7 Celebrities With Failed Restaurants

Being a celebrity means you have lots of money to invest in whatever businesses you like, but sometimes these investments aren’t wisely thought out. Just because celebs are famous for a reason, it doesn’t mean that they can turn their hand to anything and see it a success. There are probably many more celebrities who have owned restaurants than you think, but unfortunately some of them have failed badly as little as six months after opening. We take a look at 7 such celebrities and their restaurant failures.

Elle Macpherson, Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer, Christy Turlington

The Fashion Café was created by the four models but it quickly went wrong. There were another two founders, two brothers, but they were arrested for fraud, money laundering and bankruptcy in Italy. A number of different things were blamed for the failure, including an old feud between Schiffer and Campbell, but the restaurant may have been doomed from the start.

Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan started Pastamania in 1995 but it was only open for a year before shutting down. He appeared in his own adverts for the restaurant iin which he wore a yellow top and chef’s hat. However in 2013, Hogan tried again with a new restaurant in Tampa, Florida. It is a shrine to himself with Hulk memorabilia everywhere, but it has so far lasted longer than his previous restaurant attempt.

Eva Longoria

You may not have known that Eva Longoria once owned a nightclub and two restaurants, but unfortunately they were all failures. Her first restaurant was a steakhouse called Beso which quickly failed, while her second attempt, SHe by Morton’s, also closed down. SHe was designed to be a steakhouse for women that had dessert menus with mirrors inside. Instead of the theme of the restaurant, it was 32 food violations found by Health Inspectors that prevented SHe from becoming a success before it had even been open for two years.

Britney Spears

Spears’ Nyla restaurant’s name was created by a connected between the abbreviations for New York and Lousiana. The restaurant sat in the Dylan Hotel in Midtown Manhattan but unfortunately didn’t prove to be a success. After just six months Spears pulled out and the restaurant was left with $400,000 in debts. Starting with a Cajun menu, the location quickly changed to American Italian style food when things took a turn for the worst. In a press statement, Spears said that she was leaving due to mismanagement, but she also owed $25,000 to vendors herself. In 2013 it was said that Spears put money into Meatball Spot in Las Vegas, but this hasn’t been proven.

Steven Spielberg

Spielberg opened restaurants in LA, Las Vegas and Barcelona under the name Dive! The Vegas version of the restaurant was shaped like a giant ship, while the Barcelona versions were all franchises.  The restaurants were part owned by producer Jeffrey Katzenberg and failed after five years. The restaurants, which had flashing lights, control panels and sirens closed in 1999 after serving nautical themed food to unimpressed diners. Spielberg completely left the restaurant business to focus more on his famed directing career rather than boat-shaped eateries.

Flava Flav

Flava Flav has a shocking three failed restaurants, more than almost any other celebrity. The three separate restaurants, all serving fried chicken, failed within six months of opening. There were a number of issues from the rent not being paid to getting sued, plus more, and it seems that Flava Flav was never destined for restaurant greatness. The last restaurant was shut down in 2013 as there has been a dispute with the landlord, even thought the food had received a good reception.

Jennifer Lopez

In 2002, Lopez opened a Puerto Rican restaurant in Pasadena while in the middle of her famous relationship with Ben Affleck. Six years later, in 2008, the restaurant closed after receiving uninspiring reviews. Despite this, the restaurant stayed open for longer than anyone had anticipated as there wasn’t a shortage of people who wanted to try out the food from such a famous pop star. The restaurant was called Madre’s and sat in the Lake Avenue district, but there had been a few dramas while it was open. A PETA protest had been seen outside the venue and Lopez had tried to sue her ex-husband who was also the ex-manager of the restaurant for trying to publish a book about her. There were no clear details about why the restaurant closed, but J.Lo hasn’t gone back into the food industry since.