborhood in Manhattan. This bar has since closed and reopened twice, but it stayed under the same ownership. The Half King remains the premiere facilitator of journalistic freedom and cheap drinking.
This is just your standard bar, but the interior was built out of reclaimed wood taken from a barn in Pennsylvania that was built in the late 1700s.
Debi Mazar: The Tuscan Gun
When Debi Mazar met her husband Gabriele Corcos, she knew that they absolutely needed to bring their taste of Tuscany to LA and NYC. Corcos showed the world that you don’t need to make insanely expensive dishes, nor must you pair equally pricey wines with them.
He explained to his guests that the true essence of Italian culture is celebrating the earth and basking in the peasantry, making your goods as cleanly and sustainably as possible. Although this idea is heartwarming and inspiring, NYC residents didn’t quite “get” the concept. They have since shut their NYC branch off, but the LA restaurant is doing better than ever!
Ralph Lauren: Polo Bar
Ralph Lauren opened Polo Bar for his employees and friends in NYC in 2005. Since then, he has opened 2 more Polo Bars and has purchased a cattle ranch to source his beef and poultry for the restaurant. This restaurant features the highest quality ingredients, hand-picked by Ralph Lauren himself.
The employees are salaried with weekly incentives to increase their bonus, and all of them are given custom-tailored Ralph Lauren uniforms to wear while on the floor.
Peyton Manning: Papa Johns
Papa John and the NFL go way back to the glory days when Papa John’s actually had better ingredients and better pizza compared to the competitors. Papa had a bunch of NFL players in his back pocket, and they regularly bought further into his franchises until recently when the Papa Johns business plan started to fail. NFL investors wanted to revoke their cards, but one specific player stayed: Peyton Manning.
Manning is still one of the chief investors of Papa Johns, and he owns 15 franchises in the state of Texas alone. Admittedly, he doesn’t eat the pizza, but when Papa Johns rebrands in the upcoming year, he anticipates a quality change that will shake up the industry for good.
T.I.: Scales 925
T.I. has been through three different iterations of his “Scales 925” club/restaurant concept, but he has recently decided to stick with his original plan and run with the concept of an upscale pub, integrating the business with Atlanta's thriving nightlife scene. In the city with the biggest clubs, wildest parties, and liquor-soaked indoctrinations into adulthood, T.I. tried to bring in a younger, and significantly older audience, ostracizing the Atlanta natives in-between.
Since recognizing his mistake, Scales 925 has adjusted their prices, menu, and ambiance to accommodate a more diverse crowd, but the restaurant just re-opened earlier this month. This could either mean great success, or a massive, debilitating failure.